Ralf Rangnick says he has struggled to 'stay awake' in some of the games at Euro 2024 as he delivered a scathing assessment of the tournament following Austria's elimination.
Rangnick's side impressively topped Group D ahead of France and the Netherlands, but they fell at the first hurdle in the knockout stage.
Austria suffered a 2-1 defeat to Turkey in Leipzig as they were denied a late equaliser when Mert Gunok pulled off a sensational save to stop Christoph Baumgartner.
Austria leave Germany having played out four entertaining games, including a thrilling clash against the Dutch in the group stage.
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But some of the matches in Germany have left a lot to be desired as Rangnick referenced some of the less entertaining fixtures of Euro 2024 after his team's exit. Check it out below:
"I think the four games we played were very entertaining, including today’s game," he said.
"Not everything went accurately. We could have played a few passes better, but they were four very entertaining games, very intense, super intense.
"I’ve seen other games where it was difficult to even stay awake and that was not the case with our games.
"Now we need to take it with us into the Nations League and then into the World Cup qualification.
"If we continue to play the way we have in these four games, then we have a good chance to qualify for the World Cup."
The former Manchester United boss was also asked if Gunok's save reminded him of Gordon Banks' effort to prevent Pele from scoring at the 1970 World Cup to which he replied: "That is correct.
"We didn’t have the necessary luck. I believe if the game had gone into extra time, we would have had a chance to win the game because I think Turkey were fairly exhausted at the end and we had a physical advantage.
"We didn’t score enough goals or create enough chances and in the set pieces we didn’t defend very well. At the second one, we had three players who were very good at headers, but Demiral still scored.
"And if you’re behind two goals then things aren’t any easier. The team tried everything, we then scored one goal and we had enough time to achieve a draw but it’s difficult if you have Gordon Banks in the goal."
Topics: Ralf Rangnick, Euro 2024, Football
Nasir Jabbar