Euro 2020: David Alaba and his team mates went home with their heads held high after giving Italy a fierce resistence

DBasia.news – Italy’s victory over Austria in the 16^th round of the 2020 European Cup is an understandable matter. However, the fierce resistance shown by the Das Team was certainly unexpected by many.

In the match which took place at Wembley Stadium, Sunday (27/6) am, WIB, Austria was able to force Italy to play extra time. Both teams played a draw for 90 minutes.

Even though Italy was far superior in terms of player quality than Austria. Their performance was also more convincing in the group stage.

Italy seemed to have won easily after pounding the Austrian defense throughout the first half. It seems that only luck has kept Daniel Bachmann’s goal from conceding.

But Austria bravely appeared more attacking in the second half. The change in strategy made Italy opressed.

Austria was even able to break into the Italian goal through Marko Arnautovic’s header in the 65th minute. But luck still saved Italy after VAR ruled out the goal for offside.

Had the goal been confirmed, the outcome of the match would have been very different. Moreover, Italy really appeared uncomfortable during the 45 minutes of the second half.

In the end, stamina and endurance made the difference in this match. The Austrian players lost focus in extra time to allow Federico Chiesa to score.

The goal undermined the fighting spirit of the Austrian players. Evidently, Italy was able to score an additional goal at the end of the first half of extra time through Matteo Pessina’s kick.

After being left behind 0-2 should close Austria’s chances. But David Alaba and his team mates still tried to get up in the second half of extra time.

The effort showed results after Austria was able to reduce the position through Sasa Kalajdzic’s header. This is the first time Italy has conceded a goal during the 2020 European Cup.

This fact proves that Austria cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately they were unable to score one more goal to force a penalty shootout.

This defeat certainly disappointed the Austrian players. But on the other hand, they are satisfied as they have shown maximum resistance.

“We can be proud of ourselves, Austria can be proud of us. We gave everything, but in the end we were not rewarded for our performance, it’s really hard to accept,” said Alaba.

“We held back against a great Italy. I think Italians now know that we can play great football,” continued Austrian midfielder, Florian Grillitsch.

The person who is most proud of Austria’s performance is of course the coach, Franco Foda. He was certainly satisfied with the appearance of his team mates who almost made a surprise.

“I’ve never received so much praise from an opponent. It was amazing how the team defended it in extra time and it was a great game,” stated Foda.

“All of Austria can be proud of this team. At first, we wanted to attack with a high defensive line, but Italy were too strong and able to play in their way to escape our pressure.”