You know the drill by now. "Red Bull Football" is a philosophy that many players on the Austrian national team are intimately familiar with, with key players such as Konrad Laimer, Christoph Baumgartner and Marcel Sabitzer all playing or having played in the past with clubs in the Red Bull stable such as Leipzig and Salzburg.
What does this mean? High tempo, high pressing and lightning transitions are mainstays of the philosophy, with current Austria coach Ralf Rangnick widely credited with having developed the style of play across German-speaking Central Europe. Since taking over in April 2022, the German has turned Austria from a pragmatic, defensive outfit into a furiously paced pressing machine, picking up impressive results against the likes of Turkey, Germany and Italy over the past year.
After a narrow loss to favourites France, Rangnick's side bounced back in style, eliminating Poland with an impressive 3-1 win and giving themselves a real chance of living up to their tag of dark horses for this tournament. A final group game against the Netherlands represents a huge opportunity to qualify for the round of 16.
Pedestrian England
"RELEASE THE HANDBREAK GARETH"
This was the common theme on British sports radio following the Three Lions' dismal (and somewhat fortunate) draw with Denmark. Despite the team boasting arguably the finest selection of offensive players in several decades, manager Gareth Southgate persists in playing a cautious, safety-first style of football that, whilst taking England to a World Cup semi-final and a Euro 2020 final, is overwhelmingly uninspiring and doesn't serve to get the country believing in the team.
Once again, England retreated after taking a deserved lead and paid the price, with Denmark taking control of the game and arguably deserving of more than a draw. Whilst the ability to handle pressure and being defensively solid are key ingredients for winning tournaments, England need to show more if they are to be considered capable of going all the way to the final in Berlin on July 14.
The real group of death
Before the tournament began with Germany's impressive dismantling of Scotland, group B containing Italy, Spain and Croatia was tagged as the group of death, with all 3 either World Cup winners or finalists in the past 20 years. As it has panned out, group H (Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania) has been by far the most evenly-contested section, with all four teams having accumulated three points going into the final matchday of the group. The climax on Wednesday night, with Belgium facing Ukraine and Slovakia clashing with Romania, should be thrilling.
Idealess Italy
The defending champions looked tepid and out of ideas against an impressive Spain side in matchday 2, with a 1-0 scoreline flattering Luciano SpaLletti's side. After a laboured opening win against Albania, the Azzurri looked weak in matchday 2 and have it all to do in their final game against fellow strugglers Croatia.
Although they are likely to qualify as one of the four best third placed teams regardless of the result on Wednesday night, a relative lack of tournament experience compared to the team three years ago and also compared to other teams in this year's edition will surely cost them later in the competition. However, this is Italy, winners of the EURO 2020 after an abysmal qualifying campaign and missing out on World Cup qualification, and no one would be surprised were they to make a deep run to the semi-finals.
Pepe is aging like a fine wine
41 years old. The Portuguese defender is at his fifth European championships after an imperious season at the heart of Porto's defence. Against Turkey in matchday 2, the Brazilian-born former Real Madrid man was man of the match, showing no signs of his advancing years and putting himself right in the shop window after being released by his club.
EURO 2024 has delivered spectacle and drama in its first two matchdays, with the final group stage games to come, expect more thrills and spills as teams battle to qualify for the round of 16.
