“Something like that happens normally every 100 years”
Curious breakdown at the World Cup qualifier from Rangnick
07.09.2025 – 8:09 a.m.Reading time: 1 min.
Austria had to go against Cyprus in Linz on Saturday. The victory of Ralf Rangnick’s team, however, moved into the background because of a strange break.
Austria celebrated the third victory in the third game in the World Cup qualification against Cyprus (1-0). But something else came to the fore – and led to a curious interruption of the game: a large hole in the lawn, which no longer guaranteed the safety of the players.
Since the hole was about 20 centimeters deep, the Danish referee Jalob Kehlet stopped the duel for around seven minutes. Stadium employees then stuffed it with earth that was excavated behind the gate. Austria’s keeper Alexander Schlager helped to plug the hole.
Nevertheless, Austria’s coach Ralf was visibly irritated. After the victory of his team, he explained: “The moment it happened, I actually thought that there was a hidden camera.”
Then the former Leipzig coach explained: “Now I have been team leader for three years. And twice in their own stadium there was suddenly a hole in the lawn. This normally happens every 100 years, but not in the same country. Of course one now has nothing to do with the other. But that it has happened is strange.”
Already on June 6, 2022, a similar incident occurred in Vienna in the Ernst Happel Stadium. However, the hole was only discovered after the final whistle and then investigated.