Preview: Germany v. Austria – A Perfect Showdown; Hosts Aim for First International Title!
AUSTRIA
On the other side of the coin, Austria has been the country on the rise in European American Football. Everybody is familiar with their two top clubs teams, the Raiffeisen Vienna Vikings (20 players on Team Austria) and Swarco Tirol Raiders, which have won 8 of of the last 10 EuroBowls (club team European Champion League). Their National Team has been improving and moving up step by step since 2008 and their Junior National Team has won the last two European Championships.
Against France we saw the damage the Austrian offensive line and and running back #27 Andreas Hofbauer can do, racking up 224 yards on the ground. If you mix it up with quarterback #8 Christoph Gross (best QB in Europe), wide receiver #13 Thomas Haider (aka the Austrian Megatron) and the speedster wide reciever #6 Laurinho Walch, this is a deadly combination.
Defensively, Austria did an amazing job last game to stop the French passing attack. Their defensive backs were a lot better than most people expected. Look for them to pack the box to stop the German running game and try to make them one dimensional.
