Salzburg and Rapid at the start against regional leagues
The 1st round of the ÖFB Cup has been drawn. Thanks to the change in regulations, there are many regional clashes. The defending champion RB Salzburg was drawn to the Tyrolean regional league club SV Fügen.
Ferdinand Feldhofer promises a decent appearance from Rapid Wien.
GEPA images/Armin Rauthner
defending champion Salzburg gets to do it in the first round of the ÖFB Cup with the Tyrolean regional league team (3rd) SV Fügen. That was the result of the draw by “lucky fairy” Christa Kummer on Sunday in the ORF gym. Last year’s finalist SV Ried meets SV Stadlau (4th division), Sturm Graz against SC Röthis (4th), Austria Wien against FC Wels (4th) and Rapid against SK Treibach (3rd). The game will be played from July 15th to 17th, one week before the start of the Bundesliga season.
The draw procedure has been changed compared to previous seasons. In order to have more regional encounters in the first rounds or later duels of Bundesliga representatives, the participants of the state associations and the 2nd league are divided into two groups (East and West) according to geographical criteria in the first three rounds.
Feldhofer: “The cup is extremely important”
The 14-time cup winner Quickly has been waiting since 1995 for the 15th success in this competition. Coach Ferdinand Feldhofer (as a player at Sturm Graz in 2010 and cup winner in 1999) promises: “Of course, our goal is to start the competitive season with a good performance and to confidently reach the next round. The cup is a very attractive competition, which we also take extremely seriously and I’m looking forward to the duel with my sports buddies from Carinthia.”
The Styrian derby between Bundesliga club TSV Hartberg and regional league promoted DSV Leoben with coach Carsten Jancker is also explosive. The duel already happened in 1995 – when second division Leoben defeated regional division Hartberg 1-0 in the semi-finals and then lost the final against Rapid by a very narrow margin 0-1. Ironically, former Leobener Peter Guggi scored the gold goal for Rapid.