Austria made fools of anyone who had doubted their honesty. In the buildup to this game they had batted away the obligatory references to 1982, when their notorious “Disgrace of Gijón” with West
Germany served both causes perfectly in navigating the
World Cup group stage. A similar agreement would have required them and
Ukraine to be on the same page but, in the event, for long periods it seemed jarring that they should even be sharing a pitch.
Andriy Shevchenko’s side would have finished second in Group C with a point and, given they had looked one of the tournament’s more enterprising propositions in previous outings, they could have been expected to assert themselves. They did not turn up, though, and a performance devoid of spirit and initiative means they must twiddle their thumbs while the ranking of third-place contenders whittles down. The odds on their progression are poor and they have this wasted opportunity to blame.