In the round of 16 knockout rounds of the European Cup, 6 matches have been completed, including the host Germany, the traditional giants have advanced to the quarterfinals, and Belgium and Italy bid farewell to the tournament in advance. Now, with only two games left, according to the qualifying pattern of the European Championship, the Netherlands will be eliminated and Austria will advance to the quarterfinals?
In the two matches just ended, the battle between France and Belgium attracted the attention of many fans, and this was the "only" strong dialogue in the round of 16. Unfortunately, it wasn't a spectacular game, with just one goal scored in the game, and substitute Muani's shot on the 85th minute was deflected by Vertonghen to form a goal. UEFA deemed the goal an own goal by the Belgian defender, so France scored just three goals in four games, including two own goals, and one penalty to reach the quarter-finals.
In the other game, Portugal and Slovenia were unable to find the back of the net for 120 minutes, with Cristiano Ronaldo failing to score a penalty and Pepe's mistake almost causing a big mistake. However, Portugal were lucky, and in the penalty shoot-out, Costa saved three penalties in a row and became the biggest contributor. Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in extra time, was the team's first penalty taker and successfully hit to complete the redemption. In the first penalty shoot-out of the European Championship, Portugal had the last laugh and will face France, which has been goalless in the quarterfinals.
Soon, the Netherlands vs Romania and Austria vs Turkey, the last two matches of the round of 16 will be staged. Due to some minor upsets in the group stage, Austria beat France and the Netherlands to top the group, while Romania also beat Belgium to top the group. The Netherlands and Turkey came to the knockout stage as third and second in the group respectively.
Interestingly, according to the six matches that have been completed, among the six teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals, including Germany, Spain, England and Portugal, four group winners, and two group runners-up. In addition to Turkey, who have not yet played, Switzerland and France are the two best group runners-up.
Therefore, it seems to be a rule that the team with the best results in the group stage can advance to the quarterfinals. From this point of view, if this pattern continues, Romania and Austria, the remaining two teams that top the group, will be expected to advance to the quarterfinals. Moreover, in the past four major tournaments, there were often "dark horse" teams, will Austria become one of them?
The Netherlands and Romania have not met in an official match in the last 10 years. Due to the poor results in the tournament in recent years, there have only been two European Championship group stage experiences in the last 20 years, and all the World Cups have been absent. Hajj is known as the "Carpatha Mountain" Maradona, who once led Romania to outstanding performance at the end of the last century. Today, Haji's son is an older man and has made a number of appearances in the group stage.
The Netherlands has entered a period of renewal, and some people even believe that the Netherlands, led by Van Gaal, is already a second-rate team. Beaten by Austria in the final round of the group stage and only qualified for a better third-place finish, Weghorst appeared to be the team's "substitute killer", with both goals and assists. The Netherlands did not beat Romaria's absolute strength, and Koeman's coaching level was still questioned by the outside world.
The battle between Austria and Turkey seems to be a showdown without stars. However, both teams won two games in the group stage, with Turkey beating the Czech Republic in the final round to qualify, while Austria grabbed the top spot in front of the Netherlands and France, causing an uproar and neither team to ignore.
Rangnick spent half a season of humiliation at Manchester United, and who he was was the hottest topic in English football at the time. However, after leaving Manchester United, Rangnick proved himself in Austria, transforming Austria into a team with a German style, and the rigorous system has made Austria not well-known, but it is not good, and it is expected to become the biggest "dark horse" team this season. Moreover, the German Rangnick can be regarded as having half a home advantage, and returning to his familiar motherland to lead the team to participate in the competition will surely be supported by local fans.
According to many media analysis, if Austria enters the quarterfinals, whether it is against the Netherlands or Romania, Rangnick's team has the hope of beating the opponent and breaking into the semi-finals. If such a story really happens, will Manchester United fans be annoyed that they missed a "famous coach", in fact, Rangnick's level is not bad, whose fault is the chaos that occurred in those months?