Turkey tames Austria, joins Netherlands in quarter-finals

Thanks to a double from their central defender, Merih Demiral, the Turks beat Austria in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

The end of the dream. First in their group ahead of France and the Netherlands, the Austrians will not go any further in this Euro 2024. Facing Turkey in the round of 16, Tuesday July 2 in Leipzig, the Eagles came up against a snag. Caught cold by Merih Demiral’s early opening goal (1-0, 1st), the Austrians never found their rhythm. Winners 2-1, the Turks will challenge the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

Turkey owes its qualification, the third in its history at this level of the competition, to two men: its central defender Merih Demiral and its goalkeeper Mert Günok. The latter made the save of the tournament in added time, on a header from Christoph Baumgartner, which the entire stadium saw in the back of the net. But the Besiktas goalkeeper, although caught off-guard and not on his feet, jumped to deflect it into a corner and prevent the Austrians from equalizing.

In a stadium once again won over to their cause, in this Euro almost at home for them, the Turks were then able to savour their deserved qualification, after their full and controlled match. It must be said that this round of 16 had started ideally for Turkey, on a corner from Arda Güler headed in by Merih Demiral to open the scoring from the start (1-0, 1st). The fastest goal in the history of knockout matches at the Euro.

Stunned by this start, the Austrians missed several equaliser opportunities, notably through Christoph Baumgartner (5th, 45+1st) and Marko Arnautovic (51st). Sensing the danger growing in the second half, Turkey had the good idea of ​​making the break with a copy-paste of the first goal, with Merih Demiral once again coming off a corner from Arda Güler (2-0, 59th).

In the process, the Austrians revived the suspense, also from a corner, thanks to Michael Gregoritsch (2-1, 66th). But it was already too late for Austria, less inspired than during the group stage and who will therefore not meet the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. It is indeed Turkey who will be there, Saturday at 9 p.m., at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.