Euro Cortado #12: Ralf serves up a Viennese whirlwind
Austria prove their dark horse tag in Netherlands win; France fail to fire but at least they can defend and the less said about Group C, the better
One of the games of the tournament, in amongst three that were either stinkers or whatever one level up from stinker is in a football match context. But that is the gamble of matchday three fixtures on a four-match Tuesday that made us yearn for two-match Monday earlier in the week.
But let’s stay positive; Austria have lived up to all the hype and are great to watch to boot! While France’s defence has taken the accolades their attack was supposed to garner, and, there’s NO MORE GROUP C!!!
One more day of group stage action to come today, but before all that, enjoy my takes from yesterday with your morning mugful of Euro Cortado!
Rocket Ralf
“Ah, so, if Austria come third in their group, there’s a good chance they will meet England in the Round of 16, wouldn’t that be a dream opportunity for Ralf Rangnick to put one over the English who ridiculed him?”
That’s sweet. Just one thing, Austria topped Group D, ahead of France and the Netherlands.
They showed promise, but not much else against France, before silencing plenty of doubters against Poland and then putting in their performance of the tournament so far and surely the game of matchday three by some distance, beating the Dutch 3-2 in Berlin.
From the word go, Rangnick’s men were a joy to watch going forward, putting the Netherlands’ under pressure, forcing the early Donyell Malen own goal and testing the goalkeeper from various distances. They were twice pegged back in the second half, but quickly dusted themselves off to re-take the lead 12 and five minutes after the two equalisers.
Marcel Sabitzer’s winner was a masterclass in taking advantage of poor defence -exhibited by Virgil van Dijk on this occasion - and composed finishing. The goal summed up just how far they have come since the cautious approach under previous boss Franco Foda, and that improvement is almost solely down to Rangnick and how he has implemented more positivity not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room too.
Maybe that meeting with England is still to come, but for now, they can prepare for their Round of 16 tie on Sunday against the runner-up in Group F, for which they will surely go in as favourites.
Masked Man scores but is no hero
After other results went their way, France progressed to the knockout stages with a game to spare. They then completed the group stages unbeaten, finishing second, without a Frenchman scoring a goal from open play in three matches.
We can’t even blame the “24 into 16” format, as they finished as Group D runners-up; an identical World Cup record would have sent them through, too.
Returning after his broken nose was not risked against the Netherlands, the masked Kylian Mbappé scored his first ever Euros goal from the penalty spot, before already-eliminated Poland equalised from 12 yards themselves, through what must, must, be Robert Lewandowski’s final major tournament strike.
The masked man was not the hero, then, for France, and neither were any of his fellow attackers for a third game running, as their only other goal was an own goal.
Instead, the only positive for Didier Deschamps men has been their defence. They conceded today and in many peoples’ eyes Xavi Simons’ goal against them should have stood, but other than those, France’s back line has barely been threatened for 270 minutes.
Jules Koundé, William Saliba, Dayot Upemecano and Théo Hernandez in front of Mike Maignan have quickly formed a solid back five which deserves more credit than they are getting. What’s the saying again? Defence wins championships? France might need to at least score a “normal” goal once or twice if they are to win the Euros, but the foundations are there.
Poland’s equaliser, meanwhile, ensures all 24 teams will be leaving Germany with at least a point.
Goodbye Group C - you won’t be missed
A favourite for the competition blessed with more attacking quality than it knows what to do with, a very top-heavy underdog with what was supposed to be a shaky defence, another outsider with one of the game’s hottest young prospects up front and semi-finalists from three years ago who brought largely the same squad with the added bonus of another hot young centre forward.
Group C was supposed to be the one full of goals and entertainment, “attack is the best form of defence” and all that. Instead, what we got was one of the dampest of damp squibs a major tournament has rustled up in decades.
A total of seven goals were scored across the six games - that’s fewer than Germany. No, not fewer than Germany matches, fewer than Germany alone, and they didn’t even win all their games. England, Denmark and Slovenia all top scored with two apiece, with Serbia’s failure to score an equaliser against England being what cost them ultimately.
I have already spoken about the failure of England’s attack, the lack of cohesion going forward for Serbia and Benjamin Šeško being pretty quiet, and after the simultaneous 0-0 draws to close the group, there is nothing new for me to add.
Denmark finished second above Slovenia thanks to their better disciplinary record compared to Slovenia. Yes, it was that kind of group!
Three points and a zero goal difference is usually enough to go through, as is the case for Slovenia, so we will have three Group C teams polluting the knockout stage come the weekend. Joy.
Six teams progressed from Groups C and D, which do you think will go the furthest? Can any of them lift the trophy? Let me know your thoughts!
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.