New Delhi: The final matchday encounters of Group D provided us with many exciting moments as throughout the game, the group table kept on changing courtesy of the topsy-turvy game as Austria overcame the Netherlands to finish top of a group that contained two European heavyweights in the Netherlands and France.
The match was off to a great start for Austria as they threatened from the get-go and that set the tone for the rest of the game. The Netherlands went behind to a Donyell Malen own-goal in the sixth minute as the Borussia Dortmund winger produced an absolutely perfect finish but produced it past his own keeper rather than Austria’s.
That own goal provided the confidence Austria needed to go on to win the match, producing another major upset of the tournament. The scoreline remained 1-0 as the game headed to half-time with Austria looking extremely comfortable as the Netherlands wasted many opportunities throughout the first half. Manager Ronald Koeman saw his side struggle to stamp their authority in the game and brought on Xavi Simons just 34 minutes into the game.
The Dutch started the second half brightly as Simons ran through the middle of the field before setting up Cody Gakpo who curled his shot expertly into the Austrian goal to make things level. Gakpo’s early second-half goal opened the floodgates for a barrage of goals in the second half as Romano Schmid’s header restored Austria’s lead 10 minutes after the Netherlands had equalized. Memphis Depay finally did something of note in the tournament as he got his side back on level terms, producing a good finish despite being crammed for room in the 75th minute.
However, Austria just didn’t want to give up their lead once again, minutes after being back on level terms, they went ahead at the 80th-minute mark as Marcel Sabitzer scored the goal of the night to make it 3-2, which ultimately proved to be the winner as Austria top their group, over France and the Netherlands.
1) Quickest own goal in UEFA Euro History
Fastest own goal in UEFA Euro history as Malen scores past his keeper. (Photo by Tullio Puglia – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
UEFA Euro 2020 produced the most number of own goals in UEFA Euro history as the competition produced 11 own goals in total. The 2024 edition of the Euros is on track to break that record as the group stages aren’t yet over and we have already seen seven own-goals being scored in Germany.
The latest own goal of the tournament was scored by Donyell Malen as the Dutch winger slid in to stop a ground cross by Prass but instead produced a finish that every striker would be jealous of but did it at the wrong goal. Malen’s own goal in the sixth minute is now the fastest own goal ever scored in the tournament’s history.
This unwanted record was previously held by Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria as he scored past his own keeper in the eighth minute of the quarterfinals of UEFA Euro 2020. With Malen’s record-breaking own goal, this tournament has now seen the quickest goal and the quickest own goal being scored in UEFA Euro history.
2) Ronald Koeman’s reluctance to trust Joshua Zirkzee
Joshua Zirkzee is yet to make his first team debut for the Netherlands (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
There is an exciting, young, and extremely talented striker in the Dutch set-up who has just sat on the bench in all three of the Netherlands group stage games, and his name is Joshua Zirkzee. The ex-Bayern Munich academy product had an amazing club season for Bologna as the Serie A surprise package finished fifth in the league and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
Zirkzee had a brilliant season for the Italian side as he scored 11 goals and assisted another five throughout the season in what was his breakthrough campaign. The 23-year-old won the Serie A Young Player of the Season but was still left out of Koeman’s initial squad for UEFA Euro 2024 and was only included at the last minute after injuries to Frenkie De Jong and Teun Koopmeiners.
Memphis Depay has been poor in all his appearances in the tournament till now and even though he got on the scoresheet today, his performance was pretty disappointing as he missed numerous chances where he could’ve given his side the lead. Zirkzee is a talented youngster and has proved it on the U19s and the U21s level for the Dutch and we can only hope that he is given the opportunity in the coming games as the Netherlands have qualified for the next round as one of the third-placed teams.
3) Austria top their group for the first time in history
Marko Arnautovic led his country to the top of their group (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Ralf Rangnick has achieved with Austria what no other manager has been able to achieve in their history as Austria have finished top of their group for the first time at a major tournament. Ever since the turn of the century, Austria have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Even when they produced their best-ever finish at a World Cup back in 1954 when they finished third, they only finished second in their group.
Rangnick’s Austria got their campaign off with a loss to France but back-to-back victories for his side over the same oppositions France drew with meant that they finished top of the group with six points. Rangnick’s side were at their attacking best in both of their victories, scoring thrice in both games. That meant Austria have now scored their most goals at a UEFA European Championship ever with six and the most in a major tournament since the 1978 World Cup where they scored seven and could yet break that tally.
Ever since they first qualified for the UEFA European Championships in 2008, they only made it past the group stages in the previous edition where they reached the last 16. Having now matched that finish at the very least, this Austria side look like producing their best-ever finish in their UEFA Euro history.
A five goal thriller between Austria and Netherlands ended 3-2 in Austria’s favour as a Donyell Malen own goal and goals from Romano Schmid and Marcel Sabitzer were enough to send Austria through as group winners. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
