EURO 2024: Merih Demiral sets record
After a great preliminary round, in which Austria won the group ahead of runners-up France and the Netherlands, the journey ended in the round of 16, as it did at the 2021 European Championship. The cause of Austria’s suffering was Demiral, who not only scored the fastest goal in the knockout phase of a European Championship after 57 seconds, but also added a header in the second half (59th). Michael Gregoritsch (66th) shortened the lead for Austria.
“It was a wonderful victory, I would like to thank all the fans. We believe that we can go all the way to the end,” said goalkeeper Mert Günok, who secured the win with a brilliant save in injury time. Thanks to this long-awaited success, Turkey, who were seen as underdogs beforehand, reached the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in 16 years. Coach Vincenzo Montella’s team will face the Netherlands there on Saturday (9 p.m.) in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
For Rangnick, who worked as sporting director and coach at RB Leipzig from 2012 to 2019, the return to Leipzig was particularly emotional. But he was immediately caught off guard in the bubbling cauldron of Leipzig. After an opposing corner, Baumgartner, Stefan Posch and goalkeeper Patrick Pentz failed to clear the ball, Demiral scored in the hustle and bustle – and the Turkish block trembled for the first time.
In a wild opening phase, in which the electric atmosphere from the stands was transferred to the pitch, Baumgartner (3rd) had the equalizer on his feet. Three minutes later, Baumgartner narrowly missed a long corner kick in a duel with Demiral – the ball rolled out of play. And the game lost momentum.
After the break, the Austrians came out of the dressing room more forcefully and attacked with a lot of anger in their stomachs. In the middle of the Austrian phase of pressure, Demiral struck again when he pushed a corner from Arda Güler into the net. Just seven minutes later, of course it needed a corner, Gregoritsch gave Austria new hope with his goal after a cross from Sabitzer. Rangnick’s eleven now threw everything forward – but to no avail. Baumgartner missed a huge chance to equalize with a header in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Günok made a brilliant save.
2024-07-03 02:00:01
#Austria #Türkiye #ÖFB #team #fails #Turks
