Liverpool to play friendly in Vorarlberg
Premiership giants Liverpool FC will play Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in Altach, Vorarlberg, on 17 July.Organisers said today (Tues) the friendly will mark the 20th anniversary of the towns stadium which used to be called Schnabelholz. The venue, which has a capacity of 8,500, was recently renamed Cashpoint Arena after the local second-league teams main sponsor.Rapid Vienna, who finished the league in third, beat Liverpool in a friendly at Viennas Ernst Happel Stadium 1-0 last July.The match caused controversy since it took place when Rapid were set to play against Sturm Graz in the first round of the 2009/2010 Bundesliga season. The league fixture was eventually rescheduled and Rapid not punished for deciding to play a friendly on the day the league kicks off.Club president Rudolf Edlinger made clear at that time he would not be bothered if Bundesliga officials charge his club.The former Social Democratic (SPÖ) finance minister explained the experience of playing against one of the best teams in the world in front of 50,000 supporters mattered more for his team and their fans. The match marked Rapids 110th anniversary.News that the “Reds” are set to return to Austria come just one day after it emerged that Austrian Bundesliga club Sturm Graz will meet Blackburn Rovers on 10 July and Arsenal in a friendly on 21 July.Other top friendly matches set to take place in Austria shortly are Serbia vs. Poland in Kufstein, Tyrol, tomorrow and Spain vs. South Korea in Tyrolean capital Innsbruck on Thursday.Ten of the 32 nations who qualified for the upcoming Football World Cup are currently preparing for the tournament in the Austrian Alps to get used to the altitude similar to the one the South African stadiums are located at.