Austria 1 Türkiye 2: Missiles fall, records crumble – and the tournament’s salvation?

It always promised to be one of the most frenetic nights of Euro 2024 – and Austria v Turkey did not disappoint.

A spectacular start, with Turkey taking the lead within a minute, fierce attacks, a miraculous save late on and a lively atmosphere – which sometimes degenerated into something more sinister – made for a convincing last-16 encounter. In the end, Turkey did what was necessary to secure a place in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday night.

Our experts debate the big topics of discussion.

How did Gunok make this save?

Turkey are responsible for the worst goalkeeping blunder of this European Championship so far – and now they have also made the biggest save of the tournament.

It was substitute goalkeeper Altay Bayindir who made the mistake of conceding an own goal in the second group match against Portugal. In the dying seconds of the match, first-choice goalkeeper Mert Gunok made a stunning reflex save from Christoph Baumgartner’s header, jumping with all his might to prevent his header from bouncing into the corner of the net.

UK readers, look here:

Austria came desperately close to equalising with seconds left, but it was too late 🫣#Euro2024 | #AUTTUR pic.twitter.com/WMB3jLPM0P

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 2, 2024

American readers, look here:

This save from Mert Günok in the 95th minute was INCREDIBLE 😱🔥

Turkey fans won’t forget this one 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/nLzM5Pa8Yy

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024

Normally it is the losing team that falls to the ground at the end of a knockout match, but such was the energy deployed by the Turkish players to contain Austria, that it was the Turkish players who, all together, collapsed on the turf, relieved and exhausted.

They are certainly surprise quarter-finalists, but given that they are in the weaker half of the table, who knows where that momentum can take them – especially as they are effectively the second-ranked team to host nation Germany, such is their vehement level of support.

Tim Spiers

How did Austria get such a record cold?

Austria are known for their fast starts (a Ralf Rangnick trademark): they scored in the first 10 minutes of their group stage wins over Poland and the Netherlands, while in March they scored the fastest goal in international football history just six seconds into a friendly against Slovakia.

During the same international break, they crushed Turkey 6-1, which suggests there is a good chance that Austria will take an early lead in Leipzig tonight.

Instead, after just 57 seconds, they managed to gift Turkey the first goal of the match thanks to a burlesque defense.

An inbound corner from Arda Guler headed under the crossbar was missed by Kevin Danso…

…Baumgartner moved toward the line, but instead of clearing the ball, he simply let it bounce off him.

Goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, probably conscious of picking up the ball in case it was a back pass, was feeling equally sleepy and managed to gently flick it back into the penalty area…

…no other Austrian reacted in time, and Merih Demiral had no trouble sending his shot from close range into the roof of the net.

Three massive individual errors in the space of a second. Austria paid dearly for their lack of dynamism and now have an unwanted place in history, having conceded the fastest goal in the history of a European Championship knockout stage.

The oddity of early goals from this tournament has also been preserved: four of the six fastest goals ever scored at a Euro have come this summer.

Tim Spiers

Players face a barrage of missiles

In the second half there was a problem with fans throwing plastic cups onto the pitch, which was not the first time in this tournament.

Before taking his corner that doubled Turkey’s lead, Arda Guler was punched by Austrian fans. After his cross was met by Merih Demiral for his and Turkey’s second goal, Guler turned to the crowd and put his hand over his ear.

A cascade of beer was then directed in his direction.

Arda Guler was targeted with mug shots (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Ten minutes later, Austria’s Marcel Sabitzer collapsed after being hit in the head by what appeared to be a coin thrown from the stands. Turkey’s Salih Ozcan then went to his team’s supporters to beg them to calm down.

Marcel Sabitzer appears to have been hit by a coin thrown from the crowd (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Earlier in the tournament, England manager Gareth Southgate was handed a handful of plastic cups after their 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the group stage.

Tom Burrows

Fast paced, thrilling chaos

It can be difficult to reliably quantify the speed of a football match, but Austria’s clash with Turkey was arguably the most frenetic start to a game of this tournament so far.

Merih Demiral’s goal in the 57th second of the game was of course the starting point of this match, but it wasn’t just that goal that ignited the game. Austria have always been the model of energy and pressure at this tournament – it’s their thing – but Turkey followed suit with their own relentless work rate, running into early difficulties and forcing the Austrians into further errors in the opening 20 minutes.

Turkey played what was arguably the best game of the group stage against Georgia, which was a fierce encounter in its own right. Vincenzo Montella’s side showed the same passion in Leipzig tonight, with more action in both boxes after the half-hour mark than in the entirety of Monday night’s encounter between Portugal and Slovenia (which ended on penalties).

Austria beat Turkey 6-1 in a friendly in March, and the start of that game felt like Turkey had embarked on a real Michael Jordan adventure – they took it personally.

Jordan could have been proud, given that this back-and-forth contest sometimes resembled a basketball game. It started out breathless and the pace barely slowed down after that.

It was chaotic — especially in the second half, when the rain started to fall and Portuguese referee Artur Soares Dias insisted on letting the game play as much as possible — but also exciting.

Mark Carey

Guler’s Supreme Set Pieces

Hugely talented teenager Arda Guler is being hailed as the ‘Turkish Messi’ in his homeland – and his performances so far at Euro 2024 will only add to the hype.

A technically gifted player with excellent balance and a fearsome left foot, the Real Madrid forward was a constant threat for Austria, floating through the middle of a three-man attack. But it was his pinpoint accuracy from a corner that cost Austria the game. In a frenetic start to the game, Guler converted a corner that was taken by defender Merih Demiral after some comical Austrian defending after just 57 seconds.

Midway through the first half, Guler created another golden opportunity from a corner that was almost headed home by Demiral for his second goal of the game, but Turkey’s frustration did not last long. On the hour mark, Guler played another perfect pass that was met by Demiral, who rose brilliantly in the box, for his second goal of the night.

Guler’s game is not just about setting up shots, but he remains a potent weapon for this Turkey team.

Tom Burrows

How Montella defied Rangnick’s pressure

Expecting Austria to play with the high-pressing, attacking-defending style they do, Turkey prepared perfectly to avoid falling into Ralf Rangnick’s trap.

Their solution? Take no risks and bypass the pressure with longer balls in the build-up. When Austria were pushing forward, ready to pounce when a teammate triggered the pressure, Turkey would play a well-placed ball to Arda Guler between the lines, or to right-back Mert Mulder to contest a header near the touchline.

You only have to look at goalkeeper Mert Gunok’s passing chart throughout the match to see that this was a clear tactic when he was playing out from the back.

The Turkish approach was clever, as it allowed them to vary their passing. When Austria then rested, expecting to receive more long balls from the deep Turkish players, Vincenzo Montella’s team then calmed down their passing and worked in the thirds with direct and intricate passing.

Austria was less able to implement its style effectively because Turkey did not allow it to do so.

As Turkey reach the quarter-finals of a European Championship for only the third time, they have shown they can be tactically versatile, passionate and dynamic.

Variety is truly the spice of life for the Turks.

Mark Carey

What was the reaction?

Ralf Rangnick, Austria coach: “The four games we played were very entertaining, including today’s. Not everything went to plan, but they were four very entertaining and intense games. We now have to build on this for the Nations League (in the autumn) and then for the World Cup qualifiers (starting in March). I can’t believe we’re going home today, we thought we were going to continue our journey.”

Mert Gunok, Turkey goalkeeper: “We still have a long way to go, if it is God’s will, we will go all the way. We believe in it. This victory has taken us to the next level in terms of morale and confidence.”

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(Top photo: John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images)