GROUP C
Austria 2 – 0 Belarus
Baumgartliner 44'
Arnautovic 83'
Dónal O’Brien
National Arena Bucharest, Bucharest, Hungary
Sunday 14th June
When Franco Foda took reign over a downbeat Austrian team at the beginning of 2018 a quiet excitement was bubbling among football fans in the Alpine country, belief high that the much-revered German would be the final piece to complete their never-ending footballing puzzle.
Only a couple of years previous there was much optimism throughout the nation as they entered just their second Euros finals at France 2016. Having navigated through their qualifying group with an almost unblemished record and with great expectation, they eventually failed to live up to the apparently overbearing hype by crashing out at the group stage. They ended their fleeting visit by registering only a stalemate draw, albeit an impressive one, to eventual champions, Portugal.
An inevitable change of management ensued failure to qualify for World Cup which has since then led to a new enthusiasm surfacing. Foda has managed to guide an old guard at the peak of their powers, led by the perennial Bayern jack-of-all-trades David Alaba and battle-hardened midfield general Julian Baumgartliner, with the combined sprouting talent from the German and Austrian Bundesliga playing fields.
To face them today in their search for a maiden Euros victory on their third attempt was Belarus. A team, who despite picking up just two victories in their last two qualification campaigns and are as surprised as anybody else, stumbled out of the Nations League labyrinth after steamrolling fellow European footballing minnows and grinding out four (Yes, FOUR!) back-to-back nil all draws in the playoff rounds to make it to their first ever international tournament appearance. The decisive penalty shootouts provided by far the most entertainment over the three hundred plus minutes of football. So today Belarus were looking not only for their first ever victory of Austria, but also their first goal against a team who delivered them their heaviest ever defeat (5-0) in 2003.
So, the scene was set as little over 50,000, mostly Austrian, fans flocked to the National Arena in Bucharest not only to hope to witness their teams emerge victorious the neutral spectator would look forward to a battle between clash of styles and even footballing ages come head to head. The stern footballing traditionalists from the East, boasting an impenetrable, blanket defence versus a youthful team of exuberant, exciting ballers orchestrated by a forward-thinking German master tactician. A patriotic Stoke vs Arsenal match-up, if you will.
The first half produced little to shout about which was so evidently demonstrated by the frustrated support groaning from the stands as Austria’s offensive midfield of Alaba, Sabitzer, Schaub and Lazaro were faced with a relentless and ruthless Byelorussian defence. The formidable veterans Martynovich and Veretilo policed the line with special attention on Marko Arnautović. The formerly much-revered wunderkind of Austrian football’s infamously fragile temper flared on the 40th minute as Veretilo maliciously took down the Shanghai SIPG forward outside the box on his way through on goal. Arnautović was subsequently, and justly, booked as he raised a menacing, outstretched hand towards his opponent’s neck. This retaliation, however, not only served to raise the decibel level of the Austrian supporters but proved to be a call that rallied his teammates to up the pressure on their determined opponents.
Moments later Austria’s intricate passing found another cranny in the Byelorussian backline as Alaba slipped a through ball at an impossible angle to the right and to an oncoming Lazaro who had just the keeper to beat. Fooling everyone in the stadium who expected him to slot the ball in the bottom left hand corner he instead decided to tee up a marauding Baumgartlinger coming through the centre. Madness ensued. The stadium shakes from the roar of the caucus, Foda stands on his feet with a defiant fist held in the air, the Austrian players swarm their captain, one-nil Austria. Half-time.
The second half begins at an alarming pace as Austria, fearing complacency and wanting to finish the contest, start gunning for their second. Belarus, however, had not read the script. Resisting the initial barrage in the first 10 minutes they start to edge their way into the game holding possession in midfield. A long ball into the box designs calamity as Dragovic heads the ball directly to Stanislaw Drahun, Belarus’s answer to Toni Kroos, who drives a volley against the crossbar. Gasps could be heard all the way from Vienna as a visible pallor fell upon Dragovic’s face.
The back and forth continued as Austria slowly started to take advantage of the space in the centre of the park with Sabitzer, sporting a Zorro-esque moustache, swashbuckling and shooting narrowly wide from outside the box. Alaba, not wishing to be outdone by his compatriot, moved up the gears as he danced around the experienced Shitov but also proved wasteful with his end product, choosing to shoot rather than playing in his distraught teammates. The Austrian faithful began to grow weary once again as Byelorussians chants started to ring around the arena.
In the 78th minute the moment that every Byelorussian fan had been dreaming of for the best part of two years was snatched from them by a miraculous goal-line clearance. Austria were found sweating again as another ball over the top delivered by Drahun’s inch perfect chip found Ilya Shkurin, the Belarussian’s top scorer the previous year at 19 years old. The baby-faced giant almost wrote his name in his country’s footballing annals as the six-foot-two striker delicately picked the ball mid-air, fell unconsolably to his knees as he watched his dink over Lindner be swept away and out to safety by the covering Martin Hinteregger.
The Eintracht Frankfurt defender, once again in favour after being dropped mid qualifying campaign for celebrating his birthday between qualifiers, consolidated his ´kultkicker fan favourite status among the Austrian faithful and renewed confidence from the coaching staff with the heroic piece of defending.
This proved to be Belarus’ ‘what if…?’ moment. Just five minutes later Arnautović decides to flash a moment of brilliance as he picked up a loose ball in the middle of the pitch to stride forward and unleash an unstoppable 30-yard strike into the top corner. 2-0 Austria. Game over, right? Wrong.
Standing chest out, Zlatan-like, Arnautović looked every bit the well-rounded footballer he had always promised to become. The thoughts on every footballing fan through the Austrian nation were surely beckoned towards thinking: Is this the moment for Marko to take his country to new heights?
Unfortunately, this old dog is always up to his old tricks. With one minute remaining Arnautović rekindled his hate-hate relationship with Veretilo down by the slide line by cynically stamping on the defender’s calf after receiving a frustrated tackle from the latter. A second yellow was branded and Arnautović sullied down the tunnel, head bowed, unable to meet his manager’s eye. Austria held out the last few minutes as Belarus looked for a consolidation to no avail.
Next up for Belarus is an enticing match up with neighbours Ukraine which will undoubtedly pick them up for their next battle, hoping for a little more luck on their side. As for Austria, although unconvincing at times, they deservedly came out on top over inferior yet dogged opponents and will be buoyed by curing their tournament jinx, however bittersweet it may have been. Awaiting them on their journey is another defining tie against the much-fancied Netherlands at the Jordan Cruyff Arena. The question is though: how high can these Eagles soar?
Man of the Match: Julian Baumgartlinger