Austria 5
Malta 1
Austria's final rehearsal before they make their bow on the grand stage that is Euro 2008 pitched them in a friendly with Malta in Graz last night.
The choice for Malta to act as their final sparring partners before crunch time was certainly intended to boost Austria's chances of attaining a morale-boosting win. Josef Hickersberger's men did what was expected of them, making the most of Malta's shortcomings to coast to a 5-1 victory.
Austria outsmarted Malta in every aspect yesterday but on this evidence they face a mountainous task to progress from a group that includes Germany, Croatia and Poland.
Little Malta came here with the aim of giving a good account of themselves after the 7-1 win over Liechtenstein but our players produced a poor performance, their tetchy endeavours in a disastrous opening in which Austria scored twice in three minutes, setting the tone for a torrid evening.
There was nothing positive about Malta's display but the lack of sharpness of most of our players, particularly those based abroad, and the team's erratic defending must have given Dusan Fitzel plenty of food for thought.
Fitzel clearly did not get his team selection right as the likes of Udo Nwoko, Roderick Briffa, Brian Said and Luke Dimech looked out of depth, although the latter did improve in the second half.
Red and white were the dominant colours at the UPC-Arena in Graz as the home fans flocked to the home of Sturm Graz to cheer on their team.
As for the Maltese team, they could at least bank on the support of some 35 fans who journeyed to Austria courtesy of Coca-Cola, sponsors of Euro 2008. Although heavily outnumbered, the visitors on the stands were instantly recognisable as all wore black South End Core t-shirts with the Maltese cross on the front.
Young defender Jonathan Caruana was handed his debut by Fitzel in a four-man defence that featured experienced duo of Brian Said and Dimech as centre-halves and Shaun Bajada at left-back. Caruana was charged with the onus of guarding the right flank, just behind Roderick Briffa who was deployed on the right side of midfield.
Captain Gilbert Agius started his 108th match for Malta in his usual central midfield position where he was flanked by Jamie Pace with Nwoko operating on the left. Michael Mifsud was granted freedom to pursue openings from deep as the Coventry forward played off the shoulder of Andrè Schembri.
In goal, Andrew Hogg was given another chance to press his claim for the no.1 jersey as he received Fitzel's nod to start. The goalkeeper's motivation to leave a good impression can only have been strengthened by his knowledge that a couple of overseas clubs, one of which is said to be from Norway, sent scouts over to Graz to run the rule over the Valletta man.
The game was just eight minutes old when Austria opened the scoring.
Dimech conceded a corner on the left, Ivanschitz's centre sailed towards the goalmouth where towering Red Bull Salzburg defender Rene Aufhauser headed past Hogg from close distance.
Home joy increased three minutes later when the hosts doubled their lead. Poor defending by Malta contributed to Austria's second goal as Ivanschitz's low pass rolled past Dimech and into the path of the steaming Erwin Hoffer whose service from the right found Roland Linz who poked the ball home.
Malta won their first corner on 16 minutes after Pace's shot took a deflection off a defender. Nine minutes later, Mifsud got on the end of a long ball and darted through but Alex Manninger was quick off his line to block the Maltese striker's run. Dimech then just failed to connect with an Agius free-kick at the far post as Malta showed signs of shaking off their early inertia.
A promising Malta attack came to nothing as Briffa took a touch too many and was eventually dispossessed when he should have passed to Mifsud on the right.
Still, Austria remained the brisker side and would have tripled their advantage but for a good save by Hogg who tipped Ivanschitz's lob over the bar. The Panatihinaikos playmaker was dangerous again with a strong run down the right but his cross-shot was blocked by Said.
Four minutes from half-time, Malta managed to narrow the deficit. After Austria had cleared a corner, Caruana re-directed the ball towards the centre, Said nudged it over the dishevelled Austrian defence and Mifsud, who had been left unmarked, burst through, rounded Manninger and placed the ball into an empty net.
Fitzel opted for three half-time substitutions, bringing on Justin Haber, Cleaven Frendo and Ryan Fenech for Hogg, Caruana and Nwoko respectively.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Malta should have equalised when Frendo passed to Schembri who instantly floated the ball over to Mifsud but the latter's grounder from inside the box finished just wide of the far post.
In the meantime, Caruana's withdrawal necessitated a positional change as Briffa was moved to right-back with Frendo taking over on the right of midfield.
Shouts of 'Iva, Iva' echoed around the UPC Arena as Ivica Vastic, a fan favourite here after his playing spell with Sturm Graz, prepared to enter the fray, eventually replacing Erwin Hoffer. Vastic almost made an instant impact but his header was stopped by Haber.
Better passing and sprightlier movement, on and off the ball, enabled Malta to start the second half in lively fashion but their confidence was shattered when Austria were awarded a penalty for Said's late tackle on substitute Martin Harnik. Linz made no mistake from the spot to restore Austria's two-goal cushion midway through the second half.
After Etienne Barbara had replaced Mifsud, Ian Azzopardi came on for Schembri whose participation was cut short by injury.
Fourteen minutes from time, Vastic delighted the home crowd when scoring Austria's fourth goal from close range after the Maltese defence had again failed to deal with a set-piece.
At the other end, a shot by Agius was parried by Manninger.
On the stroke of time, Austria made it 5-1, Harnik exposed Malta's weaknesses on the right by drilling a low shot past Haber.
Austria: A. Manninger, G. Garics, M. Stranzl ('84 S. Prodl), E. Pogatetz ('84 M. Hiden), R. Gercaliu ('75 M. Katzer), U. Korkmaz ('46 M. Harnik), R. Aufhauser ('75 J. Saumel), C. Leitgeb, A. Ivanschitz, E. Hoffer ('57 I. Vastic), R. Linz.
Malta: A. Hogg ('46 J. Haber), J. Caruana ('46 C. Frendo), B. Said, L. Dimech, G. Agius, R. Briffa, M. Mifsud ('64 E. Barbara), A. Schembri ('71 I. Azzopardi), S. Bajada, J. Pace ('85 G. Mallia), U. Nwoko ('46 R. Fenech).
Scorers: (Austria) Aufhauser 8; Linz 11, 66 pen.; Vastic 76; Harnik 90
(Malta) Mifsud 41
Referee: Robert Krajnc (Slovenia).
Yellow cards: Mifsud; Caruana; Frendo; Pace; Agius; Said.
Attendance 14,200.
Malta players' ratings
Hogg-5.5, Caruana-5.5, Said-5, Dimech-5.5, Agius-6, Briffa-4.5, Mifsud-6, Schembri-5.5, Bajada-6.5, Pace-6, Nwoko-4.
Substitutes: Haber-4, Frendo-4.5, Fenech-4, Barbara-4.5, Azzopardi, Mallia.