Austria coach Ralf Rangnick scoffed at suggestions his side had played for a mutually beneficial draw after Saturday’s chaotic 3-3 World Cup thriller against Algeria, insisting the match’s dramatic finale was proof enough that no agreement had been reached.
With a draw sufficient to send Austria through as Group J runners-up and Algeria into the last 32 as one of the best third-placed sides, the prospect of a convenient result had dominated the build-up. But the game’s extraordinary closing minutes made any such theory difficult to sustain.
Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez put his side 3-2 ahead in the 93rd minute, only for substitute Sasa Kalajdzic to equalise with virtually the last touch of the game, sending both teams through and the Kansas City crowd into disbelief.
“In this match, when you have a 3-3, nobody can assume that it was an agreement, and especially what we saw during the last 90 seconds,” Rangnick said.
The 67-year-old, who has been a coach for roughly four decades, said he had never witnessed anything like it. “Three minutes to play, if somebody had said this would happen, you would have told them they were mad. I’ve been a coach for about 40 years and I don’t even remember a match that had such a dramatic course and such an unexpected trajectory.
“Most anticipated 0-0 or 1-1, and now it’s 3-3. It’s incredible. The locker room is madness. If Alfred Hitchcock had written such a drama, I probably would have said he was completely mad.”
Rangnick also rejected the notion that either side had settled for a draw in the closing stages, pointing to Algeria’s push for a winner before Mahrez’s late strike. “All who watched the game during the last 15 minutes must know there is no hint that the players absolutely wanted to have a draw,” he said. “I think they wanted to win.”
Austria now face European champions Spain in the round of 32 on 2 July in California, and Rangnick refused to rule anything out. “You saw that during the last couple of seconds. And who would have thought that Turkey would be eliminated after only two matches? We are in the most difficult of all groups and we advance in second, and that was definitely not easy.”
The result sends Austria into their first World Cup knockout appearance in 44 years, and their coach admitted he was still struggling to take it in. “I am relieved and incredulous and happy. I still can’t believe it. I need to be pinched to wake up from a dream.”
