Vastic chooses club over country

Austrian striker Ivica Vastic has retired from the international game due to the problems of linking up with the national side while playing his club football in Japan.

Exhausting travel
The 33-year-old former SK Sturm Graz player, who moved to Nagoya Grampus Eight in the summer, said the travel and time difference between Japan and Europe have completely exhausted him and that after the EURO 2004™ qualifying match against Moldova on 7 September he felt "completely ruined" on his return to Japan.

Search for replacements
Austria coach Hans Krankl, now has to find a suitable replacement for Vastic before announcing his squad on 3 October for the next qualifying matches against Belarus on 12 October in Minsk and the Netherlands four days later in Vienna. Vastic, who was born in Split, won 40 caps for Austria after gaining citizenship in 1996, scoring eleven goals.