Euro 2024: Austria nears elimination as they face Poland again

Thanks to the win over Poland (3-1), who were very close to elimination before the previous match, Austria re-entered Group D and kept alive its chances of reaching the last 16 of the 2024 European Championship.

With three points and a final match against the Netherlands on Tuesday, Austria is even closer to qualifying directly for the last 16 (the top two in each group qualify, as do the four best third-placed teams).
That hope was reflected on the pitch at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, where Austria’s players celebrated their victory at the final whistle.
“We are very happy because, to be honest, we were under a lot of pressure and stress, but we managed to rest before the game and we are happy and have set our sights on the Netherlands,” said scorer and right-back Christoph Baumgartner.

“The whole country deserves it.”
Indeed, the victory in front of nearly 70,000 red and white spectators (the colors of the two teams) was crucial for Poland and Austria, both of whom lost their opening matches.
– ‘The most important game’ –
“This is the most important game for us since I became head coach of Austria,” said Ralf Rangnick. “That’s why we are so happy about the victory, but also about the performance.”
“Yes, mathematically we can finish first in the group, but that’s not the subject,” the coach added

After defeating the Blues for the first time in Düsseldorf on Monday (1-0), the Austrians responded well, maintaining the intensity and the right tempo and opened the scoring with Gernot Trauner in the 9th minute.
On the contrary, the Poles were quickly defeated. Even though they equalized the score through Krzysztof Piatek (1-1, 30th), they were unable to really get rid of the opponent’s aggressive pressure and sank.
For them, two games and two losses, things have become very complicated.
Nothing will change during the time when the captain, Poland’s best player, 35-year-old Robert Lewandowski, played. The goal was expected since he was injured before the European Championship, but paradoxically, he received a great pass from Alexander Plas (2-1, 66th) even before the goal, and Christoph Baumgartner’s goal gave the advantage to the Austrian team.
Baumgartner shared this goal with his coach: “He supports me every day and
“He gave a lot of strength at half-time, so thanks to him as well,” the midfielder explained.

It stands to reason that Austria then took off after a penalty caused by Marcel Sabitzer and converted by captain Marko Arnautovic (78th).
Compared to the physical confrontation of France’s Düsseldorf, the Austrians played slightly differently in Berlin on Friday, with less contact and more desire, mainly facing
On the left between Sabitzer and Mwene.
On the Polish side, Poland’s all-time top scorer Robert Lewandowski (82 points) missed the opening match against the Netherlands on Sunday (a 2-1 loss) and will surely want to show more of his quality against France on Tuesday before finishing in what could be his last match with Poland.

Ali/Pa