Turkey successfully advanced to the last 8 of Euro 2024 after beating Austria with a score of 2-1 in the last 16 match which was held at the Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Tuesday (2/7/2024).
Merih Demiral became the hero of Türkiye’s victory through the two goals he scored. Austria narrowed the gap thanks to a goal from substitute Michael Gregoritsch.
Thanks to this result, Turkey has the right to qualify for the quarter-finals to face the Netherlands, who previously eliminated Romania with a 3-0 win.
The match had only been running for 57 seconds, Türkiye had managed to open up the lead through Demiral’s goal. Starting with a wild ball in front of the Austrian goal, Demiral successfully scored the ball.
Austria created a series of golden opportunities in the first half to equalize the score. However, there were no goals from Ralf Rangnick’s troops until halftime.
Entering the second half, Türkiye increasingly had the upper hand after Demiral broke into Austria’s goal again. This time he immediately headed Arda Guler’s corner kick.
Austria finally managed to reduce the deficit through Gregoritsch’s goal in the 66th minute. Once again, like Türkiye’s two goals, this goal also started with a corner kick.
Austria tried desperately to find an equalizer in the remaining time. However, their efforts failed to produce results. The score 2-1 for Türkiye’s victory was the final result of this match.
UEFA chose Demiral as the best player in this match. Obviously, his two goals plus performance at the back are enough to be the reason why Demiral won this award.
“He blocked everything he needed to defend and scored both of Turkey’s goals at the right time as part of a perfect performance.” That was the UEFA panelist’s assessment of Demiral’s performance.
Even though he plays as a central defender, Demiral is very dangerous in the opponent’s penalty box in set pieces. He recorded three shots, including two goals.
From the defensive side, Demiral appeared strong with four blocks, 17 clearances, three interceptions and winning seven duels.
