Press comments after the exit

ÖFB team as “home favorite instead of secret favorite”

The disappointment among the players of the Austrian national soccer team is huge.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Following the ÖFB team's elimination from the European Championship round of 16 against Turkey, the international media have also expressed their surprise. In Turkey there is euphoria, in Switzerland there is schadenfreude. Austria became the "home favorite". The best press comments. 

SWITZERLAND:

Watson: "Go-home favorite instead of secret favorite - Austria's European Championship dream ends against Turkey. The dreams in soccer Austria were big, especially as Turkey was waiting in the round of 16, an opponent that they had beaten 6:1 just a few months ago. But then all those dreams were dashed in the rain in Leipzig."

Blick: The double Demiral plunges Austria into the valley of tears! Ralf Rangnick's team failed to achieve something historic in the rain in Leipzig on Tuesday evening: Austria have not won a knockout match since the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. And our eastern neighbor has never advanced to a European Championship quarter-final. 

Sport: "Turkey clipped the wings of the Austrian eagle."

Christoph Baumgartner

(Bild: AFP)

TURKEY:

TRT Spor: "Wait Berlin, our boys are coming! We are in the quarterfinals..."

Milliyet: "Merih Demiral's historic goal against Austria in the national team! Demiral left his mark on the game with his goals in our national team, which started the game great."

GERMANY:

Bild: "Rangnick is Raustria! Turkey celebrates the next soccer festival! The team of coach Vincenzo Montella (50) advances to the quarter-finals of the European Championship, eliminating secret favorites Austria with a 2:1 victory. The team of coach Ralf Rangnick (66) is eliminated."

Süddeutsche Zeitung: "Patsch, Patsch, out! An early deficit, a second corner goal and a storming run that wasn't enough: Austria fails in the round of 16 at the European Championships due to Turkey's wild energy."

Frankfurter Allgemeine: "Austria without ease and power. Austria's luck in the group stage seems to have run out in the last 16 of the European Championship."

Münchner Merkur: "Turkey stops Austria's fairytale. Ralf Rangnick's dream of an Austrian European Championship miracle was abruptly shattered in his old footballing home of Leipzig of all places."

GREAT BRITAIN:

Sun: "Ralf Reichts: Merih Demiral surprises Ralf Rangnick's team with two goals and Turkey are through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024-His name echoed around the Red Bull Arena as Leipzig were transformed into Istanbul."

Daily Mail: "Goalkeeper Mert Günok saves his team with a last-second diving save to secure a 2-1 victory."

Guardian:"Demiral's brace takes Turkey past Austria in the quarter-finals. The game had been billed as a battle between Turkish emotion and Austria's mechanical drill."

ITALY:

La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Demiral exaggerates: Double against Austria, Montella's Turkey in the quarterfinals."

La Repubblica: "Turkey defeated the favorites Austria in a heroic match of pure resistance. Montella caught Rangnick's troops in his net, first with tactics and then with heart. The Turkish defenders resisted with all their might".

Corriere dello Sport: "Thanks to a masterpiece from Montella, the Austrians are eliminated from the European Championship tournament. Montella is the only happy Italian in Germany and is celebrating his team's fantastic performance. Beating Austria with the youngest team of the tournament and without Calhanoglu in the squad is an extraordinary result".

Tuttosport: "Schmid and Sabitzer get caught up in the Turkish defensive net and are unable to support Arnautovic. Demiral sinks the Austrian defense".

FRANCE:

Le Parisien: "Turkey managed to tame the Austrian intensity in Leipzig on Tuesday. The Turks will face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the third time in their history on Saturday."

L'Equipe: "The spectacular European Championship round of 16 between Turkey and Austria (2-1) on Tuesday was decided by three corner kicks in which the teams exploited the shortcomings of the zone marking."

SPAIN:

Marca: "Turkey keep dreaming and will play the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Güler invented and assisted, Demiral executed and scored and Günok saved with a stratospheric hand in the last moment of the game."

El Pais: "Demiral and Günok dismantled the Austrian machine. Turkey took two corners to take the lead, which the Besiktas goalkeeper held on to against a nervous Austrian side."