This photo was taken about two months ago when the sun was still around in Vienna, so the numbers on this sign have dwindled by 60 days (Tage) or so.
If you don’t know, and you probably don’t since you’re most likely an American, Austria is hosting the 2008 European Soccer Championships next summer. They will be sharing the hosting duties with neighboring Switzerland.
As with most events of this nature the host country gets an automatic bid into the tournament even if they don’t belong there. And believe me, the Austrian soccer team just isn’t very good at all. They are so bad, that a group of Austrian soccer fans started a petition to try and revoke Austria’s automatic bid to the tournament.
Their appeal is to fans who appreciate aesthetically pleasing soccer: Nice passes, exciting dribbling skills, beautiful goals. You won’t see this if Austria plays, they warn.
Reportedly they have 10,000 signatures on their petition in only about a month’s time. And if you want to further support the cause you can even buy a T-shirt, which I totally would if they didn’t cost 20 Euro.
In any case you gotta love that home town team spirit. It makes me feel like I’m back in Philly the way these Austrians get behind their team.
Here is the official website where you can sign the petition: http://www.rueckgrat.cc/
A current news item with more details is found here if you’re interested: Fans campaign for Austrian team to pull out of Euro 2008.