“I hope it will never happen again”: the hole on the lawn in Vienna for Austria-France is the talk of the town – Le Figaro

After the gaping hole in the field which is about to welcome the Blues, the Austrians did not hide their annoyance. Special envoy to Vienna The topic that makes people talk. And talk for nearly seventy-two hours. A player’s injury? A bad result? The weather in Vienna? Nothing of the sort. The appearance of a gaping hole in the lawn of the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna has been controversial in recent days, to the point of being insistently mentioned this Thursday during the traditional pre-match press conferences. But let the Blues of Didier Deschamps, who were not worried on Wednesday evening, be reassured, UEFA has given its agreement to maintain the meeting, counting for the third day of the League of Nations. “I hope it will never happen again,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick told the media on Thursday. For his part, David Alaba, partner of Karim Benzema at Real Madrid and captain of the selection, believes he has “a little less concern” after the validation of UEFA, following in particular a meeting which took place on Wednesday evening. . “The lawn has been analyzed and UEFA has given its approval so we have a little less concern, if any,” said the Austrian defender, who will challenge the Blues on Friday evening in Vienna. During the training of the Austrian selection at 4 p.m., some players and staff members took the time to inspect this part of the field, between smiles and disbelief. A sign that this subject is also talking about the side of the main interested parties. SEE ALSO – Karim Benzema’s first goal with Real Madrid A controversy that stains Austria before hosting the world champions , the appearance of a gaping hole at least 30 centimeters deep in the middle of the field at the end of the meeting between Austria and Denmark on Monday evening in the League of Nations forced the organization to look seriously at this topic. Difficult to do otherwise in view of the state of the lawn and in the face of a growing controversy with videos that quickly made the rounds of the European media. A sequence that looks bad when receiving the reigning world champions. The lawn of the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna. FRANCK FIFE / AFP “The day of the match against Denmark, it was, I would say that the ground was in order. There was no problem,” explained Alaba. Austria’s German coach Ralf Rangnick also returned to the controversy on Monday evening, an evening also marked by a gigantic power failure which delayed kick-off by an hour and a half. To read also “I had this disease?” : Ibrahima Konaté, new in Blue, makes the whole press room laugh No new cavity identified “Two things happened that usually don’t happen in the same evening. I hope it will never happen again in the next 30 years,” he said. “All the external elements on the stadium, we can no longer influence them, so we will focus on what we can influence”, he resumed. Read also“Kamikaze, modern, never in the air”: Mike Maignan, the man who puts pressure on Lloris … and Deschamps The lawn of the Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna. FRANCK FIFE/AFP host of France, with up to 44,800 spectators expected. Hoping this time no false note. (With AFP)