Battle for promotion

Rangnick: “Now comes the decisive game”

Ralf Rangnick knows that there is a lot at stake against Poland.(Bild: GEPA)

The ÖFB team was better than France in many statistics, but unfortunately that counted for nothing in the end. Team boss Ralf Rangnick knows ahead of the clash with Poland: "Whoever wins on Friday still has every chance!"

More ball possession (51:49 percent), more successful passes (419 to 393), passing accuracy (86:87%) and attacks (43:44) almost identical, with 119.4 kilometers run 6.8 kilometers more than the opponent - purely in terms of statistics, Austria was on a par with France in the EURO opener. Incidentally, 1.66 million people watched the race on ServusTV, making it the strongest day in the channel's history.

Nevertheless, the red-white-red team suffered a 1-0 defeat, which also meant that Ralf Rangnick's EURO team managerial debut went down the drain. In the end, he had to congratulate former protégés such as Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate on their victory, while he could only offer consolation to his current players.

Review with anger
After the grueling 99 minutes in Düsseldorf, he had a lot to say - Rangnick's review, Rangnick's anger, Rangnick's outlook:

The review: "I suppose it's logical that we're all disappointed. We didn't allow the French to score in almost 100 minutes and the only goal we conceded was, as everyone saw, extremely unfortunate. We had two really good chances ourselves, Baumgartner's just before 0-1 was certainly the biggest of the game in front of goal. My colleague Didier Deschamps and his players were ultimately happy when it was over, that alone shows what an energetic performance it was from us, we left everything on the pitch - even if you have to be fair, France had the greater number of scoring chances overall."

Ralf Rangnick(Bild: AFP/ APA/PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA)

The annoyance: "The Spanish referee wasn't to blame for the defeat - but I couldn't understand the distribution of the yellow cards, we were the home team on paper, but it wasn't a home referee. On top of that, he made a clear mistake two minutes before the goal we conceded when he disallowed a corner for us."

The outlook: "The style of play worked well for long stretches against France, one of the best teams on the planet. Now it's all about looking ahead, regenerating, recharging the batteries to win on Friday. From the moment the draw was made, everyone was aware and always clear that the decisive game against Poland awaits, and that whoever wins still has every chance of advancing!"