Football
Euro 2024
Euro 2024: Ralf Rangnick says Austria 'begged to concede' after Poland win boosted Euro 2024 last 16 qualification hopes
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Published 22/06/2024 at 11:14 GMT
Despite a fast start and strong showing in the second half, Austria manager Ralf Rangnick was displeased with his side's dip in display in their 3-1 win over Poland at Euro 2024, adding his squad is not "extraordinary". Austria sit third in Euro 2024 Group D on three points, a point behind France and the Netherlands. Austria face the Netherlands on Tuesday.
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Ralf Rangnick said his Austria side “begged to concede” in the first half of their 3-1 win over Poland.
The former Manchester United manager was displeased with the dip in his team’s performance after Gernot Trauner gave them an early lead in Berlin.
Krzysztof Piatek equalised for Poland after half an hour and it took until the 66th minute for Christoph Baumgartner and subsequently Marko Arnautovic to claim the win.
Despite a fast start and strong showing after the interval, Rangnick said his players cannot afford to take their foot off the gas.
"If I'm really honest, we begged to concede this goal,” complained Rangnick. "After the 20th minute in the first half we dropped down in our performance level.
"We had a few players who underperformed in the first half compared to their normal level.
"We don't have an extraordinary squad that allows four or five players to be below par, but in the second half that changed completely."
Goalscorer Baumgartner appeared to be one such player, with Rangnick revealing he spoke at length to the RB Leipzig midfielder at the break.
"At half-time I told him, 'you're such an important player, we need you at least at normal level,'" said Rangnick.
The player of the match was equally self-critical after losing 1-0 to France in their opening Group D match, but maintained Austria have the potential to cause upsets at Euro 2024.
"We knew against France we weren't at our maximum. We know if we reach our maximum we can beat a lot of nations,” said Baumgartner.
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