EXTRA TIME

Landmark win for Austria

Austria reached the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time with a deserved 1:0 win over Ukraine which secured a last-16 tie against Italy on Saturday.

*“London calling”: Am Samstag, 21:00 (MESZ), spielt Österreich im Euro-Achtelfinale gegen Italien*

That promises to be a landmark occasion for Austrian football as the country has rarely threatened the latter stages of major tournaments.

While they got through groups at the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, both tournaments featured a second group stage, meaning Saturday’s fixture will be their first knockout match at a major tournament in 67 years, when they finished third at the 1954 World Cup.

Match report (BBC): Ukraine 0-1 Austria – Franco Foda’s side to face Italy in Euro 2020 last 16 https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51198401

June 21, 2021 at 8:39 pm Leave a comment

Summertime

June 20, 2021 at 7:53 pm Leave a comment

Something West Ham …

… after a disappointing night for Austria’s team. Austria had to play without Arnautovic who was suspended for insulting a North-Macedonian player in the 3:1 win last Sunday when he – instead of celebrating his goal – told one of his opponents that he would like to have sex with his Albanian mother….

Austria lost 0:2 against Netherlands with a performance that Alan Shearer, former England striker, dubbed “really poor”:

“There was nothing from Austria this evening. I would have liked to see them come and have a go. I couldn’t believe they stuck with that high line, they should’ve been punished three or four times.”

But never mind, here’s something making us happy again:

June 17, 2021 at 10:44 pm Leave a comment

Rapid in CL-Quali nach Prag

Die Auslosung in Nyon brachte Rapid einen Gegner aus unserem Nachbarland, den tschechischen Vizemeister Sparta Prag. Meister in CZ wurde Slavia Prag, der Ex-Klub von West Ham’s Tschechen Tomas Soucek und Vladimir Coufal.

Rapid hat gegen Sparta am 20. oder 21. Juli Heimvorteil und gastiert am 27. oder 28. Juli in Prag. Um das Ziel einer dritten Teilnahme an der Königsklasse nach 1996/97 und 2005/06 zu erreichen, muss Rapid drei Qualifikationsrunden überstehen. Bei einem Aufstieg geht es in der dritten und vorletzten CL-Qualifikationsrunde weiter, bei einem Aus erfolgt der Umstieg in die dritte Qualifikationsrunde der Europa League.

June 16, 2021 at 1:38 pm Leave a comment

Starting Away

The Premier League fixture list is out and West Ham will start the new season with an away game at Newcastle, followed by two home games against Leicester and Crystal Palace.

The full fixture list can be seen here:

June 16, 2021 at 1:32 pm Leave a comment

“Just wait a little longer”

On Monday evening Boris Johnson announced a delay of four weeks to the removal of COVID restrictions in England

June 14, 2021 at 6:14 pm Leave a comment

Surprise, Thoughts And Prayers

I am happy that Austria and England have won and that „Das Team“ did positively surprise me with a great win in Bucarest, its first at a EURO and also the first win at a major tournament for more than 30 years. But my thoughts and prayers after the starting weekend of the EURO are with Christian Eriksen and the man who fell from the stands in Wembley.

*Denmark’s squad after the collapse: https://sport.sky.de/fussball/artikel/amp/euro-2020-news-kjaer-troestet-freundin-von-eriksen-nach-zusammenbruch/12331433/34942*

When Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch on Saturday, I was not watching because we spent the evening in the “Theater in der Josefstadt”, our first evening in theatre for almost one year, watching “Der Weg ins Freie” by Arthur Schnitzler. When I heard the news afterwards on our way home the football part of Euro 2020 seemed suddenly irrelevant. I also remembered Marc-Vivien Foe, a former West Ham player who had died on the pitch in a similar incident when playing for Cameroon in an international match in June 2003.

But after the news that the Denmark midfielder was awake and stable in hospital, Sunday’s games all went ahead as scheduled and a weekend that will always be remembered for the events in Copenhagen ended with a classic match in Amsterdam which Netherlands won 3:2 against Ukraine in Austria‘s group C.

*Raheem Sterling scored England’s goal (57.) helping Three Lions begin the Euro with victory*

But an other incident should not go unmentioned: An England fan is in a serious condition in hospital after falling from the stands at Wembley during Sunday’s Euro 2020 game against Croatia, officials have said.

“The spectator was given on-site medical attention and was then taken to hospital in a serious condition.” a spokesperson for the ground said in a statement. UEFA is investigating after the England supporter fell just after kick-off at 2pm.