AUSTRIA: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - Austrian police say Croatia-Turkey clashes most dramatic since start of Euro 2008

Record ID: 334920

  • Title: AUSTRIA: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - Austrian police say Croatia-Turkey clashes most dramatic since start of Euro 2008
  • Date: 22nd June 2008
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JUNE 21, 2008) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR EURO 2008 MEDIA CENTRE HEAD TABLE AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM VIENNA POLICE CLOSER VIEW OF VIENNA POLICE SPOKESMAN CHRISTIAN STELLA (SOUNDBITE) (German) VIENNA POLICE SPOKESMAN CHRISTIAN STELLA, SAYING: "For the Vienna police it was a marathon deployment. We had the most people out so far this tournament
  • Embargoed: 7th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADU3CXU2HBZ2BDWMG0CLTM7UT9
  • Story Text: Clashes between Turkish and Croatian fans provided Vienna's police force with its toughest Euro 2008 challenge, a spokesman for the police said on Saturday (June 21).

    "For the Vienna police it was a marathon deployment. We had the most people out so far this tournament," said Vienna Police spokesman Christian Stella, adding that the dramatic game caused emotions to rise among spectators.
    Never-say-die Turkey reached the Euro 2008 last four by snatching a penalty shootout victory against Croatia after saving themselves with an equaliser from the last kick of another nail-biting quarter-final on Friday (June 20).
    The Turks won 3-1 on penalties having looked out of the tournament a minute before the end of extra time when Ivan Klasnic put Croatia 1-0 ahead following a goalless 90 minutes.
    Instead, Semih Senturk blasted an equaliser in the last seconds of an absorbing match to take it to the dreaded penalty shootout where a still shell-shocked Croatia missed three times out of four attempts.
    The masses of noisy Croat fans who had been drinking Vienna dry during the day suddenly fell silent and the much smaller contingent of ecstatic Turkey supporters could not believe their eyes.

    "All day long we noticed - in the morning hours and in the midday hours - there were little clashes in the city which were dominated by Croatia fans," Stella said.
    After the match, Vienna police responded to some trouble near the city centre. Scuffles broke out as bottles were thrown and cars damaged.
    Stella said the strong police presence for the Turkey-Croatia clash would also be on the streets for the Spain-Italy match on Sunday (June 22).

    "We'll have more than 2,200 extra police added to the normal high security standard," Stella said, adding that he expected less provocations to occur between the Spanish and Italian fans.
    Vienna police are expecting around 150,000 fans to arrive in the city to watch Spain face the current world champions.
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