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Cameroonian lions stomp Austria

By Thomas Hochwarter

Recently recreated Austrian football euphoria suffered a blow last night (Weds) when the national team lost 0-2 to Cameroon.

The team of Dietmar Constantini delivered an overall poor performance in Klagenfurt after more ambitious displays against Romania (2-1) and Serbia (0-1), the first matches with the Tyrolean in the hot seat.

Austria, however, no chance against the team � nicknamed the "Indomitable Lions" �that was recently taken over by Frenchman Paul Le Guen. After Inter star Samuel Eto�o had some good chances to score the opener, it was Mallorca striker Pierre Webo who found the net with double strikes in the 28th and the 35th minutes. Austria goalkeeper J�rgen Macho, currently a free agent, was left without a chance as the strikes were preceded by blunders by the Austrian back-four.

Things could have gone in a different direction had Captain Paul Scharner found the net from the penalty spot in the 12th minute. But the Wigan midfielder failed with an embarrassingly poor attempt. Coach Constantini even substituted for the 29-year-old five minutes before half-time. "His attempt was unprofessional and amateur-like � and I told him that," Constantini fumed after the match, while Scharner commented: "I wanted to take responsibility, but I screwed it up."

Former national team players Ivica Vastic and Martin Hiden, who both ended their careers this summer, were robbed of their chance to play a final few minutes in red and white. The plan was to honour former Sturm Graz Captain Vastic and former Leeds United defender Hiden by giving them a place in the starting eleven and to substitute for them after a few minutes of playtime. But UEFA bosses refused to make an exception and dismissed an appeal by the Austrian Football Association (�FB) to extend the substitution capacity of six players per team. National team manager Dietmar Constantini said he would have to make six "real" substitutions himself, and so it came to pass that Vastic and Hiden � who both played in the 1998 World Cup and Euro08 � were waved goodbye by fans after they entered the pitch with the team to sing the anthem and engage in an honorary kick-off.

Austria are set to meet the Faroe Islands on 5 September in Graz in ongoing qualification play for next year�s World Cup in South Africa.

Last night�s match, meanwhile, may have caused an about-face in political debate about whether to reduce the capacity of Klagenfurt�s W�rther Lake Arena from its present 30,000 to just 12,000 �the plan of the provincial government led by Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZ�) Governor Gerhard D�rfler, who argues it would be more expensive to maintain the venue in its current configuration.

�FB is in favour of making no changes, and �FB boss Leo Windtner stressed no more national team matches would take place in the Euro08 stadium if its capacity was cut back. Cameroon ace Samuel Eto�o, who recently joined Inter from FC Barcelona, said the W�rther Lake Arena was one of the most beautiful stadiums he had ever played in.

Austrian Times

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