Austrian Flags Come Quietly Down

It wasn't yesterday's result that hurt Austria's fans, it was the pre-match hope. Traveling into Vienna city-center on the U-Bahn, the prevailing mood among the locals was one of cautious optimism tinged with a fear of humiliation that became more apparent any time Germany supporters boarded the carriage.

Eerily composed and self-assured by comparison, they looked more businesslike than their sheepish Austrian counterparts. Their colors had clearly seen more action than those of the locals, many of whom wore replica jerseys and Cordoba 78 t-shirts that had evidently begun the day wrapped in cellophane. They're fond of face-painting here in Vienna and the worry was that local cheeks reddened with make-up before the match would end it scarlet with embarrassment.

Although the inevitable defeat came to pass, the humiliation didn't. Despite winning by the most slender of margins, Germany never really looked in any danger as Austria's ongoing impotence in the final third proved their undoing once again. Waiting for the game to kick-off on one of many big screens hoisted especially for the occasion in the courtyard of the WUK (an arty cultural collective with an often bearded audience who looked more likely to click their fingers than cheer in appreciation of any goals that might be scored), I got talking to a bloke who told me he's a footballer playing out his twilight years for a side in the Austrian third division.

His name is Gilbert Prilasnig and under intense interrogation he eventually revealed he's a former stalwart of the Sturm Graz side that won Champions League Group D in 1990, to become the first Austrian side to reach the second round. He's played against Manchester United on three occasions, lost all three matches, got sent off in one and has Roy Keane's shirt at home alongside his 16 Austria caps. Wheedling that much information out of such a modest chap helped kill the hour before the game.

When I ask him if he'd like to be playing against the Germans, he just smiles. After the match he's philosophical: "They were too strong, we couldn't score, but we did OK," he says. His view seems to be the general consensus among Austrians: that this wasn't so much an opportunity to rock European football to its very foundations blown, more the risk of humiliation mercifully averted.

With their team eliminated, only time will tell how much, if any, interest co-hosts Austria will take in the business end of Euro 2008. Interestingly, the flag that's been hanging from the window of the flat below ours for the past 10 days had already been removed by the time we got home last night. For you, Austrian neighbor, the European Championship is over.