LIVESTREAM IFAF EC Semifinal: Team Italy @ Team Austria, Aug. 6, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 11 am EDT)

| 2023 IFAF Men's European Championship | 08/06/2023

Today, Italy will travel to Innsbruck to take on Austria in the semi-final of the IFAF European Championship. The winner of this game will go on to face Finland in October in the championship game.

For Austria, this will be a revenge game of sorts after Italy beat them in the group stages last tournament. And head coach Max Sommer will surely be feeling confident they can take the win in front of a home crowd with such a loaded roster. 

Quarterbacking team Austria will be veteran Alexander Thury who is fresh off another Austrian Football League title with the Danube Dragons. Thury will undoubtedly have the most talented and deepest receiving corps in Europe with Florian Bierbaumer, Philipp Haun, Yannick Mayr, Adrian Platzgummer and Anton Wegan.

Watch the game live. Team Italy @ Team Austria, Aug. 6, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 11 am EDT)

On the defensive side of the ball there are a number of standouts in the secondary such as Matthias Rebl and Paul Schachner who have dominated in Austria for years as well as Austrian–American Benjamin Straight who plies his trade with the Vienna Vikings. We will of course be seeing the hard hitting Ogbevoen (Lucky and Precious) brothers again at linebacker as well as electric edge rusher Jan-Phillip Bombek.

However, after seeing France step onto the field yesterday without any of their big names due to European League of Football (ELF) commitments, it’s anyone’s guess if we’ll actually see the 95% ELF roster Austria submitted to IFAF.

As usual, the Italian offense is stacked with weapons all over the field. Italian-American Luke Zahradka will once again be quarterbacking the national team after a number of impressive performances in the ELF this year. He will be joined by the wily veteran Michael Gentili and the electric Jordan Bouah who has been lighting up the ELF with the Vienna Vikings.

The defense will be anchored by linebackers Alex Ferrari and Kevin Khay who have both taken their respective teams to Italian championships. Parma Panthers import Ryan Minniti, who has just come off an Italian Bowl championship win, will be shoring up the backend and offer some much needed leadership.

Both sides have submitted rosters loaded with talent from across the highest leagues in Europe. But with the Italians having slightly less to play for in the ELF and their domestic season finished, they may be coming into this one with a lot less to lose.

Team Italy roster.

Team Austria roster.

Watch the game live. Team Italy @ Team Austria, Aug. 6, 17:00 CET (5 pm, 11 am EDT)

Daniel Mackenzie is a Press Association graduate who works in journalism and communications in the third sector. Daniel began playing football for the London Warriors and Team Great Britain and has since played across Europe.