Austria and Sweden will battle it out in Vienna for a surprisingly important clash as both teams look to compete for second place in Group C.
Austria vs. Sweden, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Preview and TV schedule
Austria will look to take a big step in a remarkable qualification campaign if they can beat Sweden in Vienna on Friday night in a game that also has big implications for the Republic of Ireland.
Germany top the group by a distance, albeit having played six games, while Austria, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland all trail behind on eight points. The situation is further clouded by the fact that Sweden have an additional game in hand, having only played in four matches.
Nonetheless, that leaves second place wide open for all three teams, and while Ireland will be hoping for a draw, Austria will know that a win could be a huge result which will serve them very well in a remarkable qualification for the 2014 World Cup.
Austria coach Marcel Koller stated: “Sweden are ranked much higher in the world than us and are regarded as favourites for second place in the group. But when chances are offered to us, we want to use them and we want to defeat the Swedes - I can feel the positive energy of my team.”
Sweden wiil swiftly follow up the encounter with another game on Tuesday which will bring them level on games played with Austria and Ireland - and almost certainly three points better off, since it is against minnows the Faroe Islands. That means they're not in serious trouble yet - but lose here and they may well be.
Match Date\Time: 20:45 p.m. local, 12:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria
TV: Gol TV (U.S.), ORF1 (Austria), TV4 (Sweden)
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