DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said there would be no pointing fingers at defender Max Wober over his headed own goal in the 1-0 defeat by France in their Euro 2024 opener on Monday.
Austria, who had only lost one of their last 16 matches, went toe-to-toe with the World Cup runners-up but in the 38th minute France captain Kylian Mbappe weaved through the defence and Wober diverted his cross past goalkeeper Patrick Pentz.
“Well, it’s obvious that we are disappointed with this result. In 100 minutes we didn’t concede one goal from France, the only goal was a very unfortunate own goal,” Rangnick told reporters. “There’s no reproach at all towards Maxi Wober.
“But what is really important is that he doesn’t reproach himself. Among the team members, among the staff, everybody knows it was a situation that was super unfortunate. He received the ball on his head and couldn’t do anything.”
Wober was consoled by team mates after the goal.
Two minutes earlier, Christoph Baumgartner had a brilliant opportunity to put Austria on the board when captain Marcel Sabitzer touched a Michael Gregoritsch cross into the forward’s path but his shot was deflected wide by keeper Mike Maignan.
“The biggest chance for us, normally (Baumgartner) would score in such a situation,” Rangnick said. “Of course, France also created their chances, Patrick Pentz did a great job.
“But I think that (France manager) Didier Deschamps was really happy when the final whistle came, and I think that shows the great performance of my team.
“There is not one reproach towards my team. They put everything on the page. They probably didn’t make the right decision in every moment — but let’s not forget who was the opponent.”
Austria, who have only once made it out of the group stage of the Euros — at the 2020 tournament — arrived in Germany brimming with optimism after their string of stellar results and, buoyed by a sea of red-clad fans, they rarely wavered.
But Rangnick said another negative on the night was Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano’s decision to award a goal kick rather than a corner after Baumgartner’s shot.
“I don’t want to give the impression that I put everything on the referee,” he said. “(But) the referee was probably the only person in the stadium who decided on a corner kick in this situation.
“It could have been different if we had a corner kick, so to decide goal kick at that moment I don’t really understand. And I don’t really understand the VAR because they should intervene at this moment. But unfortunately this didn’t happen.”
Austria play Poland, who lost 2-1 to the Netherlands on Sunday, in their next Group D game on Friday.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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