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FOOTBALL EUROPE: The LASK action hero

/noticias.info/ Playmaker Ivica Vastic has an outside chance of making it to UEFA EURO 2008™ after working wonders with LASK Linz in the Austrian Bundesliga at the age of 38.

Know-how
A year ago, LASK were dreaming of promotion to the Bundesliga. Twelve months on, they could even win it. The promoted side are third in the table, level with second-placed SK Rapid Wien and four points behind leaders FC Salzburg, with Vastic and 35-year-old striker Christian Mayrleb showing the value of experience with 21 goals – and 73 years – between them.

Jewels in the crown
Coach Karl Daxbacher has had great success fielding seasoned players such as Michael Baur and Jürgen Panis alongside young talents Matías Rodríguez, Néstor Torres – on loan from CA Boca Juniors – and Richard Wemmer, recently signed from FC Gratkorn. However, the real jewels in the crown have been his veteran attacking players who have stunned Austrian football.

EURO hope
"Every now and again I have to slow them down because they are so motivated," said the coach. "They are complete professionals and it's great to work with them." Such are his fitness and quality that Vastic may yet have the possibility of a berth in the Austria squad for this summer's finals – despite the fact he earned the last of his 46 caps in August 2005.

Happy days
Vastic, who was born in Split, Croatia, and spent much of his career at SK Sturm Graz, is enjoying his footballing Indian summer. "We understand each other really well," he said of his LASK team-mates. "Plus, we are under no pressure and are just trying to play good football. We have a lot of young players with great potential. I look forward to the rest of the season with optimism."

Upwardly mobile
Vastic and defender Baur, also 38, are so crucial to LASK that many predict disaster for the side in the event of either getting injured. Both, however, remain fit, buoyant and in Vastic's case confident. "If you compare where LASK were two or three years ago, to where we are now, it is amazing," he said. "But I think FC Salzburg are the real favourites to win the league."

Dream ticket
Sunday's 4-0 defeat at Salzburg justified that assessment, yet Daxbacher is undeterred. "We will try to take three points from our next game and stay in touch with the leaders," he said. "It would be wrong to give up now. With a little luck we could still reach the top, and besides, a UEFA Cup place for next season would also be a dream." notas_de_prensa_archivo