Nine teams advanced to the next round of the Austrian Cup today. All four of the Bundesliga teams (Sturm Graz, Bregenz, Mattersburg, Admira Wacker) won their contests, though Admira Wacker did so courtesy of penalty kicks. Ried, relegated from the Bundesliga after last year, also advanced. The top two Erste Liga teams (Austria Lustenau, Kapfenberg) weren't as lucky and lost to lower-division squads. Three more matches remain in this round, with Rapid Wien and Pasching having chances to advance.
Forgot to note that the four teams currently competing in the UEFA Cup (Austria Wien, GAK, Salzburg, Kärnten) will complete the round of 16...
Rapid Wien and FC Lustenau have now advanced as well. Last remaining match of the round is St. Pölten - FC Superfund Pasching. If Pasching wins, all ten Bundesliga teams will be in the final 16 of the Austrian Cup.
Upcoming matches in the Austrian cup: TUS Arnfels - Rapid Wien SV Hartberg - Austria Wien Sturm Graz - SV Pasching or SV Sankt Pölten FC Wacker Tirol - Graz AK FC Lustenau - SW Bregenz
Upcoming matches in the Austrian cup: TUS Arnfels - Rapid Wien SV Hartberg - Austria Wien Sturm Graz - SV Pasching or SV Sankt Pölten FC Wacker Tirol - Graz AK FC Lustenau - SW Bregenz FC Kärnten - SV Salzburg Admira Wacker Mödling - SV Mattersburg SV Ried - SC Untersiebenbrunn
GAK had perhaps the best second-half in the league last year to finish second. This season, they got off to a bit of a slower start, but they've won four straight and now sit in third place. Folks think very highly of their coach, former Austrian international striker Walter Schachner. Check out the "Austrian Bundesliga [R]" thread for league results...
Pasching advanced over St. Pölten to become the last team in the final 16. This tournament's on hold for a while as the next round doesn't take place until March 23rd. Ah, Austrian winters...
After a loooong break of four months, the Austrian Cup resumed today with five matches in the Round of 16. (No, I refuse to call it the Sweet 16!) The remaining three quarterfinalists will be determined tomorrow. Sturm Graz 2 - 0 SV Pasching FC Wacker Tirol 1 - 2 Graz AK Admira Wacker Mödling 0 - 2 SV Mattersburg SV Ried 3 - 1 SC Untersiebenbrunn FC Lustenau 1 - 1 SW Bregenz [Bregenz wins 1-3 on PKs; regulation ended 0-0; extra time ended 1-1] So far, four out of five are Bundesliga teams. If Austria Wien and Rapid Wien win tomorrow, we'll have all but one quarterfinalist representing the Bundesliga.
Due to previous postponements, the four Austrian Cup games today were a combination of Round of 16 and Quarterfinals matchups. Round of 16 TUS Arnfels 0 - 1 Rapid Wien FC Kärnten 4 - 0 SV Salzburg Quarterfinals Mattersburg 0 - 0 Austria Wien [1 - 4 on PKs] Sturm Graz 4 - 0 Bregenz Both Salzburg and Bregenz lost big in the end after playing down a man for about half the match. Rapid took until the 85th minute to put away Arnfels from the Regionalliga, while Austria went to PKs to advance. Austria Wien and Sturm Graz are paired in one semi-final (May 4). Rapid Wien - GAK (April 21) and Ried - Kärnten (April 20) will determine the other two spots. Final is May 23.
The last two semi-final spots were determined yesterday and today. Ried and GAK join Austria Wien and Sturm Graz in the final four. Ried 2 - 2 Kärnten [3 - 1 in PKs] Rapid Wien 1 - 3 GAK Especially tough loss for Kärnten. They went ahead five minutes into extra time after ending regulation tied 1-1. In the last minute of extra time, Ried tied the match again and went on to win the penalty kicks. Meanwhile, GAK beat Rapid Wien for the third time in the past four weeks, ending Rapid's hopes for both Bundesliga and Cup titles.
Semifinal GAK 3 - 2 Ried Valiant effort by Erste Liga side Ried. Down a man for the last half hour and playing away, they still pushed Bundesliga leaders GAK until the end. The deciding goal was scored in the 86th minute. Austria Wien and Sturm Graz play the other semifinal tomorrow. If Austria wins, the Cup and Bundesliga titles will be contested by the same two clubs, GAK and Austria Wien. If Sturm wins, the Cup final will be a Graz derby. Interesting either way.
Semifinal Sturm Graz 1 - 1 Austria Wien [Austria wins on PKs 4 - 5] Sturm Graz tied the match in the last of three added-on minutes in regulation. However, after scoreless extra time, Austria Wien won the decisive penalty kicks. Impressively, Austria Wien reaches the final without playing a home match. Less impressively, they advanced the last two times on penalty-kick tie breakers. This sets up a wonderful GAK vs. Austria Wien Cup Final on May 23 in Salzburg. That's three days after the last Bundesliga round, and one of these teams will be looking to avenge losing the Bundesliga title to the other one. Both are still in the hunt for the Austrian double.
Now that's a final! This Cupfinal will be a very heated affair... I also think we're looking at a sellout for this year. That's good news after the meager 6,000 the Memphis Cup drew last year...
Wow, a Cup Final worthy of its build-up! (Incidentally, it's now called the "Stiegl Cup.") The two finalists were Austria Wien and GAK, the two teams that just finished a battle for the Bundesliga title. One point separated the two in the league, and this one turned out to be as close. The final took place in Salzburg in front of 7,900 fans. Two creative Austria Wien midfielders Wagner and Vastic were suspended for the final. Two more key Austria players left the field injured in the first half (Blanchard 15th, Rushfeldt 33rd). Sean Dundee replaced striker Sigurd Rushfeldt. However, between these two setbacks, Radoslaw Gilewicz put the Viennese ahead in the 28th minute. GAK tied it in first-half injury time through Bazina. Dundee reestablished Austria Wien's lead in the 64th minute, and when GAK's Tokic received his second yellow in the 84th minute, the match appeared decided. However, two minutes later GAK equalized through Kollman, and the game went into overtime. In the extra period, Gilewicz again gave Austria Wien the lead (99th minute), but just six minutes later GAK equalized yet again (Aufhauser, 105th). Several additional good chances, but the final score stood at 3-3. Seems only fitting that this one would be decided by penalty kicks. Goalkeepers Safar (Austria) and Almer (GAK) couldn't save any of the first eight PKs. In the fifth frame, the substitute GAK keeper was finally successful against Sean Dundee to secure his team a 5-4 PK win. 2003/04 Austrian Cup Champions: GAK Congrats to GAK for winning the double! Last year's double winner Austria Wien came up oh so short in both events. A very exciting soccer season in Austria all around!