Enough has probably been said about the whole Tyrol episode this season, so a game with no aggro and a good result was what we were looking for. I think the police and the league authorities had planned our game to coincide with Innsbruck’s first team’s game, so it was obvious their fans would be at the other game. Good for us because we could play a kind of ‘lock-out’ game and put them under pressure, and because there’s nothing wrong with getting through a few games without the press finding negative shit to write.
In hindsight one important feature of the Wacker Innsbruck game was the fact that it was attended by two English blokes in FCUM (FC United of Manchester) t-shirts. Ground-hoppers. Dreamers. Idealists! Who said romance is dead? Not hand-holding romance – in case you saw a blond-haired bloke and a stubbly black-haired bloke going everywhere together – including the toilets. I mean a different kind of romance. Jim and Paul flew over from England to ‘watch’ an Austria Salzburg game because they’d heard a bit about the story and fancied a weekend in Salzburg. I say ‘watch’ deliberately, because Paul is blind.
Initially, you ask yourself what a blind bloke gets out of a game of football if he can’t see it..., ...but how many of us went to the games in the first two seasons to watch good football? ...or to eat good food? .... or to enjoy the comfort of VIP lounges? We go to football because we want the atmosphere – to soak it in, be involved and contribute to it. Some people see football – some feel it!
As my dear old mum used to say: ‘There are none so blind as those who do not wish to see!’ Maybe it’s a good exercise for all of us to think about. I remember watching a documentary about St Pauli a few years ago and they even organised a commentary service for their blind fans. When the fans were asked what they got out of coming to games they couldn’t see, one of them said ‘Do you always fuck with the light on?’
As far as the game was concerned, Innsbruck spent a lot of the game paying the price for not having a large enough squad. The tactics they came with were fairly mid-table. Play on the counter attack, stay tight at the back, look for openings and break quickly. With no travelling support, nothing to win or lose in terms of the league table, and with no pros on the pitch they were limited to four or five counter attacks spread over the whole game. Although we looked determined to concede at least one goal, Alex Trappl managed to fend off the chances Innsbruck didn’t waste themselves and as the game wore on Innsbruck let us have more of the ball. On 53 minutes Vujic put us 1-0 up and five minutes later a Harry Hirsch free kick saw us 2-0 up and, with no star strikers to bring off the bench, Innsbruck ran out of ideas and the game ended 2-0.
See you Saturday!
Roge
SV Austria Salzburg - FC Wacker Innsbruck Amateure 2-0 (0-0)
Austria Salzburg played with:
Trappl; Kreuzwirth, Reifeltshammer, Schmidt (46. Sonko), Hirsch; Urbanek (66. Wührer), Pavlovic, Kletzl (46. Borozni), Federer, Märzendorfer; Vujic
Goals:
1-0: Vujic (53.) (Assist: Borozni)
2-0: Hirsch (58., Freistoß) (Assist: Urbanek)
Shots total: Austria 20 / Wacker 5
Shots on target: Austria 7 / Wacker 1
Shots blocked: Austria 5 / Wacker 1
Corners: Austria 9 / Wacker 2
Fouls: Austria 20 / Wacker 13
Offsides: Austria 5 / Wacker 9
Yellow cards:
Austria: 2 (Kreuzwirth, 44./foul; Sonko, 63./foul)
Wacker: 2 (Cihak, 57./foul; Nitzlnader, 67./foul)
Yellow-red:
Austria: 0
Wacker: 1 (Nitzlnader, 90./foul)
Salzburg-Maxglan, MyPhone-Austria-Stadion, 1350 spectators
Ref: Voislav Zubcic; Assistants: Peter Gruber, Cindy Zeferino de Oliveira
