Thirteenth meeting for Belgium and Austria
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Article summary
Over 30 years after their most recent meeting in Vienna, Belgium meet Austria for a 13th time, with both UEFA EURO 2012 contenders hoping that an unlucky number will augur well.
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Article body
A good percentage of the players due to contest the UEFA EURO 2012 Group A qualifier between Belgium and Austria were not even born the last time the sides met, with this their 13th encounter overall.
Match background
• Belgium's record in 12 games against Austria reads W1 D2 L9 (W1 D1 L5 at home).
• The most recent meetings between the two nations – and indeed their only competitive fixtures – came in qualifying for the 1980 UEFA European Championship. The first of those ended 1-1 in Brussels, with goalscorers René Vandereycken and Hans Krankl both going on to coach their countries. The return game in Vienna on 2 May 1979 ended 0-0.
• Before that, Belgium finally ended their long wait for a first triumph against Austria on 22 March 1978, prevailing 1-0 in Charleroi. They had lost their previous nine matches against Austria, the first of them a 4-3 home defeat in Liege on 13 December 1925.
• Belgium's worst two results against Austria have both come in Brussels, a 6-1 loss on 11 December 1932 preceding an 8-1 reverse on 14 October 1951, two days shy of exactly 59 years before their upcoming meeting.