Good chances of an international match against Germany

After yesterday’s European Championship qualifier against Estonia (still in progress at the time this issue went to press), the footballers of the Austrian national team went back to their clubs – although it was easiest for those who needed a car chauffeur to get them to their clubs bring to neighboring countries.

The early flight on Tuesday from Linz to Frankfurt was not an option because the flight from Upper Austria was also canceled due to the strikes in Germany. Some players had the ÖFB team bus bring them to Vienna in order to catch their international flights from there.

As already reported, the chances are good that Linz will receive an international match during the course in September. With the Republic of Moldova, the opponent should also be as good as certain. September 7th is the free date for this friendly game. For the match against Sweden in Solna on September 12, the team will take off in Linz and head for Vienna after the match.

The same applies to the June course in Windischgarsten, where you prepare for the European Championship qualifier in Brussels against Belgium (June 17), before continuing three days later against Sweden in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.

Most recently in 2018 against Germany

There should be a good chance that Austria will host a real hit at the end of the international game year. Rumors have been around for a long time that after last year’s European champions Italy, Germany will play against the Rangnick team this time. ÖFB Managing Director Bernhard Neuhold only confirms “that we have the plan to bring a top European nation to Vienna in November. However, detailed talks are still underway.”

It would be time to play against the four-time world champion again after five years. Most recently, there was a 2-1 win for red-white-red in Klagenfurt in 2018. Before that, in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, they lost 3-0 to the eventual world champions in Munich and 2-1 at home in Vienna.

Regarding further international matches in Linz, Neuhold says: “There’s a good chance that we’ll play in Upper Austria on September 7th.” The Austrian national team moves to Linz, the stadium was sold out long before kick-off yesterday. The last remaining regular tickets were sold early in the morning. Only a few VIP tickets were still available. The ÖFB did everything they could to fill the stadium completely.

It was also decided to block the lowest part of the three VIP and business areas. Neuhold: “We could have sold around 150 more VIP tickets on Friday. But it wouldn’t have made sense because the business area would have been extremely empty with these 150 people. In addition, around 500 places would have remained free because a sector was either can only offer it completely or not at all as a business area.”

Linz as the only alternative

Currently, Linz is the only serious alternative, as long as Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium, with its capacity of 48,000 spectators, is not (almost) sold out. In Klagenfurt, the capacity (30,000) is much larger than the demand for tickets. In Salzburg you are not welcome due to the intensive use of the lawn by Red Bull Salzburg and FC Liefering. And at the Allianz Stadium of SK Rapid there are polite phrases from both directions – but a real agreement is miles away.

The Allianz Stadium would be the only arena in which the ÖFB could achieve at least as much income in the hospitality sector as in Linz. All other stadiums – from the Happelstadion to the Generali Arena of Vienna Austria – lag far behind in this regard. The same applies to the arenas in Innsbruck and Graz.