City walks

There is still a lack of “Europhoria” before the European Championships

"Krone" reporter Robert Fröwein talks to Viennese people about their thoughts, experiences and worries.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

"Krone" reporter Robert Fröwein strolls through the city and talks to people in Vienna about their experiences, their thoughts, their worries, their fears. Everyday stories straight from the heart of Vienna.

It may be hard to believe from today's perspective, but in just a few days' time the European Football Championships will kick off in Germany. As in the last, Europe-wide edition in 2021, our Austrian national team is playing a major role this time too. Thanks to team manager Ralf Rangnick, even big nations are showing respect for the team, even if the status of secret favorite that is often brought into play seems a little overstated. However, the "Europhoria" that football-mad countries usually feed off has not yet fully arrived in this country. Even big soccer fans in my circle of friends can't tell me off the top of their heads where and in what setting they will be watching the games at public viewings or which mathematical models a team could use to advance.

"When you drive through the streets here, you get the feeling that Austria won't even be there," a cab driver in Vienna recently told me. I replied that the tournament would not be taking place in Austria and that it was therefore not possible to be confronted with it weeks in advance. This only elicited a weary smile from the Turkish-born driver. "In Turkey, the flags would already be waving and there would be heated discussions. In the pubs and on the streets. Even without a major event, soccer is the dominant topic in the country." The relative coolness towards the upcoming sports festival may perhaps be due to our more Nordic disposition, but a not insignificant part of the still prevailing emotional distance towards the tournament in Vienna can also be analyzed by the poor performances of the two major clubs.

While Graz are this year's champions of the Bundesliga and the second division and the whole city went into a week-long frenzy of joy, there is a great drought in Vienna. SK Rapid Vienna stumbled their way to fourth place with an acceptable finish and thus entered the European Cup. After a horrendous spring, Vienna's Austria even managed to finish eighth out of twelve teams - thanks to the league's generous play-off system. These are not worthy results for teams from a metropolis of two million people, which is also clear to the fans in my circle of friends. "We've been bobbing around somewhere in mid-table for years," says an annoyed Rapid fan who has been following his team for decades, "the clubs from smaller cities in the provinces are passing us by in sporting and financial terms and nothing seems to be improving."

Whether worthy or unworthy remains to be seen - the modest performances of the two Viennese soccer flagships certainly do not invite fans to look forward to the next competition with enthusiasm. "For me, the euphoria for the European Championship only really kicks in when I'm on the plane to Düsseldorf for the opening game against France," a good friend and Austria Vienna sympathizer tells me, "it only really gets going when it finally starts." The two Viennese clubs may not have shown their best side this season and the Austrian national team may be missing top players such as David Alaba or Xaver Schlager due to injury - but Austria will be in a collective frenzy of sporting joy by the time the tournament kicks off on June 14 at the latest. And who knows - maybe it will even be enough for a sensation ...