Croatia 1 Turkey 1 – Turkey win 3-1 on penalties
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Turkey were 66-1 when this started.
Turkey play Germany in the semi-final on Wednesday
Turkey have fighting spirit and tons of luck.
Turkey have only been in the lead for 2 min of the 390 minutes of football they have played, according to BBC commentator Steve Wilson.They scored late goals against Switzerland and the Czech Republic and now they repeated the trick against Croatia.
Last night’s quarter-final was the most dramatic finish to a big match since Manchester United clinched their treble by turning Bayern Munich upside down in stoppage time in 1999.
Croatia had far more ideas and outplayed the Turks, who passed sloppily and defended for most of the 90 minutes and rode their luck as Olic missed chances and deputy keeper Rustu made one electrifying save from a free-kick. In extra time, Croatia ran out of steam.
Then Rustu panicked and chased the ball along the goal-line, only to see Modric cross sweetly for Klasnic to head in. Ivan Klasnic, the Bremen striker, has come back transplant surgery.His body rejected his mother’s kidney then accepted his father’s kidney, and he has somehow managed to play for his country and score not one but two super-dramatic goals in Euro 2008, a football fairytale if ever I heard one.
A fascinating two-hour contest seemed to be over as Croatian fans went wild with joy but then Rustu launched a huge goal clearance down the middle and Simunic missed it as bodies collided and the ball broke to Semih and -WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? -his fierce left-foot volley deflected off Robert Kovac and flashed high into the net for 1-1.
A fantastic finish by a very good player. But rubbish defending.
Italian referee Robert Rosetti had allowed extra time to run beyond the injury time the fourth official’s board had indicated.
New Spurs midfielder Luka Modric has been the best player on the pitch and he stepped up to take the first penalty and sent it past the post. After that equaliser, and that penalty miss, Croatia crumbled and missed three pens out of four. Turkey scored three and Rustu saved from Petric and it was over.
Slaven Bilic was passionate, distraught, devastated. He congratulated the other team, consoled his shattered players. He said, “The last two minutes are something I cannot describe, it will haunt us for the rest of our lives. It is impossible to forget but we have to go on. The qualifiers are imminent. We will weep for a few more days but this is life. Tomorrow is a new day, the sun will rise. My players have a strong character. We will come back, and come back stronger.”
Croatia v England is on Wednesday, September 10, after Capello’s boys have warmed up against Andorra on the Saturday.
Turkey will give Germany a game. It will be tenacity v tenacity, mental strength against mental strength. It won’t be pretty. Semi-finals never are. Will Klose, Ballack and Podolski miss the chances that Olic spurned ?
Let’s hope Bastian Schweinsteiger is ready to take a few kicks without bleating.