Austria in the European Championship round of 16: The achieved sensation

Hasn’t every title holder had a game in the tournament that was on a knife edge and could have gone the other way? Of course. Fortuna as a teammate has never done any harm. But luck can also be forced, just like the course of a game.

The fact that in a game against France, Poland or the Netherlands there are phases in which you give up control of the game due to the quality of the opponent is neither a surprise nor worthy of excessive criticism.

Nor can the Austrians do anything to ensure that the travel stresses will be kept to a minimum with the hoped-for Berlin-Leipzig-Berlin route.

All of this was achieved by winning the group. Not just in Germany, but long before the tournament. Because we have a clear concept and the necessary players.

The question is whether you can survive such phases unscathed, although a little luck can help. You can’t blame the Austrians for the fact that the Dutch missed two great chances. Rather, you have to note that Rangnick’s team always worked their way back into the game.

One cannot blame Austria for the fact that the tournament branch they are on is the easier one, while on the other side there are France, Spain, Germany and Portugal.