This summer marks 10 years since Austria last qualified for a major tournament - and the cynics will be quick to point out they haven't actually qualified for this one, securing their place by winning the bidding to co-host it.
This will also be their first-ever appearance in a European Championship having failed to qualify on each of their previous attempts.
That is the clearest things aren't what they were in Austrian football, particularly set against the background of their 'Wunderteam' of the 1930s.Their fourth-placed finish in the World Cup in 1934 was only bettered 20 years later when the national side won the third/fourth place play-off after losing to Germany in the semi-finals, but sadly players of the quality of Hans Krankl and Toni Polster have been in the minority as their fortunes have taken a dive.
By far the lowest-ranked team to compete in this summer's tournament, Austria slipped out of the top 100 in the FIFA rankings after a run of just one win in 14 matches to the start of this year.
In his second spell in charge of the national side, Hickersberger is one of an elite band to have appeared at a World Cup both as a player and a coach.
He did the former in 1978, winning the last of his 39 caps during the tournament, and the latter in 1990 during his first spell in control.
After a playing career which took in Austria Vienna, Offenbacher Kickers, Fortuna Dusseldorf, SSW Innsbruck and Rapid Vienna, he started coaching with the Austrian Under-21 side before promotion to the senior set-up.
And though his tenure would include securing qualification for the 1990 World Cup, he left the post when Austria infamously lost 1-0 to minnows the Faroe Islands in the first match of their Euro 92 qualifying campaign.
Fortuna gave him a return to the domestic game but he was attracted by the lure of foreign fields and had spells with Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Arab Contractors, Al Shabab and Al Wasl and picked up more international experience in Bahrain.
Returning to his homeland with Rapid in 2002, he would win the Austrian title before returning to his post as national boss.
But it has been tough for Hickersberger second time round as he has struggled to find the right blend and has had little to cheer.
