On the subject of goalkeepers (see Kev’s blog on Jens Lehmann here), you have to pity the Austrians Alexander Manninger and Juergen Macho.

Gruff coach Josef Hickersberger said he would name his number one keeper on Wednesday, having already advised the unlucky one to display the stoic “humanity” shown by Germany’s Oliver Kahn after Juergen Klinsmann left him on the bench in 2006.

But now after “discipline issues” (one team member showed up late for a meeting) Hickersberger says he will keep them dangling until Saturday evening, just one day before Austria’s opening match against Croatia.

Where is the logic, gobsmacked journalists asked after his announcement.  It doesn’t sound fair, suggested one Austrian reporter at the team’s base in Stegersbach. “Tough,” answered Hickersberger.

One theory runs he just wants to provoke his team. Either way ‘Hicke’ likely spoiled Manninger’s 31^st birthday celebrations on Wednesday. Crumbs and candles everywhere, I shouldn’t wonder.

Alex Hudson, with the Austrian team in Stegersbach

PHOTO: Alexander Manninger goes for a save in training as Juergen Macho looks on in Stegersbach June 3, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Zolles

One Salzburg bar is offering free drinks for every sending-off in a match and even Mozart’s house has a soccer ball and an Austria shirt in the window.

You wouldn’t have thought it, but even sleepy little Salzburg, beloved of older tourists and “Sound of Music” fans has embraced Euro 2008 fever.

Salzburg locals, who love wearing traditional Alpine garb  — lederhosen for men, and dirndl dresses for women (which make even a waif look buxom) say their love of winter sports makes them the perfect hosts.

“Vienna has the slogan ‘Vienna is different.’ It is true, they are different. It is flat there and they complain a lot,” says 24-year-old Robert Moser.

“We are very into our sport in this part of Austria”.

For now, carefully arranged little footballs grace the windows of boutiques and chemist shops. It looks cute, like the city. But looking at the crowds of well-behaved Japanese tour groups with their guide books, you get the feeling Salzburg has no idea what is going to hit it.

Up until a few weeks ago you’d have been fined in Austria for flying a flag on your car. Only ambassadors and government officials were allowed to that. But bureaucracy is slipping and passions are stirring, albeit slowly, as Euro 2008 approaches.

In the last few days Austrian flags have been fluttering from cars in the capital after the government lifted the ban for the duration of the tournament to help drum up some atmosphere. Some of Austria’s cheap supermarket chains will sell tournament merchandise half-price this weekend, and at last the Austrians, whose first sporting love will always be skiing, are starting to show an interest.

Culture reigns supreme in Vienna, famed for its balls, its classical music and art galleries. When I arrived in Vienna in mid-May the city’s residents still pulled faces when asked if they were looking forward to the tournament. Drunk fans might smash windows or make a noise at night.

“Hosted by losers” T-shirts and underwear became must-have items, while the son of a former Austria player even launched a website urging the team to withdraw to spare the country the sort of international humiliation usually only experienced by Britain at the Eurovision song contest.

But now it seems they may want to impress after all. The fan zone will be in the heart of the city, shutting off one of Vienna’s main arteries — a sweeping avenue flanked by imposing imperial architecture. Curiosity if nothing else will have the locals heading off to the fan zone, perhaps to check there is no trespassing on the monuments.

The Austrian team is ranked 101st in the world and not even the most patriotic fans fancy their chances of winning the tournament. But the Austrians are desperate to outperform the Swiss, on and off the pitch, and remember, no one outside Germany thought they’d be able to throw a party at the World Cup, and look how much fun that was.

PHOTO: An Austrian worker holds an official UEFA EURO 2008 logo in the fan zone in front of the historic Hofburg palace at Heldenplatz square in Vienna, May 27, 2008. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

If Wednesday’s friendlies involving the 16 Euro 2008 finalists are anything to go by, the June event should be a real treat for the fans, with plenty of goals, near-misses and desperate defending, and the chance of a few shocks too.

Written off by most pundits as little more than a punching bag, the Austrians showed in the first 30 minutes of their astonishing 4-3 defeat to the Netherlands that they might be a tough nut to crack playing at home after all.

A fierce Austrian onslaught coupled with a comedy of errors at the back by the Dutch, never really known for their defensive strength, gave the co-hosts a 3-0 lead before the “Oranje” turned the match on its head.

Poland’s Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker tipped his team to be the Euro 2008 surprise package after their impressive qualifying campaign but the 3-0 defeat by the United States suggests they might end up as mere also-rans.

Poor defending from set-pieces did not cost the Poles on the road to Euro 2008 as they were able to outscore their opponents most of the time but it could undo them at the next level.

Germany made it clear they are rightly one of the tournament favourites with a 4-0 drubbing of Switzerland, the other co-hosts, with Miroslav Klose taking his international tally to 38 goals in 73 matches.

An understrength France will certainly take heart from a 1-0 win over England as will Spain after beating world champions Italy by the same score thanks to a spectacular David Villa volley.

Anyone prepared to write off defending champions Greece may want to reconsider after their 2-1 victory over Portugal in a repeat of the Euro 2004 final. It was Greece’s third consecutive win over a team widely regarded as one of the world’s most talented outfits.

Romania’s 3-0 rout of eastern European rivals Russia and their effervescent performance suggests they have a fighting chance of surviving the “Group of Death.”

Croatia’s famous 3-2 win over England fuelled high hopes of glory among the country’s fans and media but Eduardo’s horrible injury and last month’s 3-0 defeat to the Dutch instilled more modest expectations of reaching the last eight.

England’s conquerors were not impressive in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Scotland at Hampden Park and their current form suggests they will do well to progress to the quarter-finals.

As ever, there are at least half a dozen heavyweights and it seems inevitable that one of them will be crowned European champions on June 29… unless someone can do a Greece. Give us your thoughts on that in the comments.

PHOTO: Klaas Jan Huntelaar (L) scores for the Dutch against Austria in Vienna, March 26, 2008. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger