“Rapid” Wien, the opponent of “Dila” Gori, is a titled club but now it does not have any special achievement. “Rapid” took the third place at the Austrian Championship last year. The club was 20 points (!) behind the second-placed “Salzburg”.

“Rapid” is the most titled club in Austria. It was the championship 32 times and Cup 14 times. During the World War II when the Nazis occupied Austria, “Rapid” played at the united championship and became champion of Germany in 1941. The club won Cup in 1938. 1985 and 1996 were the most successful years at European tournaments.

“Rapid” became interesting for the former Soviet country when Russian Anatoli Zinchenko showed up there. It was unbelievable at that time. The man who ran away from the Soviet Union played for the Austrian club. In semifinal of 1984/85 Cup Winners’ Cup “Rapid” played “Dynamo” Moscow (3:1, 1:1) and we watched real Austrian football. Legendary Hans Krankl attacked the defense of “Dynamo”. There were Peter Pacult and Antonin Panenka of Czech Republic too. “Rapid” made through to final but lost to “Everton” of England (1:3). By the way, Vladimer Gazzaev became top scorer of that tournament with 5 goals. He played for “Dynamo” Moscow. The next year Gazzaev transferred to “Dinamo” Tbilisi.

“Rapid” was in final of Cup Winners’ Cup once again. It happened in 1996 but could do nothing against “PSG” (0:1).

“Rapid” became champion in 2008. In the current season the club has 7 points after 3 rounds and is in the third place. 43-year-old Zoran Barisic is a coach of the club. Guido Burgstaller, midfielder of the Austrian national team, and Terrence Boyd of America play for “Rapid”.

Solomon Gulisashvili