BERLIN, July 2 (Xinhua) — Merih Demiral’s double strike was enough for Türkiye to eliminate stubborn Austria 2-1 in a Euro 2024 round of 16 match at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena on Tuesday.

The Turks had a fairy tale start to the clash, scoring the fastest goal in the knockout stages of the Euro tournament as Austria couldn’t clear the ball following a corner, allowing Demiral to tap home the opener just 57 seconds into the game.

Austria responded with furious attacks, but Christoph Baumgartner missed two chances to restore parity. The Austrians struggled to create more chances against Türkiye’s well-organized defense and failed to produce clear-cut opportunities before the break. Meanwhile, Vincenzo Montella’s side remained dangerous, with Demiral heading over the target following another corner kick.

After the restart, Austria came out with momentum and kept Türkiye’s defense busy. However, Marco Arnautovic couldn’t beat goalkeeper Mert Gunok, and Konrad Laimer pulled wide from a promising position moments later.

Despite Austria’s pressure, it was Montella’s side that scored against the flow of the game. Demiral nodded home his second goal from a corner, making it two for Türkiye.

Austria managed to answer and halve the deficit through substitute Michael Gregoritsch, who sparked hopes after drilling a flicked-on corner into the roof of the net with plenty of time left to play.

Austria went in search of the equalizer, throwing every man forward, while Türkiye kept all their men behind the ball, waiting for counterattack opportunities. Baris Yilmaz had the golden chance to finish off one of those counterattacks but missed the target from inside the box with only goalkeeper Patrick Pentz to beat.

Rangnick’s side nearly restored parity in the dying seconds of the match, but Gunok denied Baumgartner’s close-range header with a one-handed parry on the goal line.

With this result, Türkiye advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008, where they will face the Netherlands at Berlin’s Olympia Stadium on Saturday.

“We didn’t have the necessary luck, and I believe if the game had gone to extra time, we would have won. We had time to score an equalizer. We didn’t make enough of our own chances, and we didn’t defend their set pieces well enough,” said Austria coach Rangnick.

Source(s): Xinhua

BERLIN, July 1 (Xinhua) — Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa denied three penalties in the shootout to eliminate a stubborn Slovenia 3-0 in their Euro 2024 last 16 match at Frankfurt’s Deutsche-Bank-Park on Monday.

Portugal dominated possession from the kickoff, pressing Slovenia onto the back foot in the opening stages.

However, Robert Martinez’s men struggled to convert their dominance into goals, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes both missing close-range opportunities.

Slovenia defended resolutely, keeping all their players behind the ball. Ronaldo had a chance from a promising free-kick position at the half-hour mark but sent it over the target.

In the closing stages of the first half, Slovenia could have caught Portugal flatfooted, but Petar Stojanovic opted for a square pass instead of taking a shot on goal.

Portugal continued to be the more active team after the restart, while Slovenia remained largely passive.

Slovenia’s goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, frustrated Ronaldo by neutralizing a free kick in the 55th minute and a dangerous long-range shot in the closing period.

In extra time, Ronaldo had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Diogo was fouled inside the box. However, he couldn’t beat Oblak from the penalty spot in the 105th minute.

Slovenia showed signs of life in the 115th minute but missed a crucial chance when Benjamin Sesko failed to beat Diogo Costa in a one-on-one situation.

After a goalless draw, the match went to a penalty shootout. Ronaldo finally beat Oblak from the spot to open the scoring.

Goalkeeper Diogo Costa then single-handedly helped Portugal progress by denying penalties from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec, and Benjamin Verbic. Bernardo Silva sealed the victory with his successful penalty.

With this result, Portugal will face France in the quarterfinals at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion.

“I was sad and then happy. It went back and forth, but that’s football. It is all or nothing. I tried to clinch the win for my team, but I failed to do so. I was unhappy, nonetheless, Oblak saved well today. We had to work hard, but we are through now. I think it is a deserved win as Slovenia defended only,” said Ronaldo.

Source(s): Xinhua

BERLIN, June 30 (Xinhua) — Jude Bellingham’s stoppage time equalizer forced Slovakia into overtime and allowed Harry Kane to head the 2-1 decider in Euro 2024 last 16 at Gelsenkirchen’s Arena AufSchalke on Sunday.

Offensively-minded Slovakia surprised England with a powerful opening period and came close twice but neither David Hancko nor Lukas Haraslin was able to break the deadlock despite promising chances.

Slovakia’s efforts eventually paid off as David Strelec’s good build-up work and assist helped Ivan Schranz to break the deadlock with 25 minutes into the game. It was Schranz’s third goal of the tournament.

The Three Lions tried to increase the pressure but failed to turn their 77 percent of possession into a tangible reward in the first half.

Things changed after the restart as Gareth Southgate’s men thought they had leveled the scores with just five minutes into the second half. However, Phil Foden’s goal was ruled offside.

England was lucky that Slovakia didn’t double its lead as Strelec’s long-range shot missed the empty net just wide moments later.

As the match progressed, England lacked in ideas to overcome Slovakia’s compact defence albeit Declan Rice rattled the woodwork from a distance in the 81st minute.

Francesco Calzona’s boys tried to protect their narrow lead to the end but got punished late in the dying seconds as Bellingham drilled the stoppage time equalizer with an overhead kick into the top right corner to stun resilient Slovakia.

Things went from bad to worse for Slovakia as the Three Lions completed their comeback with the kick-off of the overtime, as Kane headed home his 65th goal for England to seal the quarterfinal encounter against Switzerland.

“It is a massive moment, but it’s a long tournament and we will only know it if we go on to win the cup. We will decide in the next two weeks how important it is,” said Bellingham.

“I feel proud, we played a great game against a world-class team and one of the favorites. We allowed England very little, we almost advanced. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it,” said Slovakia coach Calzona.

England will now face Switzerland in the quarterfinal in Dusseldorf on July 6.

Source(s): Xinhua