Austria must be feared at Euro 2016

27/04/2016

World champions Germany, hosts France and even England are being touted as potential winners of Euro 2016, but Austria could cause an upset at the tournament.

Marcel Koller’s team will be playing at their first major finals since they co-hosted the Euros with Switzerland in 2008, but they are certainly a team on the rise, as they remained unbeaten in qualifying, winning nine out of their 10 games, in a group that contained fellow qualifiers Russia and Sweden.

Das Team are currently ranked at number 11 in the world and they have been handed a relatively straightforward draw at the finals, as they will take on Portugal, Iceland and Hungary in Group F.

The team’s talisman is Bayern Munich’s David Alaba, who can operate in both defence and midfield, but they are also a squad littered with players playing in the top leagues across Europe, including Leicester’s Christian Fuchs, Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic and Marc Janko of Basel.

Should Koller’s men progress to the knockout stages in France, they will be a team that most want to avoid, as they have only lost two of their last 19 competitive matches.

Austria have never made it beyond the group stage of a European Championship, but they are a side capable of emulating the likes of Greece and Denmark by becoming surprise winners.

Das Team are priced at 2.75 to finish top of their group, while they are available at 34.00 to claim overall Euro 2016 glory.