Excitement at ÖFB match

“This is unbelievable!” Prohaska stunned

Herbert Prohaska is annoyed by the refereeing team's mistake.

(Bild: GEPA)

"It's unbelievable that you can't see that!" The refereeing error before the French 1-0 win against Austria in the European Championship match is still causing anger among legend Herbert Prohaska.

In the match against the French, Christoph Baumgartner, whose record goalscoring streak in an ÖFB team shirt came to an end after five games, was denied by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan in the 36th minute. Instead of a corner, referee Gil Manzano wrongly awarded a goal kick. Around two minutes later, the French were celebrating after an own goal by Maximilian Wöber.

"I'm not allowed to say that here now"
"I'm not allowed to say what I'm really thinking right now," said Herbert Prohaska in the ORF studio, looking back on the ÖFB team's bitter opening defeat and harshly criticizing the referee. "But it's unbelievable not to see that. It can't be! Everyone in the stadium saw it. I also blame the assistant referee, he has to be on the same level and signal to the referee that it was the goalkeeper's turn." What also infuriates the 68-year-old: "There are people sitting outside with the monitors, they could also intervene from the outside."

"We don't need to reinvent anything"
Ralf Rangnick's squad now face a crucial group clash with Poland. "We don't need to reinvent anything," said Prohaska. In his "Krone" column, he explains why the former professional footballer remains an optimist:

The paper form has been confirmed. France were the favorites, were slightly better and deserved to win. There's no reason to regret it because Mbappé won't let two such high-caliber goals like the one against us slip through his fingers again. What is certain is that the pressure has increased. That applies to everyone who has lost their first European Championship game. On the one hand, the good performance against France is encouraging, but that also applies to the Poles, who made life difficult for Holland.

We don't need to reinvent anything now. We need to work on our freshness, because the enormous running performance against France cost us a lot of substance. In terms of personnel, there may be one or two changes, although nobody really disappointed. I remain optimistic. Also because it's reassuring to have a safe number one in Patrick Pentz. When he's been in goal for the national team, he's never disappointed.

The question: What can the "Lewandowski" factor achieve? I can't imagine that he had a real muscle fiber tear. He couldn't get fit again that quickly. I think it's more likely to be a muscle strain. If he does play, it would be mainly a headache for the Poles. Even if he no longer scores as many goals at Barcelona, Lewandowski is still one of Europe's top strikers.