Es ist so schwer zu ertragen: Er ist fort…..”
Seeking to conclude their Austrian training camp unbeaten, Cardiff City square off with German outfit Hertha Berlin on Thursday evening in St. Johann in Tirol.
Erol Bulut‘s men lost their friendly winning streak in a 1-1 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday, while the 2. Bundesliga outfit were 1-0 victors over NEC Nijmegen on July 20.ch preview
Having dusted off the cobwebs in their shock 1-0 friendly loss to Kidderminster Harriers, Cardiff were on the friendly warpath leading up to Tuesday’s tie with the Sundowns, firing in a staggering 13 goals in three exhibition contests from July 13 to 21.
Following a trio of straight successes over KV Kortrijk (3-1), Pen-y-bont (7-1) and Hamburger SV (3-0), Erol Bulut’s men wore the favourites tag for their midweek battle with Mamelodi Sundowns, the reigning South African champions.
However, the Bluebirds lost their victorious sequence in a low-key 1-1 draw, where Joel Colwill – whose own goal handed Kidderminster their slender win earlier this summer – broke the deadlock before Tashreeq Matthews restored parity at the Sportzentrum in Worgl.
Both sides had chances to nick the friendly spoils in the closing 15 minutes, but Cardiff were ultimately forced to settle for their first stalemate of an unrelenting summer period, where Bulut’s side are in action no fewer than eight times.
Thursday’s contest represents the Bluebirds’ closing in act in Austria, after which they will tackle crisis club Reading at their Cardiff City Stadium headquarters on July 31, before visiting Bristol Rovers on August 3 in their final pre-season encounter.
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As Cardiff bring an end to their Austrian training camp, Hertha Berlin bring an end to their pre-season as a whole on Thursday, and the new manager bounce has been in full effect for the side now led by former Nuremberg boss Cristian Fiel.
Six summer matches have brought five wins and a draw for the second-tier German side, whose bid for a return to the Bundesliga last season ended in abject failure; the Old Lady could only place ninth in the 2. Bundesliga, although they did reach the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals.
Hertha – whose Olympiastadion home hosted the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England – kicked off pre-season in sterling form with successive victories over a quartet of German minnows in FSV Bernau, Rot-Weiss Erfurt, SV Babelsberg and FSV Zwickau, scoring 18 goals and shipping just one in the process.
A 2-2 stalemate with Energie Cottbus – where they threw away a two-goal advantage in the second half – brought them crashing back down to earth somewhat, but Fiel’s men responded in ideal fashion on Saturday, edging out NEC courtesy of Haris Tabakovic‘s 16th-minute effort.
That contest was not your conventional 90-minute affair, though – the friendly was split into four quarters of 30 minutes apiece – and speaking of the out-of-the-ordinary, one half of Fiel’s team will also battle Huddersfield Town a few hours before the battle with Cardiff.
