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VIENNA, Austria (AP) -Two first-half goals from free kicks and a penalty after the break gave Austria a 3-1 win over France in a World Cup qualifying match on Saturday.
Austria played aggressively to earn its first win in 38 years against World Cup finalist France, which wasn't able to take advantage of its technical strengths in front of 48,000 people at a sold-out Ernst Happel Stadium.
"This was a nice piece of work," Austria coach Karel Bruckner said. "We had to work hard as France was the more creative team."
Austria took the lead in the eighth minute when a curling free kick by captain Andreas Ivanschitz into the area was misjudged by France defender Philippe Mexes, who pushed the ball past his own goalkeeper, Steve Mandana.
Austria made it 2-0 in the 41st from a similar situation. Ivanschitz's free kick reached Rene Aufhauser, whose 10-meter (yard) shot was slightly deflected by William Gallas to again beat Mandanda.
France started more aggressively in the second half and increased the tempo of the game. Karim Benzema and Thierry Henry, who hardly had any impact in the first half, showed some dangerous dribbling.
In the 60th, Benzema's cross from the left wing reached Sidney Gouvou, who controlled the ball before hammering it into the net at the near post.
Four minutes later, Austria goalkeeper Alexander Manninger pushed a 30-meter (yard) shot by Jeremy Toulalan onto the crossbar.
"Key factor to the match was that we stayed calm in that difficult phase," Bruckner said.
Bruckner picked Manninger - a substitute at Juventus - in favor of Juergen Macho, who was Austria's No. 1 goalkeeper at Euro 2008 but had recently been sidelined for several weeks with a broken rib.
Austria received a penalty in the 72nd minute. While awaiting a corner, Mexes pulled down Marc Janko in the area and Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen awarded the spot kick, which Ivanschitz converted.
The loss could further place pressure on France coach Raymond Domenech, who kept his job despite the team's disappointing performance at the European Championship. France will seek a win over Serbia next Wednesday to regain confidence.
"Like every other loss, this one hurts," Domenech said. "We build up lots of pressure but did not convert our chances. It just wasn't going to be today. That's bitter, but we still have a lot of matches ahead of us."
