On the 8th June 2008 Austria will play in their very first European Championship finals game at the Ernst Happer Stadium in Vienna when they take on a very dangerous looking Croatia side. Austria qualified as co-host nation and will be looking to cause a major upset by defeating a Croatian side that ended England’s Euro 2008 dreams and to mark this historic match both Betfair and Skybet are giving away free bets worth up to £25. Austria are the minnows of this year’s competition being ranked a lowly 101st in the FIFA world rankings but that will not stop them from giving their all in their first ever finals. Most pundits agree that if Austria were not co-hosts they would not have qualified for the finals but every player in their squad will be relishing the prospect of proving them wrong. Usually playing a 4-4-2 formation, Austria pride themselves on a relatively solid defence led by Middlesbrough’s Emanuel Pogatetz, who was banned from playing in 2006 after a fall out with coach Hickersberger. The Austrians usually struggle to score goals but they have a superstar in the making in Werder Bremen midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz who is known as the “Austrian Beckham” in his homeland and his fantastic left foot is capable of marvellous passes, crosses and free-kicks. Will their defensive style allow them to progress through the group stages? It’s unlikely but you can never write anyone off from the betting in this competition.

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Croatia seemed to go off the boil after their 3rd place showing at the 1998 World Cup but under the coaching of former player Slaven Bilic things seem to have turned around with a new-look attacking team. Croatia sailed through to the finals after winning 9 of their 12 games in qualification, beating England both home and away to end any chance they had of reaching the finals. Ditching their 3-5-2 formation for a more orthodox 4-4-2 seems to have done the trick and with veteran 36 year old Nico Kovac in a holding role in midfield allowing £16m rated playmaker Luka Modric to express himself freely it’s easy to see why Croatia could be a dark horse in Euro 2008. Losing star-striker Eduardo to a horrific injury has weakened the attack but Dortmund forward Mladen Petric is more than capable of scoring goals as is Ivan Klasnic who has recovered from two kidney transplant operations! Many experts think that Austria will struggle to gain any points but with their defensive approach to the game they could have an influence on who progresses from Group B. Croatia will be hoping to get off to a good start as they have a difficult match against Germany just four days after this game. Betfair and Skybet are offering free bets on this David and Goliath fixture which can be used to bet on the number of goals scored, the first and last goal scorer and the end result of the match to name but three options.