Euro 2016 Recap: Austria Vs Hungary

Fulltime: Austria 0-2 Hungary

Szalai (HUN) 62'
Stieber (HUN) 87'

Not really one of those Euro 2016 matches that would make modern followers of football excited. Austria versus Hungary is a collision between two of the biggest superpowers of the game; years ago. A lot has changed since. In fact, Hungary has been absent from this competition for 44 years.

Austria, with more stellar names in their line-up, was the obvious favourite in this match. And, it only took them less than half-a-minute to make an impression. A firm shot from the top of the box by Bayern Munich defender, David Alaba caught the Hungarian defense by surprise. The shot got the 40-year old keeper, Gabor Kiraly stretching to his left in futility. But, the ball struck the woodwork to the relief of the Magyars. That set the tone of the first few minutes. The Austrians were relentless in trying to penetrate the chaotic defense of Hungary. At times, the whole thing looked hilarious, as Austria failed to fashion a credible strategy to score against opponents in disarray.

Hungary on the other hand slowly but surely recovered from their opening jitters. After repelling the onslaught on their own half, they were able to compose their own plays. Their defense held-off spirited attacks from Alaba, Stoke's Marko Arnautovic, and Zlatko Junuzovic. A combination of individual desire, and luck kept kept them in the game. They also had their modest share of chances, with Zoltan Gera and captain Balazs Dzsudzsak testing the waters.

About Face

The Magyars came out of the break with a different resolve, and took control of the 2nd half. At 62 minutes, Adam Szalai exchanged passes with Laszlo Kleinheisler inside the Austria danger area, and scored a shocker! One-nil.

Events took a cruel turn for the men in red when Dynamo Kyiv defender Aleksandar Dragovic was called for his second yellow, nullifying what could have been the equalizer. And with that, Hungary completely turned the tide on the Austrians. Captain and Leicester player Christian Fuchs tried to rally his troops to no avail. The final turn came in the the 87th with substitute Zoltan Stiebler scoring the second goal.

The Bad Tackle

How do you even begin to dissect a game like this? Austria obviously had the advantage with the individual talents they have. Their movement, their passing, their overall teamwork showed their class. And yet, they got badly torn apart in this game. This is after all football. You play 90 minutes, and anything can happen. Alaba did a decent job in the middle, but you can tell he has not fully adjusted to the new responsibility. The breaks didn't fall kindly for them. They had their chances om goal against the oldest player in the tournament. They tested him; he prevailed everytime. Wasteful? Sloppy? Unlucky? I say a combination of everything.

And what can you say about the team from Hungary? Underdogs even before the game commenced. As I stated here, I had a good laugh at what transpired in the first minutes of the game. I initially thought they'd get slaughtered silly. The transition was very subtle, I barely noticed they already had the upper-hand. So, what happened? Hungary didn't wait for the good breaks. They made their own breaks! They climbed out of the trenches and drove their opponents to their own side of the field. Raw courage, pure determination, and talent won it for Hungary. No one was laughing by the time the final whistle sounded.