Austria manager Ralf Rangnick dismissed any suggestions of a prearranged agreement between his side and Algeria following their remarkable 3-3 draw in the final group stage match of the football World Cup. The result sent both national teams into the round of 16.
As evidence, the German coach pointed to the two goals scored in quick succession during stoppage time. Algerian captain Riyad Mahrez thought he had secured a 3-2 victory for his team in the 93rd minute, only for Austrian substitute Sasa Kalajdzic to equalise virtually on the last action of the match.
“In this match, with a 3-3 scoreline, no one can assume there was an agreement, especially given what we witnessed in the final 90 seconds,” Rangnick said.
“Three minutes from the end, if anyone had predicted what was about to happen, they would have been called crazy,” he added.
“I have been a coach for around forty years and I cannot recall a match with such a spectacular and unpredictable sequence of events,” said Rangnick.
“Most people expected a 0-0 or 1-1 draw, and in the end it finished 3-3. It is incredible. The dressing room was chaotic. If Alfred Hitchcock had written such a script, I would have probably said he was completely mad.”
Rangnick also emphasised that both sides kept playing and trying to score even before Mahrez’s goal.
“Anyone who watched the final 15 minutes knows there was no indication that the players were simply looking for a draw,” he stated. “I think they wanted to win.”
“No one can tell me that in the 93rd minute someone suddenly thought, ‘Oh yes, let’s score another goal.’ I think that might have been the idea of one or two Algerian players, but I believe it was not the case for the rest of the team and certainly not for me.”
