Austria beat the Netherlands 3-2 in a thrilling encounter to finish top of their group, ahead of France and the Netherlands.

 

After the 3-1 victory over Poland, coach Ralf Rangnick declared: ” Austria can beat the Netherlands to take the top spot”. Although they have lost to the Netherlands in the previous 7 matches, Austria is excited because they are very close to the ticket to the next round, while the Netherlands is facing many problems.

Coach Rangnick proved that he was not just talking! The Austrian team started the match very impressively, not hesitating to push their formation to attack the Netherlands directly. The speed of the two wings with Patrick Wimmer, Marko Arnautovic and Alexander Prass helped Austria attack the ball quickly, neatly and repeatedly close in on the Netherlands’ goal.

Austria opened the scoring early.

AFP

In the 6th minute, Rangnick’s team opened the scoring. Prass quickly broke through on the left wing and crossed inside. In a situation where he dropped back to support the defense, winger Donyell Malen clumsily stretched his leg and sent the ball… straight into his own net, much to the astonishment of his teammates.

Austria’s style of play, based on the ability to close down and quickly organize attacks, stifled the Dutch midfield. The “Orange Storm”‘s deadlock was shown when coach Ronald Koeman had to make a substitution in the middle of the first half, when he took Joel Veerman off the field to give the opportunity to young talent Xavi Simons.

The second half of the first half saw the Netherlands regain control of the game, but the orange team still had difficulty attacking when Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo were both tightly marked, with no space to maneuver.

In terms of dangerous attacks, Austria were even better, although they could not maintain the same pace as in the first 20 minutes. Marcel Sabitzer, a former Manchester United star, was one of the most prominent players with his ability to control the tempo and coordinate the entire game. In the 38th minute, Sabitzer swung his foot dangerously outside the penalty area, but goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen controlled the situation.

After the break, the Netherlands changed their tactics, focusing more on “lightning” counter-attacks.

Netherlands (orange shirt) fought hard

AFP

In the 47th minute, Koeman’s team equalized in a style of play that is usually Austria’s forte. From a quick ball-winning fight, the Netherlands counterattacked, before Gakpo dribbled down the left wing, turned in and curled the ball beautifully at 107 km/h to equalize the score 1-1.

But before the attackers could score another goal, the Dutch defense continued to make mistakes. In the 59th minute, coach Koeman’s players let Romano Schmid jump high and head the ball into the net, despite the Dutch goalkeeper and defenders trying to block it, helping Austria take the lead for the second time.

The Netherlands did not give up. Koeman’s team found a 2-2 equalizer in the 75th minute, and once again Wout Weghorst played the role of “youngster”. Immediately after being put on the field, Weghorst proved his influence with a high header that gave Depay a chance to get the ball in the penalty area. The Dutch striker controlled the ball neatly with his chest and then finished decisively with his instep to score his first goal at EURO 2024.

However, the drama of the score chase did not stop there. In the 80th minute, Sabitzer marked a brilliant day when he cleverly ran to break the offside trap, before shooting the ball into the roof of the net past goalkeeper Verbruggen with a decisive kick, putting Austria up 3-2.

This time, there was no chance for the Netherlands to equalize. The Austrian team defended tightly to preserve the precious victory, despite being suffocated in the final minutes.

Defeating the Netherlands, Austria passed Group D with 6 points and took the top spot, while France (5 points) and the Netherlands (4 points) ranked behind. Coach Rangnick and his team promise to become the “dark horse” at EURO 2024.