In the recent match in Leipzig, Euro 2024 witnessed Turkey, the second host team, progressing to the quarter finals defeating Austria 2-1. Despite playing Mozart’s Turkish Rondo on flute near the stadium, it wasn’t an evening of harmony for the Austrians.
The Austrian followers, filled with hope and anticipation, marched from Richard-Wagner-Platz to the Red Bull Arena. Their aspiration was to secure a place in the quarter finals, a feat never achieved in their history before. The Austrian squad, being in a promising form, had earlier stunned Poland and the Netherlands by scoring three goals against each. The eclectic Austrians were predicted to be more resilient than the seemingly structure-lacking Turkish team.
However, the Austrians had to face the staggering wave of support for the Turkish team and their unbridled enthusiasm on field. While the game might not have been the tournament’s showpiece, it indisputably had the most exciting start. An initial offensive from Austria had Christoph Baumgartner barely missing an opportunity from Marcel Sabitzer’s pass. In lieu of Austrian acknowledgement, Turkey was already on a counter attack, causing Austrian defensive midfielder, Nicolas Seiwald, to concede a corner just ten seconds later.
A corner taken by Arda Güler was narrowly stopped by Baumgartner only for it to bounce back off Stefan Posch towards the Austrian net. Goalkeeper Patrick Pentz deflected it, but it fell just right for Merih Demiral to strike it into the goal just six yards out.
The swift pace and open strategy of the Austrians, aimed at utilising their fitness level, coordination, teamwork and spirits, didn’t quite prove beneficial. Turkey’s approach was quite similar, their major advantage being individuals like Güler, Barış Yılmaz, and Kenan Yıldız, who have the knack for creating impressive plays spontaneously.
Barış offered a taste of his natural talent when he managed to nutmeg Philipp Lienhart, almost finding Yıldız with a cross. He attempted to repeat the move barely a minute later, but this time Lienhart triumphed on the pitch, enabling Austria to carry out a potentially threatening counterattack.
Austria’s game plan was laden with two pressing issues. Initially, maintaining their quick pace for the entirety of the 90 minute game appeared problematic. Secondly, it seemed they lacked the ability to be productive without this speed. The prospect of them creating an opportunity without a blunder from Turkey was looking bleak.
In the duration of a sluggish build-up phase, Kevin Danso audaciously launched a 50-yard diagonal shot, resulting in a futile chase by Philipp Mwene as the ball headed out of play. Towns of energy, therefore, got wasted.
Toward the end, Austria found another opening. Posch’s ground-level cross from the right eluded Demiral and found Baumgartner near the post, but he was taken aback by the sudden pass and steered it wide from a mere four yards away.
Ralf Rangnick made a tactical substitution during half-time, replacing left-side team members Romano Schmid and Phillip Mwene with Michael Gregoritsch and Alexander Prass. Emphasising on Austria’s presence in the box, Gregoritsch was instructed to rush into the box with Arnautovic – a strategy in the absence of any other viable moves.
Soon after, they conjured up their most significant opportunity of the game thus far, with Posch setting up Arnautovic. However, their attempt was thwarted by Mert Günok’s save. The Austrian supporters escalated the tension, but Lienhart’s rough body-check on Güler served as a warning of the possible risks.
At the 60-minute mark, Turkey secured another corner kick. This time, it was Güler delivering the corner to the near post, enabling Demiral’s remarkable leap to outdo both Austrian centre-backs to score his second goal of the night.
But within a span of five minutes, Turkish celebrations were silenced by the third goal from a corner kick during the game. Sabitzer’s corner was deflected by Lienhart to the back post enabling Gregoritsch to score the goal.
Austria had roughly a quarter of an hour to force the game into overtime, and it seemed like Turkey was feeling the strain and was hesitant to advance and apply pressure. The onset of rain created the rapid, slippery surface that was perfect for Austria to strive for a comeback.
Nonetheless, as the Austrians strived to exert pressure by moving up the pitch, it was Turkey, driven by the unyielding Barış’ swift counterattacks, that appeared more poised to net the ball.
In the added time, Baumgartner finally received the open opportunity he’d been seeking all evening. He made a powerful header towards the Turkish goal – but, astonishingly, Günok made a fantastic save, leaping to his right to deflect the ball over the crossbar. It was then that Austria realised their run had ended. Turkey continues their journey to Berlin, where they will square off with the Netherlands this Saturday.