Zsak taking one step at a time

Austria coach Manfred Zsak is not getting carried away with his side's impressive start to the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign, despite being six points clear in Group 7.

'First step'
Austria defeated Cyprus 2-1 on Tuesday and yet to lose any of their six qualification matches so far, but Zsak is not looking too far ahead. "It is only the first step for us to qualify for the play-offs in October 2008," he said. "It is always difficult to judge an Under-21 team just on their results, because the main goal has to be to get as many young talents as possible into the senior squad. If you achieve that then of course these players are sometimes missing for your team."

Prosperous future
The future of Austrian football certainly looks bright after the Under-20 team finished fourth in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada earlier this year. Six players from that party – Peter Hackmair, Erwin Hoffer, Zlatko Junuzovic, Veli Kavlak, Bartolomej Kuru and Rubin Okotie – have featured in the qualifying round so far, alongside eight Under-21 players who have already earned senior caps.

Young talent
"Even though there are many players still eligible for me that have already appeared in the senior squad, we share this enjoyment together," said Zsak. "And we shouldn't forget that the promising 1987 age group [those eligible for the U20 sqaud] will force its way into the senior team in the years to come too." Austria will qualify for the play-offs should they defeat nearest challengers Slovakia in their next match in March. They conclude their Group 7 campaign at home to Iceland in September 2008. The group winners plus the best four runners-up go through to the play-offs.