Austrian football player Guido Burgstaller has been left with serious head injuries, including a skull fracture, after he was attacked in the Vienna city centre, his club Rapid Vienna said on Monday.
Rapid Vienna said the 35-year-old striker was struck by an unidentified man and fell, injuring his head, in an incident which took place in front of witnesses during the weekend.
The club said Burgstaller, who has played 26 times for the Austria national team, was expected to spend “the coming days” in a hospital and would likely be unable to play for several months.
The club didn’t give further details of the incident and said it wanted to respect the privacy of Burgstaller and his family.
It added that it “trusts that the responsible authorities will soon bring the as-yet unidentified perpetrator to justice.”
Alongside his international exploits, Burgstaller has had playing spells in Austria, Germany and England. His most club appearances have come for Rapid Vienna over two spells, while he featured 95 times for Schalke in the Bundesliga and three times for Cardiff City in the Championship.
