Onto the second quarter final now and comeback kings Turkey took in the surprise package of this tournament, Croatia. The turks had won their last two games by scoring late goals in the dying minutes of the matches and were up against a side that has a 100% record so far beating Germany, Poland and Austria on the way.
Faith Terim had a lot of pre match crises as he had only 15 players to choose from and another 8 on a yellow card for this one. Former Barcelona goalkeeper Rustu was back in the side for this one. Silvan Bilic on the other hand got his main players back after resting almost all of them in the last group game.
Turkey had the first shot of the match when a lot of good passing finally found Hamit Altintop whos shot from distance was wide of the posts.
Turkey had a free kick from a good range when Nihat was fouled Nico Kovac. Hamit took the set piece and shot it hard but the man who gave away the free kick blocked it.
The best chance of the half, and probably the match came in the 18th minute and fell to Croatia. Semic passed it to Mordic and the number 14 used his pace to get ahead of 3 defenders on the right before playing a square ball in. Olic was on the receiving end of that pass and just needed a tap to score hit the underside of the woodwork. But the team got a second bite of the cherry when it rebounded to Kranjcar who needed to head it straight for a goal but sent the ball wide. What an amazing chance as well as probably the miss of the tournament.
Seems like this end of the ground had a "hoodoo" as a few days ago Germany`s Mario Gomez also missed at this end from 2 yards out.
They had another chance to take the lead this time Kranjcar`s cross found Olic alone in the box but Rustu, who finally made a comeback into the Turkey team due to injury to the first choice keeper, Volkan Demirel, got the ball before the Hambueg striker could get upto it.
In the 34th minute, Hamit took advantage of a lapse in the defense and ran past them with Nihat waiting for a cross. But the Bayren Munich defender slipped and the defense managed to clear.
Few minutes from the break Mehmet Topal took a shot from very very far out. He teed up himself for a shot from almost 33-35 yards out and hammered one straight in. The shot beat the keeper but did not stay on target and curved just outside the frame of goal. It did not miss by much and would have been one of the best, if not the best, goal of the tournament if it went in.
Luca Mordic was having a bright game and he slipped one in for Srna but before the Shakhtar Donetsk man could control it Tuncay Sanil got it clear.
Goal less at the break and plenty to play for in the second half. Criatia certainly looked like the better side but Turkey, who came in with the repatriation of being the "spoilers" also had their chances.
The most bizarre moment of the euro happened at the start of the second half. A very long clarence was mis headed by Gökhan Zan and instead of clearing he hit it back to Olic, who was one on one with the keeper should have headed it past him. But he did not get the power he would like on the header and it was saved by Rustu. But the 28 year old got it once more and he headed it across the face of goal from the left before it was cleared by Hakan Balta. Very strange chance but another great miss.
Bilic`s men came forward very well and Mordic played a delightful ball to his to be premier league rival, Niko Kranjcar, but the FA Cup winner shot straight at the keeper.
More great play from Croatia, Pranjic inside to Rakitic with a one-two with Olic and Rakitic is clean through and shoots well over. Its almost like a turkish ghost is keeping them from scoring. Nobody can believe their bad luck.
And just a minute later Rakitic`s cross found the head of Olic but the former CSKA Moscow man heads it just wide.
Bilic`s side had a free kick from a good position when second half sub Mladen Petrić was fouled. So far in the 4 matches in Vienna, only one goal has been scored in open play. The 2 of the other 3 have been penalties and the third a wonderful free kick by Michael Ballack to send Germany to the quarter finals.
And what a free kick that was. Srna fired that with all his power and it was going for the top conner but the man of the moment, Rustu, pulled the best save of the match. What a chance and one can only wonder what more do they need to take the lead.
We were set for extra time for the first time in the UEFA Euro 2008. Both coaches inspired their players and the two teams were set to kick off the first period of extra time.
Arda does well to create space and gives it to Semith on the conner of the box with the shot but is spins over.
The best chance of the extra time came in the 102nd minute Tuncay Sanil had a drive from 25 yards out and the keeper was beaten on the near post but the shot went just wide of the far post. The Croatian fans certainly skipped a heart beat.
Into the second 15 and everybody was mentally preparing themselves for penalties after a match, that some would argue, was a boring 2 hours of football.
But that all chanced in the 119th minute. Croatia took advantage of the space on the right but Mordic got tackled and lost the ball. Rustu should have caught the ball but it looked like it was going out for a goal kick so he left it. But the man who signs for Tottenham got up quickly and reached the ball before crossing it in and Ivan Klasnić headed it into an empty net. 1-0 and finally a goal.
It looked all over as the only time left was the one minute of stopage time. But Turkey are the kings of coming back late and they did it yet again. Rustu took a free kick from an offside from far up and played the ball into the box. It fell to Semih Şentürk who unlike the Croatian defense, kept his concentration and finished it for a very very dramatic end of the match.
Both goals were scored by players who came on in the extra time period.
Penalties it was and everybody was rubbing their eyes to make sure they weren`t dreaming. They could have thought they fell asleep due to the boring match and dreamt all of this.
Silvan Bilic was furious as he wanted to make a substitution when Rustu took that free kick but was not allowed to.
It was going to be Croatia who took the first penalty and Luca Mordic stepped up. But he shot wide of the right post though the keeper also dived on the same side.
Arda Turan took Turkey`s first and scored in the center before the keeper could get down. 1-0 Turkey.
Srna took the second one for his side and shot straight in the middle after Rustu went onto the left.
Semih, who scored that late dramatic equiliser sent the keeper on the right while he shot on the left. 2-1 Turkey.
Next up was Ivan Rakitić. He went onto the left side but went well wide of the post, further wide than what Mordic`s penalty was.
Hamit Altıntop was given the responsibility of the third and he slotted it in cooly on the bottom right conner. 3 in 3 for his side.
20 year old Mladen Petric had to score to give his side any hopes of staying in the competition. He shot on the right and it was wonderfully saved by Rustu. 3-1 on penalties and Turkey win.
They earned the right to play Germany in their first ever Euro semi final thanks to some awful penalties from Crotaita, who really dominated the game. Heart break for them but who said football is a fair game!
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