Skip to content

Christian Fuchs backs Austria to emulate Leicester City as Euro 2016 dark horses

Austria's defender and team captain Christian Fuchs holds a press conference at their training ground in Mallemort, on June 15, 2016, during the Euro 2016
Image: Christian Fuchs won the Premier League title with Leicester City

Christian Fuchs is confident Austria can emulate Leicester City's unlikely Premier League triumph and be Euro 2016's dark horses.

The Leicester full-back helped his club make history this season by winning the top-flight league title for the first team in their history and Fuchs thinks his international team mates have enough quality to pull off a similar upset in the tournament.

Austria got off to the worst possible start against Hungary in their opening group game, losing 2-0 and having a man sent off, but Fuchs insisted his side will bounce back.

"I definitely wouldn't put it past us to get three points now against Portugal. Why shouldn't we? We have the quality to do so and I really believe in this team to achieve something," Fuchs told UEFA.com.

"At Leicester, we proved you can win against the big teams and get under their skin.

Portugal v Austria preview
Portugal v Austria preview

Austria take on Portugal on Saturday in Group F

"Let me remind you that we won 3-1 at Manchester City, so anything is possible and I'll be the last to stop believing that."

Austria face Portugal in their second group game on Saturday, who also began their tournament with a disappointing result after they were held 1-1 by competition debutantes Iceland

Hungary sprung a surprise 2-0 win over Austria
Image: Hungary sprung a surprise 2-0 win over Austria on Wednesday

Fuch's side must get at least a point from the Portugal game to keep their qualification hopes for the next round alive, but the 30-year-old insisted Austria would not crack under the pressure. 

Also See:

"I don't have a problem with it," said Fuchs. "It's a nice challenge, because there are world-class players awaiting us on Saturday.

"We will quite clearly be the underdog and the pressure will be more on Portugal, because they weren't at their best against Iceland either."

Portugal's forward Cristiano Ronaldo looks over during the Euro 2016 group F football match between Portugal and Iceland at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium i
Image: Cristiano Ronaldo will look to kick start his Euro 2016 after a wanting display against Iceland

Portugal have Real Madrid's talisman Cristiano Ronaldo among their ranks, but Fuchs dismissed claims Austria would need to keep a close eye on him. 

"We won't resort to medieval tactics and play with a man-to-man marker (to stop him)," said Fuchs.

"You cannot afford to do that nowadays, so it will be important to have an overload in defence whenever he appears to make sure we always have two-on-one situations."

Around Sky