FRANCE 98 – Match preview n°19

Marcelo Salas, the Chile striker who has been the sensation of the World Cup so far, resumes his goal quest against Austria on Wednesday, looking to add to the double he notched up against Italy.

The South American player of the year frightened the life out of Italy’s experienced defence and the Austrians know a repeat performance could deal a fatal blow to their prospects of advancing to the second round.

” After his showing against Italy, Chile must be the favourites against us, “ admitted Toni Polster, the striker whose last-minute equaliser earned Austria a 1-1 draw in their Group B opener against Cameroon.   Against Chile’s ” magic twins ” Salas and Ivan Zamorano, the Austrians fear their own campaign is about to be derailed.

Salas, nicknamed the Matador, suffered a reaction to the Italy game and was unable to train at the weekend with a groin strain, but Chilean coach Nelson Acosta confirmed Salas would play. ” Marcelo Salas is fine. He will be playing against Austria, and I hope he’ll again turn it on the way he did against Italy, “ Acosta said. Despite his team’s stirring performance against the Italians, Acosta was playing down suggestions that his team were clear favourites to vercome the Austrians.

” I watched Austria against Cameroon and they’ve altered their game since the qualifiers. They’re very strong and good offensive players, “ Acosta said. ” Whatever happens, in a World Cup we respect every team-we saw the way Japan stood up to Argentina, “ he added.

Polster has a special reason for wanting to outshine the Salas and Zamorano Za-Sa tandem as he will Wednesday equal the Austrian appearances record of 93 caps held by Rapid Vienna midfielder Gerhard Hanappi in the 1950s. ” I’m sure somebody will come along and set a new record eventually but it will be nice to hold it for a couple of years, “ said Polster.

Polster knows all about Zamorano as the two played together at Seville in the 1992-93 season. ” It was a great experience to play alongside Ivan. I learned to value him both as a sportsman and as a person. I’m looking forward to seeing him again, “ Polster said.

Austrian coach Herbert Prohaska will have a full complement to choose from as midfielder Heimo Pfeifenberger, defender Wolfgang Feiersinger and reserve keeper Wolfgang Knaller have all recovered from minor knocks. But Polster remains their best hope of glory, having scored a record 40 goals for the national side. He flitted in and out of the side to begin with but secured his place in 1989 after blasting a hattrick in a World Cup qualifier against East Germany.

The last time the Austrians met Chile on the World Cup stage, in 1982, Austria won 1-0, when Prohaska was playing. ” A repeat would do nicely, “ quipped Polster. But Salas has other ideas.