Tag: Austria

Turkey’s Mert Günok wowed fans with his all-time clutch save to deny Austria in Euro 2024

Turkey survived thanks to one of the greatest saves in soccer history.

Turkey is not a traditional international soccer power. Far from it. But after overcoming Austria in Euro 2024’s Round of 16 on Tuesday, it’s becoming apparent that this dark horse feels right at home in the tournament.

And that never happens without some all-time heroics on the part of goalkeeper Mert Günok.

With Austria relentlessly pressing for a tying goal in stoppage time, midfielder Christoph Baumgartner found himself wide open in front of the net for a perfect header. He would’ve scored under almost any other circumstance, and this matchup would have seen extra time. We’re probably talking about a goal 99.9 percent of the time.

Instead, Günok’s lightning-quick reflexes let him just barely get his fingertips on the ball to make one of the greatest soccer saves we’ve ever seen:

Here’s another close-up angle of Günok’s all-time clutch save:

HOW on Earth did he do that? It’s the clear save of the tournament, and there probably won’t be another worthy candidate, let alone one that will go down forever into soccer lore.

I’m inclined to believe that making the save is partly luck, but it takes a tremendous amount of skill to guess right and deny someone right at the doorstep off a perfect pass.

Kudos to Günok. He probably just singlehandedly (no pun intended) kept Turkey’s Cinderella run at Euro 2024 alive.

Soccer fans were amazed by Günok’s all-time clutch save

Featured image courtesy of Fox Sports

Sepp Straka hoping strong showing at 3M Open solidifies Ryder Cup spot

“I’ve had to reshape my goals over the years.”

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BLAINE, Minn. — Sepp Straka’s golf career has taken a turn in the past 18 months.

In his fifth full season on the PGA Tour, Straka enters the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities playing arguably the best golf of his career. He won the John Deere Classic earlier this month before tying for second last week in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, his best finish in a major.

With the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the horizon, his goals are set on that and something else: making the European Ryder Cup team.

“I set that goal probably a year-and-a-half ago,” Straka said. “Growing up, I didn’t even dream of playing on the PGA Tour. I’ve had to reshape my goals over the years after reaching certain ones.

“You definitely think about it. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but you just can’t really let it affect your play. You still have to play just good golf and hopefully you either qualify outright or get picked.”

Straka, the 30-year-old from Austria, represented his country in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but he has never been this close to earning a spot on the Ryder Cup team. Until now.

Sitting at 15th in the FedEx Cup standings, a strong finish to the year will almost solidify his spot on the squad as one of the six captain’s picks. Although he’s not one of the six automatic qualifiers as of now, he could play his way in with a strong finish to the season.

“My goal is to just play some good golf up until then, and hopefully I can make that team,” he said.

If Straka were to make the team, he would be only the second golfer from Austria to make a European Ryder Cup team, following on the heels of Bernd Wiesberger in 2021.

“After he played in it, I talked with him and he just said it was the greatest thing ever,” Straka said. “It’s fun to hear the stories. It makes you want to prepare harder and try to get your name in the ring.”

Straka will make his 25th start of the season Thursday at the 3M Open. He has the one win, two runner-up finishes (he fell in a playoff in the fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship) and five top-10 finishes. He has risen to No. 25 in the world, his best ranking ever.

Last week at the Open, Straka said he spoke with European captain Luke Donald and made small talk. After his runner-up finish, Donald made sure to text Straka to congratulate him and stay in touch.

“Luke’s a great guy and obviously would love to play for him, but yeah, just got to play some good golf until then and kind of make that happen,” Straka said. ”

Safe to say there may be more than small talk between the duo in the future.

Bucs expand international home marketing area into Austria and Switzerland

The Bucs are breaking into more international markets.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ international market is growing bigger.

The Bucs began a marketing relationship with Germany in 2022 as part of the NFL’s International Home Marketing Areas program, but the team announced on Tuesday that the team is expanding into Austria and Switzerland through the program.

According to the team, the program “grants NFL clubs access to international markets for marketing, fan engagement and commercialization activations as part of an important, long-term, strategic effort to enable clubs to build their brands globally while driving NFL fan growth beyond the US.” As a part of the initiative with Germany, the Bucs played a game in soccer club Bayern Munich’s stadium against the Seattle Seahawks in 2022. It’s currently unknown if the Buccaneers plan to play in Austria or Switzerland.

The Kansas City Chiefs also began a marketing relationship with Germany through the program and have expanded into Switzerland and Austria as well. 

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Chiefs awarded international marketing rights for Austria, Switzerland

The #Chiefs were awarded marketing rights for Austria and Switzerland on Tuesday as part of the NFL’s effort to expand internationally

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to make a huge impact on the European market for the NFL after being awarded international marketing rights for Austria and Switzerland on Tuesday.

The announcement was made just days before the 2023 NFL draft is set to take place in Kansas City and will have a major effect on the team’s international reach after their Super Bowl championship in February.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan issued a statement in the team’s release about the new rights, noting that Kansas City is primed to do big things in the international market in the coming years.

“We have committed a lot of energy and effort into growing the Chiefs brand – as well as helping grow the NFL – internationally, and today’s development is going to continue to allow us to invest in European markets,” Donovan explained in his statement.

“The game this season in Germany, much like our games in London and Mexico City, will create amazing opportunities for our fans. Given our history, we think we’re uniquely positioned to take advantage of these expanded commercial and fan development rights in Austria and Switzerland, and we can’t wait to get started.”

The league’s decision to give the Super Bowl champions rights to an expanded market in Europe is a no-brainer, especially given that the Chiefs are already heavily involved in the international marketing program. In 2021, Kansas City was awarded rights to Germany and Mexico as part of the NFL’s initial expansion into markets outside of the United States, and the team is set to play its first game in Munich this season against the Chicago Bears.

Whether games will be played in Austria or Switzerland in the coming years is unknown at this point, but the sheer volume of potential fans in the Chiefs’ new sphere of influence should help the team gain traction across the pond.

Italia sufre pero ya está en cuartos de la Eurocopa

Las series de octavos de final de la Eurocopa dieron comienzo con dos partidos muy emocionantes. La jornada comenzó con Dinamarca ante Gales, dos equipos con mucha propuesta ofensiva pero con los daneses jugando con una motivación especial por la …

Las series de octavos de final de la Eurocopa dieron comienzo con dos partidos muy emocionantes.

La jornada comenzó con Dinamarca ante Gales, dos equipos con mucha propuesta ofensiva pero con los daneses jugando con una motivación especial por la lesión de Eriksen.

Dinamarca arrasó con los galeses y les propinó un 4-0 que no solo los deja fuera de la copa, también manda un mensaje a su próximo rival en cuartos. Los daneses no será un equipo sencillo de vencer.

El segundo juego de la jornada enfrentó a Italia y Austria, que a pesar de no llegar como favoritos le dieron un gran partido a la escuadra azzurra y estuvieron cerca de vencerlos.

Primero el VAR les anuló una opción de irse al frente en el marcador, el tiempo transcurrió y los tiempos extras llegaron al permanecer la igualada sin goles.

Ya en el suplemento Italia convirtió primero, mostró más ímpetu y logró abrir el marcador por partida doble. La reacción austriaca llegó pero muy tarde, y aunque lograron ser el primer equipo en marcarle gol a Italia en esta Eurocopa, no fue suficiente y quedaron eliminados.

Italia sufrió en la parte final, pero logró avanzar a cuartos de final de buena manera, confirmando la gran selección que los representa en esta edición de la Eurocopa.

Foto portada vía © SIPA USA

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Jakob Poeltl: “It fills me with pride …

Jakob Poeltl: “It fills me with pride to know I’m the first Austrian basketball player in the NBA. I also feel like I have the responsibility to try and grow Austrian basketball. I think we’re making good progress over there. In general, the globalization is great for basketball and the NBA because with more talent coming in from all over the world it obviously ups the standard. The level of play just gets better and better.”