The underdog caused a sensation: Austria surprised the football heavyweights Netherlands and France in Group D and moved into the European Championship round of 16 as group winners. Coach Ralf Rangnick’s team shone against the Oranje with constant pressure and resilience.
The three Austrian fans on the S-Bahn to the Berlin Olympic Stadium have a premonition. “Today it’s the Dutch’s turn,” they speculate, without knowing what spectacle awaits them. Austria’s footballers beat the Elftal 3:2 (1:0) in a nerve-racking match, sensationally crowning themselves winners of Group D. “We want to show what this team is capable of and get as far as possible. Now we’ve won the group, which is actually unbelievable,” says national coach Ralf Rangnick. Because vice-world champion France gave up a lead in the parallel match against Poland (1:1), Austria moved past Oranje and Les Bleus in the table and turned the final stadium of this European Championship into a red-white-red party zone.
Long after the final whistle, a joyful “Oh, how beautiful it is” can still be heard from the Austrian fan blocks. And as the national coach walks up the steps next to the Marathon Gate, there are chants of “Ralf Rangnick” and sustained applause. They are also the reward for the fact that the 65-year-old has given his team a tactical approach and self-confidence that impresses. On this Tuesday evening, especially the opponent.
The Netherlands don’t seem to know what’s happening to them, they’re already behind. Thanks to an own goal by Donyell Malen, who tried in vain to clear a cross from Alexander Prass in the 6th minute and instead put it in his own goal. The high intensity, the aggressive pressing across the entire pitch, the tireless attacking of the Austrians had an effect: In the first 20 minutes, the Elftal found no way to escape the constant pressure. For a long time, the most striking thing about the Dutch offense was Memphis Depay’s bright white headband.
The Red Bull School helps Rangnick and Austria
The fact that Rangnick, quite surprisingly, initially puts Christoph Baumgartner, the outstanding man in the 3-1 victory against Poland, on the bench and also watches Konrad Laimer for the time being, is not noticed at all. On the contrary: The Austrians consistently push forward and force their game on the Dutch. After just 15 minutes, the fans start their distinctive chant of “Again, again, again, again Austria” – which also applies to the pressing, with which the Oranje back four and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen are repeatedly forced to play long balls because someone is always sprinting towards them.
Of course, Rangnick benefits from the fact that a significant part of the ÖFB squad has gone through the Red Bull school, i.e. was or is active in Salzburg or Leipzig for the billion-dollar company’s football projects. There are eight professionals in total, seven of whom will play against the Netherlands. They know exactly what Rangnick, the man who came up with the idea, has in mind. Defending forward is an unmistakable trademark of Rangnick’s football. What Austria also demonstrated against the Netherlands: an absolute winning mentality and the ability to deal with setbacks.
One such opportunity came right at the start of the second half, when the Austrians were caught off guard for once. This was because Xavi Simons, who had been substituted on after just 33 minutes, was given far too much space in the centre, dribbled from one penalty area to the other and passed to Cody Gakpo on the left. The Liverpool striker pulled inwards and shot with his right foot, and Patrick Pentz in goal could no longer run in the 47th minute. Anyone who now expected the match to tip in favour of the favourites was wrong. “What impressed me most today was my team’s reaction to the equalisers,” said Rangnick afterwards.
“Again and again and again and again Austria”
During a break in play, Nicolas Seiwald, Florian Grillitsch and Maximilian Wöber appear to be consulting with one another, and Patrick Wimmer and Marcel Sabitzer are also included in the discussion. The Dutch dominate the opening phase of the second half without scoring a second goal – before the Austrians take the lead again in the 59th minute with their first dangerous attack after the break. On the left side, they combine in the penalty area, Grillitsch crosses and Romano Schmid heads in from close range. Austria moves back past the Netherlands in the table, temporarily in second place because France took the lead through masked man Kylian Mbappé in the parallel match against Poland.
In the 63rd minute, Rangnick makes three substitutions. Among others, he takes off Wimmer, who is in danger of being sent off, and brings on Baumgartner and Laimer, a duo that is actually indispensable in the starting eleven. “Again and again, again and again, always Austria” sing the red-white-reds in the stands, but it is the Dutch who strike next. Wout Weghorst has come on for Malen, who scored the own goal, and is supposed to use his physicality and power to secure the balls in the center of the attack.
In the 75th minute, he succeeds perfectly: Weghorst heads a cross in the penalty area to Depay, who scores from just under ten meters to make it 2-2. But the celebrations are abruptly interrupted because it is suspected that Depay has handballed the ball. In the replay, it quickly becomes clear that Depay did not touch the ball with his hand, but the game is still checked for minutes and referee Ivan Kruzliak even asks him to look at the scene. He then points to the middle of the pitch and the game continues with Austria taking the kick-off.
A defensive header as an expression of Austria’s strength
The Dutch cheers have barely died down when the red-white-reds strike again. Again on the left side, Marcel Sabitzer, now wearing the captain’s armband, plays a one-two with Baumgartner and suddenly has a clear path to the goal. He shoots powerfully with his left foot from a tight angle, Verbruggen throws his arms up in vain, Austria takes the lead for the third time (80th minute). The Oranje falls silent, while there is no stopping them around the Marathon Gate. “Our style of play is not necessarily geared towards playing for a point,” Rangnick stressed before the match, and his team backs this up impressively.
As was the case against Poland, thousands of people are singing “Oh, how beautiful, we haven’t seen anything like that for a long time” – after all, their team is suddenly top of the group with this goal. Robert Lewandowski equalized with a penalty in the parallel game, and Austria overtook France and the Netherlands. In the 83rd minute, the apparent 4:2 was scored, again from the left and again from a tight angle – Baumgartner already knew during his brief celebration that he was half a step too far forward. Offside, no goal.
This goal would certainly have been the crowning glory of the spectacle, but the disallowance does not change the outcome of this game. The Austrians largely stopped pressing in the closing stages and retreated deep into their own half. A diving header from Weghorst whizzed past the goal, Gakpo was unable to finish and Prass was so confident in one scene that he headed a Dutch cross back to goalkeeper Pentz instead of just flicking it out of play.
The footballers sing a classic with the fans in front of the curve
The final act is then reserved for Sabitzer and Baumgartner, who take a few seconds off the clock on the right wing until the referee has seen enough and blows the whistle. The Austrian bench storms onto the field because they know that they are not “just” going into the round of 16, but as winners of Group D ahead of France, the Netherlands and Poland. After three convincing performances that should give them confidence for the knockout rounds.
However, footballers and fans are unlikely to be thinking about that when they gather in the stands after the final whistle and sing the Reinhard Fendrich classic “I Am From Austria”, which accompanies the ÖFB players through this European Championship in Germany. In the round of 16, they will face the second-placed team in Group F, possible opponents on July 2nd at 9 p.m. in Leipzig. (MagentaTV and in the live ticker at ntv.de) are Turkey, Georgia and the Czech Republic.
The three fans on the S3 train heading to the Olympic Stadium were also already anticipating a possible duel with host Germany, in whose Bundesliga twelve Austrians are active. However, they assumed that this would probably take place in the semi-finals if the two neighboring countries made it that far. A look at the tournament tree reveals, however, that as a result of Austria’s sensational group victory, they can now only meet in the final in Berlin. But the trio probably did not expect such a spectacle.