Mert Gunok’s incredible save stopped the game from going to extra time (Ralf Ibing – Firo Sportphoto/Getty Images)
Austria, for all the plaudits about their improvement, exit the competition at the same stage as three years ago — when they put in a serious fight before going down 2-1 after extra time at Wembley to Italy, the eventual champions.
It seems unlikely they have fallen to the eventual winners again. Turkey are highly entertaining, fiery and emotional, but their complete lack of tactical intelligence was impossible to ignore. They had only six shots and conceded 21, a pattern you’d roughly expect considering they were leading from the first minute until the last. But really, all they offered here was the ability of their centre-backs in the box — twice in the opposition box, seemingly 100 times in their own box.
But this was what this tournament needed. The second round started well, before some slow-burning matches prompted muttering about the lack of entertainment value of Euro 2024. This is the weak section of the draw, so it might as well be good fun. And this was very good fun.
(Top photo: Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5612728/2024/07/03/austria-turkey-tactics/
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Publish date : 2024-07-03 01:59:32
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