ÖFB team: EM: Not “gifted for beauty”, Austria works football

At this European Championship, too, there are of course teams that play football – and those that work football. Marcel Sabitzer left no doubt as to which category his Austrians should be classified into. “We are working hard,” said the midfield all-rounder. “But we also celebrate well.” There was plenty of time for that after the final group game against the Netherlands. The Austrians won 3-2 and deservedly so. Less than seven kilometers from the Berlin Olympic Stadium, Tuesday night could be turned into day. Even “Mr. Team Boss,” as coach Ralf Rangnick is often referred to by Austrian journalists, could not prevent the next red-white-red European Championship party from being thrown at the nearby Schlosshotel Grunewald.

“Gifted for the beautiful,” has been the national anthem of the Republic of Austria since 1947. This has only rarely been the case for the football selection over the years, which is why jerseys with legendary names like Prohaska or Krankl were often seen in Berlin on Tuesday evenings. The shouting before every international match has been progressive for twelve years: “Home of great daughters and sons” has been the gender-equal anthem since then. But the popular ball sport finally seems to be “future-rich” like the sung Alpine republic, to be precise for two years now, since “Mr. Team Boss” has been at work. After missing qualification for a World Cup for the sixth time in a row in 2022, Rangnick came. His record: 25 games, 15 wins – and only two defeats in the last 17 games.

Celebrate the wrong text

“Your high time is long over,” is how Austria’s unofficial national anthem begins. This text from Rainhard Fendrich’s “I am from Austria” no longer fits the country’s footballers right now. But Rangnick likes the song. And Sabitzer said it was the team’s favorite song. The coaching staff and team sang together with more than 20,000 fans in the Olympic Stadium. Shortly before, when everyone was already standing in front of the fan curve at the marathon gate, central defender Maximilian Wöber excitedly directed the eyes of his teammates towards the scoreboard. There was no longer the 2 behind the Dutch flag and the 3 in front of the Austrian flag. There Austria was enthroned at the top Group D – ahead of France, the Netherlands and Poland. The stadium party in red-white-red now really began.

You couldn’t pass by good-humoured Austrians in the European Championship city all day. They were able to celebrate for the first time six minutes after kick-off. The lead was deserved after a powerful opening phase despite an own goal from Dutchman Donyell Malen. Rangnick expects his team to fight, run and defend passionately. And so after the final whistle she had four kilometers more in her legs than the opponent, more ball conquests, more duels in the defensive area and more successful saves there.

Correct reaction after conceding goals

Before the game, Austria’s coach wasn’t so sure about what went beyond statistics and, above all, what could be planned. He then said he was “impressed by the reaction” of his players “after conceding goals.” Two minutes after the restart, Cogy Gakpo equalized for the “Oranjes”. Those who had thought that the Dutch would now dismantle their opponents were later disappointed. The urge phase lasted less than a quarter of an hour. “Shake it briefly and just keep going,” is how Sabitzer described the second half.

Twelve minutes after the equalizer, the Austrians took the lead again through Romano Schmid. They not only defended them, but also played at least on an equal level with the opponent. Memphis Depay’s 2-2 draw for the Dutch was not necessarily a result of playful efforts. Sabitzer’s winning goal in the 80th minute did. “I like to run around everywhere,” he said about his wonderful hit from the half-left position into the corner of the goal – and his entire performance, in which the 30-year-old on the 10th both directed the offensive game and carried out pressing and defensive work at all times. As he spoke, the Man of the Match trophy was right in front of him.

The “Holland, Holland, Holland” of the supporters in orange, which had impressed so many during the march to the stadium, was hardly heard during the game. One reason is the expectations: everyone – the Dutch, their national team and the entire football world – always counts the “Elftal” as the favorites. So to those who play football. And in the most beautiful way.

Suffering from historical burdens

Just why? The more recent European Championship statistics already refute this: exit from the preliminary round in 2012, not qualified in 2016, exit in the round of 16 in 2021. And the only previous title win by a Dutch national team was 36 years ago. Their successors are still suffering from the historical burden of the “totaalvoetbal” of the Cruyff generation, which itself died beautifully in the 1970s. In Berlin they only got two balls onto the Austrian goal, which then ended up in the net. But because even this efficiency didn’t lead to success, the controversial coach Ronald Koeman made a devastating verdict: “My team played very badly, it was really terrible.”

When Sabitzer and Rangnick gave detailed information about how Austria’s first victory over the Netherlands in 34 years came about, Thomas Trukesitz was no longer so sure what was really possible on Wednesday. The press spokesman for the Austrian national team did not immediately cancel the media event that was actually planned for that day, but kindly pointed out that further information would be provided about it. Neither Trukesitz nor Rangnick were responsible for this, but the injured captain David Alaba. Whether it’s a coaching team or a support staff – exactly what role he plays at this European Championship is not entirely clear, but in any case it’s a crucial one. “David has already told the team that there will be no training on Wednesday,” said Rangnick. Because there was apparently nothing he could do about it anyway, he let the leash go quite long and also invited the players’ “girlfriends, wives and families” to celebrate at the Grunewald team camp. And the fun is far from over: on Tuesday the Austrians will be enjoying playing football again in the round of 16.