Austria

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Hickersberger down after loss

09 Jun 2008 - 07:45:19

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Austria coach Josef Hickersberger was distraught after watching his side lose their opening Group B match 1-0 to Croatia.

Luka Modric's early penalty sank the co-hosts who were unfortunate not to grab an equaliser in the closing stages.

That did not placate Hickersberger though, who said after the game: "This was the worst possible start you can have in an opening match of a major tournament.

"We were nervous early on but we played well in the rest of the match. We even dominated in the second half.

"We had good opportunities but unfortunately we weren't able to score a goal so we are empty-handed. In our remaining games we need four points to go through."

Captain Andreas Ivanschitz added: "I am very proud of our performance. We were completely down after the fourth minute, but it was great to see how the team got back up again and played really well in the second half."