[In the third of his communiques from the Austrian capital our wandering scribe 'Buckram' walks among a shocked Viennese populace, looking for answers - Ed.]

After a surprising performance in their opening match (which sadly didn't yield the rewards the effort richly deserved), many questions have been raised about the city as to just what the flip has gotten into those battle-hungry Austrian players, and what the main reason behind their brave performance actually was.

If one were to believe the hype and the pathetic 'Österreich zeigt Rückgrat' petition (highly insulting - if you think you can do better lads…) before the tournament began, then the lowly ranked boys of red & white would've been better off watching the tournament from the comfort of their respective Heurigens. Even footballing legend Hans Krankl had little to offer by way of encouragement.

But, after an honourable opening encounter in which the players got to show that they do actually know how to play the game, and have backbone to boot (pardon the pun), the tide has turned somewhat, with the average Austrian fan finding a little extra bounce in his/her steps along the strasse. So what has gotten into them? What was the main motivation?

The pride of playing for their country as a host nation in one of football's premier competitions? Maybe. A desire not to be laughed at by their own and to stick two fingers up at the mocking petition? Quite possibly. The fact that they are playing on the biggest stage of their lives and are in the 'shop-window' for all of Europe's elite clubs to see? Could be…

Well yes, of course it is all of these - a combination of things added to training and preparation, which shouldn't go unmentioned. No one reason - many reasons. Many reasons which are, according to my good friend Toni, held together by two main reasons.

Toni is Italian, and like most football obsessed Italians spends the majority of his waking hours pondering on the various philosophies of the game…and the art of defence. When Toni is not philosophising he is working at one of Vienna's little-known gems - the wonderful 70's style ice cream parlour 'Eis Grotte', just a few steps into the Himmelpfortgasse. It was there, whilst tucking into a well-earned bowl of Eis Marillonknödel, that Toni informed me of the two main reasons.

1) - Rocky Balboa. Apparently the players were all instructed to listen to Eye of the Tiger on their ipods during the bus journey to the stadium. Toni wasn't (at first) sure if this was the follow-up to two weeks spent punching dead pigs in his Uncle's frozen food warehouse. After pondering it for a short while he went back to his original thought that no, this was the route taken by the Croats.

2) - Capoeira. Team coach Josef Hickersberger has enlisted the help of renowned English fitness/performance coach, Roger Spry - a specialist in Capoeira type movements.

So there you have it, the two main reasons, and one should never doubt ice cream man Toni. In fact, so carried away got he with his explanation, that he started combining the ruthless punches of the Italian Stallion with the graceful moves of a Brazilian dancer for all to see. This resulted in a round of applause from the few seated customers and myself, which in turn, boosted the pride of the Italian showman so much that I was able to sneak off without paying. And so it was that I too found a little extra bounce in my steps as I moved along the strasse.