There is a long history in football matches between Germany and Austria dating back to the time in between the World Wars when Austria had a great team which by 1938 had to be integrated into the new German "Reichself" after the annexation of Austria. This team failed miserably in the 1938 World Cup and ever since have games between those two nations been very explosive and exciting. When Austria beat Germany in the 1978 World Cup (3-2) it meant the end of the German World Cup campaign. Austria still thrives on those memories mainly becase they haven't won anything since then. In 1982 a horrible stalemate ("The Shame Of Gijon") produced a 1-0 win for Germany securing their advance to the next stage at the expense of the Algerians. I think I remember a brutal beating in 1986, the first match in which Lothar Matthäus was captain of the German team, when Germany lost 1-4 in Vienna. At the same stadium in 2004 the "2006 project" of Jürgen Klinsmann took its first step with a convincing 3-0 win over Austria.
So both teams met in Vienna again yesterday and right from the national anthems - when the German anthem was drowned in a whisteling from the Austrian supporters - you knew there was something on again. Austria was the better team in the first half in which the German side was totally disappointing. One could see that goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was out of form, the midfield was not existent and it was only because the defense was holding on that Austria didn't score. After the break Germany got back in control and scored three times to bring down the Euro hosts.
Elsewhere Italy crushed Portugal (3-1), England beat Euro co-hosts Switzerland (2-1) and Spain once again stettled into their favourite role as the dark horse with a win over France (1-0)
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