Harnik helps Austria deny Czechs

Austria 1-1 Czech Republic
Substitute Martin Harnik took just seven minutes to mark his international debut with a goal which earned Austria a 1-1 friendly draw with the Czech Republic in Vienna.

Koller opener
While their UEFA EURO 2008™ co-hosts Switzerland were beating the Netherlands in Geneva, Austria failed to get the better of a Czech team which opened the scoring in the 33rd minute through towering forward Jan Koller. Harnik was only introduced following an injury to Christoph Leitgeb, but soon made his mark by dispatching the ball high into the net from the edge of the box.

New system
Home coach Josef Hickersberger elected to start with a 4-5-1 formation with Sanel Kuljic as the spearhead, while Martin Stranzl came in for captain Andreas Ivanschitz. The Czech Republic were missing their skipper Tomáš Rosický yet started strongly and Milan Baroš twice went close, the second with a header against the bar.

Impact
Christian Mörz, Leitgeb and Kuljic were all thwarted by Petr Čech – crowned his country’s Player of the Year again this week – before the visitors scored out of the blue, David Jarolím beautifully playing in Koller who made no mistake from close range. Hickersberger switched to 4-4-2 after the break, Roland Linz coming on, although it was fellow substitute Harnik who made the biggest impression by finally beating the Chelsea FC custodian.