Fußball! Football with London's Austrian fans

ast night, I was supporting Austria. What felt like every member of the Austrian Club of London was in the Crown & Two Chairmen on Dean Street to cheer on Austria.

There was sausages, bread, mustard, Austrian beer, gurkensalat and my favourite Austrian drink almdudler (it's not orange, it's not cola, it's herbal).

A jolly Austrian chap was making his way around the bar painting everyone's faces red, white & red. It was all very jovial - until just before kick off when the Austrians starting booing the Germans. It also became very crowded, with 4 very tall men standing in front of me and nowhere else to go.

So, we decamped to a nearby bar - me, 2 Austrians, 1 German & an English guy. Austrians and Germans gathered in this bar, and it was altogether more sociable. The Austrians cheered as their team false-started, the Germans cheered as they scored their goal.

A German chap & an Austrian chap stood together, and had the crowd cheer for their respective teams. Ultimately, the Austrians lost and ended their Euro 2008, but it didn't really matter, they were all friends in the end.

PS: Just how orange is Alan Hansen?