EURO 2008 INFO

AUSTRIA coach Josef Hickersberger has recalled Ivica Vastic at the age of 38 to his squad for the Euro 2008 finals.

The Croatia-born midfielder was in the last previous Austria squad to play in a major championship finals, the 1998 World Cup finals in which he played in all three matches and scored in the 1-1 draw with Chile.

Vastic was recalled after a 2½ year hiatus to make his 46th appearance, as a substitute, in the 1-1 draw with Nigeria on Wednesday, and his selection says a lot about the paucity of talent at Hickersberger's disposal.

Hickersberger also had to make a last-minute addition to his 31-men pre-selection squad announced on April 24, after goalkeeper Helge Payer was forced to drop out due to a blood circulation problem. Payer was replaced by Ramazan Ozcan, who will now compete with Siena goalkeeper Alexander Manninger and Jurgen Macho.

Roman Kienast's timely goal in the draw with Nigeria earned the player, who plays for unfashionable Norwegian club Ham-Kam, a ticket to the finals.

Austria, who have a warm-up date with Malta on Saturday, will be skippered by Andreas Ivanschitz, widely regarded with Manninger as their only world-class players.

Austria face Croatia, Poland and Germany in Group B.