Austria had never won a match at the European Championships before this summer. They were once again considered outsiders, the dark choice of horses that you are not so sure about.
Sure, they have some nice players from the Bundesliga plus Real Madrid’s latest galaxy in David Alaba, but until you see an international team play well, it’s hard to believe they’s anything but pretend.
They stumbled to a first group victory against minnows Northern Macedonia before being beaten well by the Netherlands, and the recent love affair with Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine made them a rather unfavorable choice when they entered their latest group game.
Austria needed a hero, someone who helped share the burden with his left-back. Christoph Baumgartner proved for 30 minutes why he is just that man.
The Hoffenheim midfielder, part of 90min’s Our 21, started Austria’s 1-0 win over Ukraine driven in from the left flank, and linked well to Alaba and RB Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer. It was obvious that trio were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game.
With Alaba, the creator, Sabitzer and Baumgartner did their best to investigate and press the Ukrainian opposition, play football at the touch of a button and drag them around as desired.
While Sabitzer is an experienced professional with lots of top-level experience, this was largely a new stage for Baumgartner, but he showed that he has what it takes to be Austria’s second star.
The first goal from one of ‘??? 21 ‘at # EURO2020
Baumgartner you beauty! ? pic.twitter.com/yb8jdpvgx3
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) 21 June 2021
He was rewarded for his efforts with a goal, improvised and used his buds to shoot home a corner from Alaba.
But after picking up a number of knocks (including in the head), Baumgartner had to be replaced around the half-hour mark, leading to a premature end a top performance.
Austria switched to a more direct approach in Baumgartner’s absence, which brought back the returning Marko Arnautovic a little more, but their playing field had been stifled and Hoffenheim’s influence was greatly missed when his country clung on to secure a place in the 16s.
