PREVIEW
More than a few eyebrows were raised when Austria hired manager Ralf Rangnick in 2022 after a miserable stint at Manchester United, but the 66-year-old German has turned Austria into Euro 2024 contenders — and earned the nation’s respect.
Austria, one of the biggest stories of the tournament after upending tough opponents France and the Netherlands to win its group, plays Turkey in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
After a hard-fought 1-0 loss to World Cup runners-up France, Austria reeled off a 3-1 victory over Poland and a 3-2 win over star-studded Netherlands to clinch a knockout berth for only the second time.
Rangnick, who has influenced coaches such as Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, is known as the “Godfather of gegenpressing,” the tactic of fierce counter-pressing to win the ball back fast, and preferably high up the pitch.
The Austria he now leads have a free-flowing, risk-taking style that has stood out from the more conservative group-stage approaches of sides such as England and Belgium and made them one of the most entertaining teams to watch.
Turkey’s livewire attacker Baris Alper Yilmaz credited the thousands of raucous fans for the victory.
The winner of what is sure to be a rip-roaring affair on Tuesday will meet either Romania or the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
Ahead of the big clash, Sportstar predicts the starting 11 of the two teams.
Austria vs Turkey Predicted XI
Austria (4-2-3-1): Pentz; Posch, Danso, Lienhart, Mwene; Seiwald, Grillitsch; Schmid, Baumgartner, Sabitzer; Arnautovic
Turkey (4-2-3-1): Gunok; Muldur, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Yuksek, Yokuslu; Kahveci, Guler, Yildiz; Yilmaz
