SOCCER - AUSTRIA DOMINATE SCOTLAND IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER .
Steve Pagani
VIENNA 1996-08-31
Austria dominated their World Cup group four qualifier against Scotland on Saturday with wave after wave of attacks but were unable to penetrate the visitors ' defence and had to settle for a goalless draw .
Scotland , who thrashed Belarus 5-1 in their opening group four match , were unable to repeat their performance .
Austria 's best chance came in the 63rd minute with Stephan Marasek of SC Freiburg taking advantage of a scramble in the Scottish penalty area but his shot narrowly passing the left-hand post .
They also went close a minute before the interval when a promising attack saw the ball fall to Markus Schopp but he hit his shot wide .
Everton 's Duncan Ferguson went close for Scotland in the 65th minute when he forced Austrian goalkeeper Michael Konsel to a diving save .
Two Scotland players were shown yellow cards , captain Gary McAllister for bringing down Andreas Heraf and Ferguson for arguing against the referee 's decision .
" The result is acceptable , " Scottish coach Craig Brown told reporters . "
We 'd hoped not to lose and we tried not to play for a draw but the Austrian defence was simply too good . "
SK Rapid 's Dietmar Kuehbauer , who gave an impressive performance , said the team started off well but let the game slip after the first 30 minutes .
" Somehow it seemed there were less than 11 players on the pitch .
We have lost two points .
The Scots are not really a great team and we should have won , " he said .
Austrian coach Herbert Prohaska said his team had displayed great fighting spirit but sometimes lacked ideas .
Teams :
Austria : Michael Konsel , Markus Schopp , Peter Schoettel , Anton Pfeffer , Wolfgang Feiersinger , Stephan Marasek , Dieter Ramusch ( Andreas Ogris 77th ) , Dietmar Kuehbauer , Anton Polster ( ( Herfried Sabitzer 68th ) , Andreas Herzog , Andreas Heraf .
Scotland : Andrew Goram , Craig Burley , Thomas Boyd , Colin Calderwood , Colin Hendry , Thomas McKinley , Duncan Ferguson , Stuart McCall , Alistair McCoist ( Gordon Durie 75th ) , Gary McAllister , John Collins .