The absolute protagonist of the challenge between Austria and Türkiye was without a doubt Merih Demiral. The former Atalanta, Sassuolo and Juventus defender, now at Al Ahli, dragged Montella’s team to the quarter-finals with a fantastic and unexpected brace. “I want to thank Selçuk Şahin, our assistant coach. He showed us Austria’s weaknesses and we exploited this knowledge when we took set pieces.”
On Günok’s last-gasp save: “I asked him, ‘How did you do it?’ I couldn’t believe it: it was one of the best saves I’ve ever seen live. He’s our oldest player, he’s very experienced. I’m very happy he made a play like that.”
On Güler: “Arda deserves success. He is an excellent footballer and also a fantastic little brother to us. I am sure he will continue to bring pride to our country.”
The scoreboard
Austria (4-2-3-1): Pentz; Posch, Danso, Lienhart (20′ st Wober), Mwene (1′ st Prass); Seiwald, Sabitzer; Laimer (20′ st Grillitsch), Baumgartner, Schmid (1′ st Gregoristch); Arnautovic. Available: Lindner, Hedl, Querfeld, Kainz, Daniliuc, Seidl, Weimann, Entrup, Grull. All.: Rangnick
Türkiye (4-2-3-1): Gunok; Muldur, Bardakci, Demiral, Kadioglu; Yuksek (13′ st Ozcan), Ayhan ; Yilmaz, Kokcu (38′ st Kahveci), Yildiz (33′ st Akturkoglu); Arda Guler (33′ st Yokuslu). Available: Bayindir, Cakir, Celik, Tosun, Yazici, Kaplan, Kilicsoy, Akgun, Yildirim. Coach: Montella
Referee: Soares Days (Portugal)
Markers: 1′ Demiral (T), 14′ st Demiral (T), 21′ st Gregoristch (A)
Ammonites: Schmid, Lienhart (A); Kokcu, Yuksek (T)