Austria lost its opening match at the European Championships in Germany despite a courageous performance. The team of German coach Ralf Rangnick lost 0:1 (0:1) to France in Düsseldorf.
An own goal by Maximilian Wöber (38th minute) sealed Austria’s defeat. The Alpine republic, which had eight Bundesliga professionals on the field, fought back as best it could against defeat, but did not pose a serious threat to the composed French in the second half. “Les Bleus” showed a concentrated performance. In terms of football, there is certainly still room for improvement for one of the tournament’s big favorites.
“I am relieved and satisfied with the game. We could have decided the game earlier. But they were a difficult opponent who pressed very high and stood well,” said Didier Deschamps, who celebrated his 100th victory as coach of the French selection. “Overall, the French deserved to win. But the fact that we were on the verge of equalizing right up until the end speaks for our team’s performance,” explained Rangnick.
Pentz parries against Mbappé
As expected, the French played at a very high tempo from the start. The two-time world and European champions repeatedly forced the game down the wings. There, Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé consistently looked for a way to the byline on the wings to either serve center forward Marcus Thuram or score themselves.
The latter almost came to fruition in the eighth minute for Mbappé, but goalkeeper Patrick Pentz was able to deflect the star attacker’s shot around the post with his fingertips.
Austria with high effort and chance to lead
After the 25-year-old’s goal, the Austrians managed to keep “Les Bleus” away from their own 16-yard box for a long time. Rangnick’s team closed the spaces with an extremely high willingness to run, were robust in tackles and had excellent retreat behavior after losing the ball. And as the game went on, the Alpine republic also became bolder in its forward movement.
The underdog did not have more than one big chance before half-time. But this one was more than big – huge: Christoph Baumgartner had a free shot from seven meters after a pass from Marcel Sabitzer, but was stopped by the rushing keeper Mike Maignan (36′). The fact that referee Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain) then decided on a goal kick instead of a corner was rightly described by Rangnick as a “blatant mistake”.
Wöber heads Mbappé cross into his own goal
A 1-0 goal was missed up front – a 0-1 goal was conceded at the back: within 120 seconds, the Austrians went through a rollercoaster of emotions. And the way the goal came about made the deficit even more bitter. Because the goalscorer was not a Frenchman, but an Austrian.
Gladbach’s Wöber headed a cross from Mbappé into his own net. Before that, the French force of nature had sprinted past Mainz left-back Phillipp Mwene with the ball at his feet as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
Mbappé misses huge chance to make it 2-0
Ten minutes after the break, the French captain was once again in the spotlight. After Kevin Danso lost his balance, Mbappé sprinted like a seven-league boot towards the Austrian goal. No one could follow him. No one seemed to be able to stop him from making it 2-0. Except himself.
And indeed: The striker shot the ball past the right post without any time or opposition pressure. Mbappé smiled bitterly – and the Austrians breathed a sigh of relief, as they were still in the game.
Despite all their efforts to put pressure on the tournament favorites, Rangnick’s charges were rarely able to pose a serious challenge to France’s defense. In the end, running seven more kilometers than the French was of no use. Deschamps’ eleven continued to have the better opportunities. After Mbappé, Thuram could have made it 2-0 (67′). Not much more happened, so the victory remained narrow but deserved for “Les Bleus”.
Austria is now under pressure in its second group match on Friday (21.06.24, 18:00) against Poland. France will also face the Netherlands on Friday (21:00).