Euro 2024: Lacklustre Netherlands beaten by Rangnick's gegenpressing Austria

A stunning late finishby Marcel Sabitzer helped Austria sink the mighty Netherlands 3-2 in what was an enthralling contest in the final round of matches in Group D at Euro 2024. The win helped Austria top the table and advance to the Round of 16while the Dutch hopes of qualifying now hang by a slim thread.

Against all odds, Austria stood firm in front of a majority-Dutch crowd at the Olympiastadion Berlin and walked away with the victory, having led through an own goal in the first half.

The Netherlands started the first half passively as Austriasmothered the Dutch midfield with their suffocating press. Austrian manager Ralf Rangnick, known as the godfather of gegenpressing (German for counter-pressing), who was sacked unceremoniously by Manchester United a few years ago, showed how capable his teams are when given the opportunity to drill them.

The Men-in-Orange failed to adjust to the tempo of the match and allowed multiple counter-attack opportunities to Austria after losing the ball in their own half. The devastating consequence of Dutch passivity soon arrived as a fizzed cross from Prass on the left side was turned into the goal by a trailing Donyll Malen in the sixth minute.

After the early setback, Koeman could be seen animatedly passing instructions to the players who were being pushed and harried by the Austria midfield.The aggressive intent from Austria meant the Netherlands did manufacture a couple of 1v1 chances in the box but bothTijjani Reijnders and Malen missed out on golden opportunities.

Joey Veerman was particularly bad on the ball -completing only nine passed out of 19 before being hooked by Ronald Koeman in the 35th minute. Xavi Simons, his replacement lifted the tempo but Dutch failed to get a shot on target at the end of the first half.

Austria keep hitting the Dutch

After the break, Dutch started the game on front foot and restored the parity through a beautiful, curling shot from Liverpool's Cody Gakpo. Just when it appeared that the Netherlands were growing in the match, Romano Scdmid thumped one past Verbruggen in the 59th minuteto give Austria the lead.

Having had a sluggish tournament so far, Memphis Depay stepped up finally for the Dutch side and finished a brilliant goal to bring parity to the scoreline in the 75th minute. However, five minutes later, Sabitzer killed the tie as a defensive lapse from the Dutch backline allowed the midfielder to slot one to the back of the net.

It was a disappointing evening for a sea of Dutch fans, who clad in their traditional vibrant orange, had taken over the streets of Berlin hours before the game, hoping for a second European Championship trophy. After Tuesday's result, the Dutch will hope that they qualify for the next round as one of the top-4 third-placed teams.