Diary / Jonathan Wilson / 24 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Jonathan Wilson talks downtown Vienna, subterranean communities, Schweinsteiger's preferential treatment and Faith Therim's selection problems

The guide-books probably glibly call Vienna a city of contrasts, but it's staggering what that actually means. The Vienna you always think of is the centre, the beautiful boulevards that surround St Stephen's cathedral, where you get a real sense of the grandeur of
Austro-Hungary, but you don't have to go too far to see a much seedier side.

As I lugged an insanely heavy bag from the Sudbahnhof to my hotel yesterday, I was struck by the blasted look of the streets, the waste ground and the slight sense of menace. But, I reasoned, the area around stations is never that luxurious, no matter what the city. But
then yesterday I headed to Karlsplatz, which is only a short walks from St Stephen's. On the surface, where the opera house faces the park, it is beautiful, but down below, as you leave the U- Bahn station, it's like something from a George A Romero film.

Winos lurch soullessly around, grey-faced and dead-eyed. Vast numbers have people seem to have bruises in odd places, on their arms, on their calves; it's not hard to diagnose drug use. The sub-culture probably exists in most cities, but it still seems strange that the Viennese authorities should allow it to co-exist so closely with the tourist centre of town. Not 40 yards from the station and its subterranean community of zombies, I enjoyed a cappuccino on the
terrace of a fancy café in the shadow of the magnificent opera house.

All that spoiled the atmosphere of tranquillity was the first sign of chairs being thrown by the English. That came as something of a surprise, particularly as it was me who was sent clattering across the pavement, narrowly missing a parked car. A raised wooden floor, a
wobbly leg and a carelessly slung laptop bag were to blame but, still, having inadvertently let slip the furniture of war, it seemed best to make the most of it with a few snarls and invocations never to surrender to the IRA. Which was useful, because without the usual constant reminders from England fans, I had been on the verge of doing so.

Later in the day I headed out to the Franz Horr Stadion, where Austria Vienna play, for a Turkey training session. Injuries and suspensions have cut to 14 the number of players available for Wednesday's semi-final against Germany, a situation that hasn't been helped by the rejection of their appeal against the two-match ban given to Volkan Demirel for the red card he picked up for shoving Jan Koller in the 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic. That is baffling, given his
offence seemed little different to the shove on Croatia's Jerko Leko for which Bastian Schweinsteiger was suspended for one game. Had he also been banned for two matches, he wouldn't have played against Portugal, and it might not have been Germany Turkey are facing
tomorrow.

Such is the sense of crisis that there is even talk of the third-choice goalkeeper Tolga Zengin being pressed into action as an emergency midfielder. That, presumably, is a joke, but the security preventing journalists catching even a glimpse of training was abnormally tight, suggesting perhaps that Fatih Terim is preparing something special.

The dozens of fans who had turned up to watch their heroes presumably went home disappointed. That they were there at all is indicative of how this side have captured the imagination, and also of the numbers of Turkish immigrants to Vienna. There are even more, of course, in Hamburg, Munich and Berlin - over 3 million in total in Germany. Two of this Turkish squad, in fact, were born in Germany: the full-backs Hakan Balta and Hamit Altintop. "Hamit is particularly looking forward to this match," said the defender Gokhan Zan. "The Turkish fans in
Germany, like Turks all around the world will be looking forward to this game and hoping for us to win. I just hope the Turkish fans willwatch with the German fans in a good spirit of fair play."

That may happen, but if Turkey are to win, they will surely need an even greater miracle than the ones that have carried them this far.

Tags: Euro 2008 bets, Faith Terim, Vienna city centre