Of course, knowing some of the away games are going mean longer drives than in recent years is one thing. Dealing with this issue with our nearest and dearest is another. As Kufstein is not really a million miles away I wanted either to go, or needed a waterproof excuse for not going. As it turned out I’d forgotten my girlfriend was still on her last week of holidays and did not particularly approve of me spending one of our last evenings in another county with 400 beer-drinking Salzburg gentlemen. Then, in order not to give her a bad conscience, divine intervention sealed my fate by causing my internet connection to break down all over the house, a problem I wasted two hours on solving – without success. So in the end there was no Kufstein trip, no chance to use the internet to finish my work, and because the weather was nothing special we couldn’t do anything outdoors anyway.
So from this perspective the Kufstein result, a hard-fought 0-0 was the best result I could have expected in the circumstances. That said, the result itself says a lot about this year’s crop of players. Without being incredibly spectacular the team is managing to grind out results we weren’t expecting. I remember at the start of the 2nd Landesliga we were all mighty relieved to have salvaged a point from the first home game against Strobl (I think) and from that point on we began to experience what it’s like when you don’t have a 3-0 win guarantee like in previous years. Over the last two years I lost count of the number of games we somehow won without ever looking like we were completely in control. And now, without wanting to pre-empt a new dawn or count chickens before they hatch, we now seem to have a team that is capable of wringing out results – even against teams that are considered to be title aspirants. For the first time since the end of the 6th division we have a team that truly inspires confidence, mine anyway, and it’s now difficult learning how to relax and enjoy the football.
Following the 0-0 in Kufstein the weather picked up midweek and the Saturday home game against St Johann took place in scorching late summer sunshine in front of a crowd of 1250. Last year St Johann knocked us out of the cup and with expectations for this year initially focussed on survival and consolidation, the focus is on supporting the team rather than terrorising them into winning. If you’d asked me what I thought before the game I’d have gone for a 1-1 draw and a light dose of alcohol poisoning. Having drunk a couple of shandies in my favourite vintage furniture, decorative accessories and coffee bar before the game, and having received permission to drink a few beers from headquarters, and having heard from Christian that he was also authorised to get drunk, things looked to be panning out nicely...
Until the third minute of the game. One so-called expert, a rival manager, was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, ‘The main strength of Austria Salzburg is that they have no weaknesses’. Wrong! We do not know how to defend against set pieces: corners and indirect free kicks, or against crosses coming in from the by-line. The other problem seems to be, we don’t know how to keep the game under control in the first five minutes. As St Johann came forward we were pressed into our own half for the entire opening period. Salva had only just got the fan machinery cranked up into second gear and Christian had only just bought the first beers when we saw St Johann hands reach towards the sky. A headed goal for Stefan Plut of the away team from a corner and we were starting yet another game effectively 0-1 down.
Nevertheless, whereas in previous seasons we witnessed awful wars of attrition with unconditional headless-chicken attacks, counter attacks, goalmouth scrambles, running up and down the pitch like psychotic rhinos, sending-offs and more general panic than a full-ark break-out at the zoo as Austria Salzburg looked for equalisers and winners, it now also seems as if we have a team that looks calmer with the pressure on. Strange, but after the goal went in we started to get into the game, and just like against the little bulls the pressure paid off during the first half as Vujic cut inside from a ball from Kletzl and fired off to make it 1-1 on 12 minutes.
Round about this time I noticed Anif trainer, Tom Hofer, and a couple of his cohorts taking notes. Paranoid as I am I took it personally and assumed he was spying on the Austria. On taking him up on the issue he explained they were there to watch St Johann as they have to play them twice in the next couple of weeks – I believed him anyway, but I’d been drinking. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d check the facts for myself on the SFV website – but I am lazy, so I won’t.
Last year some of Peter ‘The Horse’ Urbanek’s adrenaline hits seemed to be largely detached from the rest of Austria Salzburg’s game, leaving immense gaps at the back, but so far this season the defence has looked far more stable and has been able to compensate the gaps. Five minutes after drawing level it was another one of these forays that produced Urbanek’s first of the day to put us in front on 17 minutes as what looked like a cross was parried by the keeper onto the crossbar and landed in the goal – tee-hee-hee! 2-1 for Austria Salzburg.
This seemed to demoralise the St Johann team as they struggled for ideas. Lelic missed a good opportunity and another goal was adjudged offside, but other than that the Austria seemed to have the game under control. Nico Mayer missed on 27 minutes, Schmidt missed a sitter on 35 minutes. Finally, Peter Urbanek had obviously eaten some more sugar lumps (horses love sugar lumps) as he was off again, this time down the right wing. A perfectly weighted Reifeltshammer pass was picked up cutting in towards goal and shifting to his left foot Urbanek curled the ball round Daniel Reiter. 3-1 to the Austria and Christian was finally starting to enjoy his beer. Half time and it was my turn to get the beers in – now on our fourth.
Who knows what will happen over the rest of the season, but at the moment it’s great being able to watch a team that can play football without all the stress of having to win. We have a team that can win and there’s no rush to go up to the next division as we have a lot of infrastructural catching up to do in terms of parking, stands, floodlights, security arrangements etc. Still, it’s nice to have such problems.
As is the case when you drink four beers in one hour, the second half tends to become wallpaper for a drinking session. Christian always looks raggy after a few beers and develops this intense need to eat stodgy, starchy, fatty, meaty food to soak up the beer – so he did – Schnitzelsemmel, Schnitzelsemmel – tomato ketchup and mayonnaise all over his face. Drinking pros like myself can go hours without the intake of solid food – until the adrenaline levels drop after the game and you suddenly realise you have to eat an elephant or die. There are days when drinking is struggle (Christian was having one of these) and there are days when the beer flows like the rain in Salzburg in April (I was having one of these days).
The second half, or what I can remember of it, went according to plan. Whereas in previous years we were completely incapable of taking control of the game and closing the opponents out, always conceding some time before the end; this year it looks like we finally have a team that doesn’t freeze in panic when it goes in front. It’s not easy watching football and relaxing. It’s not easy watching football and not complaining. These are two new experiences. Football is not about enjoyment or relaxation. New daddy Drax, who normally mounts the ‘Verdammten’ banner, drinks three pints, smokes 8 cigs and whinges at defensive mistakes and tactical weaknesses for 90 minutes, was also uncharacteristically positive and by the end he was looking quite at ease despite the intensive first two weeks of parenthood enjoyed by lady Martina and his good self. I’d just like to exploit this opportunity unashamedly to wish the both of them all the very best. I don’t want to influence the choice of uncle in any way, but I do think it should be me! Anyway...
Even Christian on his fifth beer began to thaw out, something he doesn’t usually do unless we are 4-0 up with two minutes to go, and even then he’s still wary. As the relaxation hit me and the adrenaline wore off I realised I was a bit drunk and had the munchies big time, so once Christian had waited until five minutes after the full time whistle to be sure nothing could go wrong, the more sober of the collective told us we were going to the Schmuggler, a great pub/restaurant/bar just over the German border, to get something to eat. Now Christian was loose enough to load into a car without breaking his arms and legs we set off to get fat and even more drunk.
All the best - Roge
SV Austria Salzburg - TSV St. Johann 3-1 (3-1)
Austria Salzburg played with:
Huber; Kreuzwirth, Schmidt, Milic, Hirsch; Urbanek, Kletzl (63. Borozni), Neubauer (74. Wührer), Reifeltshammer, Mayer (57. Märzendorfer); Vujic
Goals:
0-1: Plut (3.)
1-1: Vujic (12.)
2-1: Urbanek (17.) (Assist: Vujic)
3-1: Urbanek (41.) (Assist: Reifeltshammer)
Shots: Austria 14 / St. Johann 11
Shots on target: Austria 5 / St. Johann 5
Shots blocked: Austria 2 / St. Johann 1
Corners: Austria 5 / St. Johann 7
Fouls: Austria 27 / St. Johann 19
Offsides: Austria 2 / St. Johann 9
Yellow cards:
Austria: 1 (Borozni, 75./foul)
St. Johann: 2 (Öztürk, 82./foul; Thaler, 91./foul)
Salzburg-Maxglan, MyPhone-Austria-Stadion, 1250 spectators
Ref: Friedrich Ferdinand; Assistants: Ben Erik Salb, Philip Frank
