EURO Review – my EURO experience on TV
The EURO 2020 in 2021 is coming to an end. 50 of 51 games are history. Time to look back on a very intense, incredibly emotional and at the same time incredibly beautiful month: my first major soccer event on TV as a presenter and commentator.
My first tournament working on television
As an anchorman at OE24.TV, I spent at least eight hours in the studio every single matchday of the Euro for a month, talking shop with great Austrian soccer legends like Hans Krankl, Toni Polster, Frenkie Schinkels and Andy Ogris about the games. It was the original mix of real professional knowledge and Viennese “Schmäh” that made our coverage an unforgettable experience for all soccer fans.
All in all, all the highlights of the European Football Championship were shown daily from June 11 onwards, as well as ten matches live, six of which could only be seen on OE24.TV. 24 teams delivered exciting 51 duels. Of course, I was particularly pleased that Austria managed to win a match at a major tournament for the first time since the 1990 World Cup and even made it to the round of 16, where it unfortunately came up just short against Italy.
My EURO marathon in numbers
In this 1 month EURO I was live on air for a total of 200 hours – in words: two hundred! Not only did I spend 8 hours every match day in the studio as an anchorman for daily news as well as various EURO special broadcasts with many exciting guests, but I was also able to follow 8 matches particularly intensively: 6 times, together with one of our great experts as a live commentator, and 2 live matches as a studio host. In addition, there were various EURO talk shows which I hosted.
The special preparation for commentating a match on TV
Commentating a match is fundamentally different from normal tv show hosting. I had to prepare myself meticulously for every single game. This starts in the run-up with the consumption of various EURO special editions of the print media, the daily EURO coverage, various statistics and of course the respective UEFA press kit for each game, which also includes at least 20 pages.
A completely different kind of work, which I enjoyed enormously. Studying the game strategies of the individual teams, reviewing their football history and knowing about coaches, referees and stadiums in addition to the stories of the individual players. This goes as far as knowing that the Slovakian goalkeeper has a 2-month-old son named William at home while his little niece Diana completes the “royal family”. This is only one of many “tidbits” I was allowed to dig up here. Fortunately, I remember such things very easily.
How did you experience the EURO?
Now that you know my EURO story, I would like to know how you experienced the EURO? Were you able to really cheer along? Who were you rooting for? And above all… have you ever seen me in action on OE24? I’m looking forward to your answers and a little EURO mood in the comments!
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