Hetemaj gives Finland a lifeline

Goals from Christoph Saurer and Florian Klein gave Austria a narrow lead in their play-off against Finland for a place in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but Perparim Hetemaj's crucial away goal leaves the visiting side with plenty of hope ahead of the second leg in Turku on Tuesday. Great start Austria got off to a brilliant start at the Waldstadion and went ahead with ten minutes played when Saurer headed in Veli Kavlak's cross. Three minutes later, Saurer's LASK Linz team-mate Klein pounced on an error in the Finnish defence and drove the ball into the left corner to make it 2-0. Austria were dominant and moments later Saurer came close with a shot that flew narrowly over the crossbar. Confidence With confidence flowing Austria pushed forward and forced Finland into a number of errors, their pressing... [read full story]