Austria coach Ralf Rangnick urged his team to go for a win ahead of Tuesday’s match against the Netherlands, in order to avoid a potentially complicated qualification scenario. A victory over the Dutch would secure Austria’s place in the top two of Group D.
However, a draw or a loss could see Austria finish third in the group, relying on being one of the best third-placed teams to progress.
Rangnick said: “Naturally, I would prefer to win the group, but to achieve that, we would need to win and France would need to not win, which is not very likely.”
He continued: “Therefore, I’m open to finishing second in the group, but the situation with third place is too complicated. I tried to analyze it, but it was too intricate, so I gave up.”
He stressed the primary goal: “The most important thing is to reach the round of 16. After that, we’ll see how things go.”
At Euro 2020, Austria made history by reaching the knockout stages for the first time in a major international tournament since 1954. They are aiming to reach the quarter-finals of the Euros for the first time.
Austria captain Marko Arnautovic expressed his enjoyment of the 2024 European Championship and his hope for the team to go further. “It’s great, it’s fun,” the striker said. “The ideal situation would be to beat the Netherlands and then see what happens. The most important thing right now is Tuesday’s game.”
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