Gladbach right-back Stefan Lainer was part of an historic win for Austria on Monday night, as they progressed for the group stage for first time in the European Championships.
Stefan Lainer (photo: imago images/gepa pictures) and his Austria side have reached the knockout phase of the EUROs for the first time. They were deserved 1-0 winners over Ukraine in their final Group C game in Bucharest, securing second place in the table behind the Netherlands. “We were determined to achieve this goal. We have put a lot of hard work into it and it’s paid off,” said Lainer. Austria will now face Italy at Wembley in the last 16 on Saturday (21:00 CEST).
While Valentino Lazaro was unavailable due to injury, Lainer once again was in Franco Foda’s starting line-up at right-back. A change to a back-four saw the Foal less advanced than in the opening two group games, but he still showed his strength down the right side and could have scored too. He sliced his effort from a tough angle, however. The only goal of the game came from a first-half corner thanks to Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner. Lainer was lucky not to score an own goal too, with a deflected cross coming off his head and requiring a good save from Daniel Bachmann. Austria saw out the clean sheet though and can now prepare for a knockout tie against the Italians.
