Nihat double provides Turkish delight over stunned Czechs
Sunday, 15 Jun 2008 22:09
Turkey scored twice in the last three minutes to qualify for last eight
Turkey came from two goals down to beat Czech Republic 3-2 to book their place in the quarter-finals after a sensational match in Geneva.
In the Group A eliminator, Jan Koller and Jaroslav Plasil looked to have put the Czechs through to the knockout stages.
But in a pulsating second-half, goals from Arda Turan and a double from Nihat sealed qualification for the Turks at the expense of the Czechs.
Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel.will miss the quarter-final against Croatia in Friday in Vienna after being red-carded in the last minute.
Koller was back in the side in place of Milan Baros, who has failed to score in 11 internationals, while Turkey made three changes with Semih Senturk, Emre Gungor and Mehmet Topal starting.
Both sides knew a penalty shootout was a possibility as they were on the same number of points and goal difference.
And it was the Czechs who showed more urgency in the opening stages with Marek Matejovsky lashing a shot wide while Koller headed over from Marek Jankulovski's free-kick.
Fatih Terim's men were restricted to long-range efforts with Tuncay firing a 30-yard pile-driver wide while at the other end, Matejovsky's strike from 25 yards was saved by Volkan Demirel.
The Czechs continued to dominate with only a brilliant interception from Servet Cetin denying Koller as the striker was about to pull the trigger.
But Koller got his rewards on 34 minutes when Zdenek Grygera.'s cross from the right was headed into the top corner by the Nuremberg striker.
The towering striker was a handful for the Turkey defence and headed over in the closing stages as the Euro 1996 runners-up went in ahead at half-time.
But Matejovsky's night came to and end when he was stretchered off and replaced by David Jarolim.
The Turks were a transformed side in the second half and put the Czechs under severe pressure with Nihat unleashing a ferocious volley from the edge of the box that flew over while Petr Cech saved a glancing header from Tuncay.
But Karel Bruckner's side looked to have killed off the game on 62 minutes when Libor Sionko's swinging cross from the right was nodded in by Plasil to make it 2-0.
Koller should have grabbed his side's third goal three minutes later when sent clear but the striker shot wide from ten yards.
Somehow the Czechs failed to score a third with Jan Polak hitting the post and then being hauled down by Emre Asik with the referee failing to give a penalty.
The Turks threatened to punish their opponents wastefulness in front of goal when Hamit Altintop pulled the ball back for Turan to fire the ball past Cech.
Minutes later, Cetin missed a golden chance to equalise but headed over from four yards.
Three minutes from time, the Turks made it 2-2 when Cech spilled Altintop's cross allowing Nihat to tap into an empty net.
Then two minutes later, Terim's men completed the comeback when Nihat was sent through with the striker smashing the ball in off the underside of the bar.
The drama continued with goalkeeper Volkan given a red card in the last minute for shoving Koller to the ground, but that did not spoil the Turkish celebrations at the end of one of the games of the tournament.