Oranje, Austria seek passage to Round of 16 on TSN2
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Top spot in Group D could potentially be on the line as the Netherlands meets Austria on Matchday 3 at UEFA Euro 2024 from Berlin.
On four points, the Oranje need a single point to ensure passage to the Round of 16, while Austria, on three points, needs a victory to ensure they will be playing after Tuesday.
You can catch the Netherlands vs. Austria in Group D action from UEFA Euro 2024 LIVE on Tuesday with coverage getting underway at 11:45am et/8:45am pt on TSN2, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Depending on what happens with France in Group D's other match against Poland, both the Netherlands and Austria can still claim top spot in the group.
You can forgive Ronald Koeman and the Oranje if they feel a little aggrieved for not beating France last Friday. While the match finished in a scoreless draw and Les Bleus had the better chances, the Netherlands scored a goal. In the 69th, Xavi Simons struck from inside the box, but the goal was ruled off following a VAR check. Defender Denzel Dumfries was in an offside position and was adjudged to have been close enough to Mike Maignan to be interfering in the play.
The result means that the Oranje need to win on Tuesday to keep their hopes of winning the group alive.
"We all know that the Austria game will be difficult for many reasons," captain Virgil van Dijk said on Friday. "The intensity is going to be high. So now it's time to recover, and then to analyze the game and see where we can hurt them. That will be the focus."
Austria is coming off of a well-earned 3-1 win over Poland, also on Friday. The winning goal, from Christoph Baumgartner in the 66th minute, was one of the best team goals of the tournament with Alexander Prass using the run of Marko Arnautovic as a dummy to send a perfect pass for the RB Leipzig man to finish off. As stylish as Austria was against the Eagles, the Oranje will be a stiff test.
"We're coming up against an opponent with almost as much individual quality as France, just a few less because they're a smaller country," manager Ralf Rangnick said. "They have a lot of international quality and we want to make sure we have phases where we control the game. We need an intense and physical performance so we can show off what we're truly capable of."
With four third-place teams reaching the Round of 16, Austria might be okay with the three points they already have, but they can't take any chances. Only a win will assure passage. A single point could effectively be enough with four points what was needed to reach the Round of 16 at Euro 2021.
"I'd prefer to finish first, but we need to win and hope France lose, which is unlikely," Rangnick said. "To get second, we just have to win. We want to do our job and then see what the other teams do."
There will be at least one change to the Austria starting XI. Rangnick confirmed that Gernot Trauner, who scored the opening goal against Poland, will be unavailable against the Oranje. The Feyenoord centre-back is still dealing with the thigh injury that forced him to come off early against the Eagles.
The Oranje are 9-4-6 all-time against Austria. The two sides last met at Euro 2020. In a Group C game in Amsterdam, the Netherlands were 2-0 winners on goals from Dumfries and Memphis Depay.
POTENTIAL NETHERLANDS XI (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen; Denzel Dumfries, Virgil van Dijk, Stefan de Vrij, Nathan Aké; Jerdy Schouten, Tijjani Reijnders; Jeremie Frimpong, Xavi Simons, Cody Gakpo; Memphis Depay
POTENTIAL AUSTRIA XI (4-2-3-1): Patrick Pentz; Stefan Posch, Kevin Danso, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene; Nicolas Seiwald, Florian Grillitsch; Christoph Baumgartner, Konrad Laimer, Marcel Sabitzer; Marko Arnautovic