EURO 2008 INFO

Rene Aufhauser and Roland Linz scored in the first 11 minutes and Austria rolled to a 5-1 victory over Malta on Friday in its final friendly before co-hosting the European Championship.

Linz, Ivica Vastic and Martin Harnik added second-half goals to give Austria only its second victory in 16 matches over the past 18 1/2 months.

It was the first time Austria scored more than four goals since a 5-0 victory over Belarus in June 2003.

"It was the victory everyone expected," Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said. "We knew we had to win to gain self-confidence. Unfortunately, the team slowed down too much after a good start. The goal we conceded was pure carelessness."

Austria started aggressively and created several chances.

Andreas Ivanschitz put a free kick just wide.

Aufhauser gave Austria the lead in the eighth minute, converting a corner kick by Ivanschitz with a header. Three minutes later, Ivanschitz fed Erwin Hoffer on the right, who set up Linz for a 2-0 advantage.

Despite another Linz goal being disallowed for offside four minutes later, he added a second with a penalty in the 67th minute.

Malta defender Brian Said missed the ball while attempting a slide tackle and instead fouled Harnik in the area. Linz converted the penalty for his seventh goal in 31 internationals.

Vastic and Harnik tacked on their goals in the final 13 minutes to give Austria a confidence prior to its Euro 2008 opening match against Croatia on June 8.

The 38-year-old Vastic, who returned to the squad after a 2 1/2-year absence last month, has now scored 13 goals for Austria, more than any other player in the current squad.

Michael Mifsud accounted for Malta's only goal in the 41st.

Mifsud had a chance to draw level early in the second half, but shot just wide.