Holland and Austria advance to the next round

 

After that epic encounter at the Johan Cruyff Arena against the Dutch, it was expected that Ukraine would go a long way in the EURO 2020 – their fighting spirit and the coordination between the players showed a lot of promise, but as the tournament progressed they lost their firepower and right now, they are out of the mega-event.

It was a must-win game against a very disciplined Austrian unit – well, the ending was not what Ukraine expected.

Christoph Baumgartner put Austria into the knockout stage at the European Championship for the first time by scoring the only goal in his team's 1-0 victory over Ukraine on Monday.

Baumgartner knocked in a corner from Austria captain David Alaba in the 21st minute, only four minutes after colliding head-to-head with Illia Zabarnyi on the other end of the field.

Baumgartner was then substituted in the 32nd minute, holding his head while leaving the field.

Austria finished second in Group C with six points and will next face Italy in London on Saturday. Ukraine is third with three points and could still qualify for the round of 16 as one of the four best third-place teams.

This is the first time that Austria have advanced to the next round of Euros and in a major event, they have progressed for the first time since the World Cup 1982.

Meanwhile, at the Johan Cruyff Arena, it was one-way traffic.

Gini Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay ran the show, but the highlight of the match was when the Dutch side gave Goran Pandev a well-deserved farewell because the legend was playing his last international match.

Frank de Boer’s men have returned a perfect nine points via results of 3-2, 2-0 and now 3-0. The 3-5-2 the head coach switched to before the tournament will no longer be questioned, and common sense suggests that the Oranje will be better again in Sunday’s last-16 tie in Budapest.

North Macedonia did create plenty of chances, having two goals chalked off for offside as well as smashing one against the woodwork. Having qualified as minnows from the bottom tier of the Nations League, they have done themselves proud and can exit this tournament with their heads held high.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 21/06/2021 Holland and Austria advance to the next round

Thank You

Faisal Caesar