European Championship round of sixteen

Leipzig, here we come! Fans ready for the next party

Austria also wants to celebrate a victory with the fans in Leipzig.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

In the Saxon metropolis of Leipzig, Austria will be looking to secure their place in the quarter-finals against Turkey tomorrow (9pm). The venue is one with plenty of history.

The "Krone" reports from Leipzig

Around 20,000 stormed Austria's EURO kick-off in Düsseldorf, around 25,000 conquered Berlin around the unforgettable victories over Poland and the Netherlands - in addition to the footballers, the red-white-red fans were also big winners at this EURO, infecting everyone with their enthusiasm and celebrating exuberant parties that will live long in the memory.

On the site of the once huge central stadium ...

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Elmar Hartmann / Ullstein Bild / picturedesk.com)

... is now the Red Bull Arena.

(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

Now that the team has advanced to the round of 16, the party continues with Leipzig as the next destination. The "Fankurve Österreich" has already called on all fan clubs to march together ahead of the round of 16 match against Turkey (kick-off at 9pm). This will start at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Richard-Wagner-Platz in Leipzig, last around an hour and hopefully culminate in the next sea of red-white-red cheers late in the evening. "Stadium of 100,000 "In a stadium with history and stories: Because one of the symbols of the GDR, the Zentralstadion, was built on the site of today's Red Bull Arena in 1955. The "stadium of 100,000" - so named because of its gigantic capacity - was built in just 16 months, with 180,000 volunteers contributing over 730,000 hours of work. As a result, a third of Leipzig's wartime rubble disappeared from the cityscape, forming the 23-metre-high stadium wall from 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble.

Hattenberger (left) played with Austria in Leipzig in 1977 in a 1:1 draw against the GDR.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Frank Kruczynski / dpa Picture Alliance / picturedesk.com)

Stars such as Fritz Walter, Eusebio and Diego Maradona played in the gigantic oval - Austria's national team also played there three times. In 1965 and 1977 in front of 95,000 fans each time, in 1988 only 22,000 watched the 1:1 in the World Cup qualifier, a duel with historical significance: it was the last international match in the old Zentralstadion. The oval had long since fallen into disrepair and was eventually even closed. It was not until the 2006 World Cup that it was restored to its former glory: Because the 23-metre-high spectator wall of the Zentralstadion could not be demolished, the new arena, which now seats 47,00 spectators, was built into the wall. "A wonderful solution, the arena now stands on the site of the previous Zentralstadion," explains Leipzig club representative Perry Bräutigam. Old wooden benches and old staircases are still a reminder of times gone by.

With Mateschitz to the top
While Austria has been heavily involved since 2009, Didi Mateschitz has made Leipzig internationally popular as a soccer city after his multi-million euro investment in Red Bull, leading it all the way to the Champions League. With plenty of Austrian power on the pitch. Which will be on show again tomorrow in the round of 16 against Turkey in the person of Konrad Laimer, Marcel Sabitzer, Nicolas Seiwald and Christoph Baumgartner. And together with their team-mates, will hopefully provide Austria with its next great moment.