Austrian Mission Successful, Coach: We Want To Make History

JAKARTA - Austria reached the knockout stage of the European Cup for the first time after a 1-0 win over Ukraine. However, coach Franco Foda said his team is now even hungrier.

Austria, who had never won before Euro 2020 in the Euro finals, qualified for the second round for the first time in 39 years. They escaped from the group stage of a major tournament at the 1982 World Cup.

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"This is a beautiful moment in football," Foda told a news conference. "We want to make history. That's our goal from the first day we were together. It's a historic victory and I'm proud of this team."

"From the start you felt this team wanted to win this game. We should have scored 2-0 or 3-0 in the first half because we had clear chances," said the coach.

Marko Arnautovic missed two golden opportunities before the break, but Austria held on to the win that saw them move into the last 16 against Italy.

Unbeaten in 30 games in a row, Italy equaled its own record 82 years ago after a 1-0 win over Wales left them top of their group. Italy has also won 11 matches in a row.

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"It seems at first glance this riddle is unsolvable to us," Foda said of Italy. "But at some point any team will lose, and if we play like today we have a chance to survive Italy."

"We've achieved a big goal, but when you get to the last 16 you want to reach the quarter-finals," Foda said.