Euro 2008 - Quarterfinals: Turkey Grabs Dramatic Win In Vienna
June 21st 2008 04:06
118 minutes of pure boredom. Four minutes of sheer madness. And ten minutes of nailbiting suspense. That was the story at the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna.
Pretty much nothing happened during the 90 minutes of regular play as Turkey had eight players on their starting eleven with a yellow card. Since they needed to watch their tackles, the game wasn't as intense as everyone expected. There was only one clear-cut scoring opportunity during the two halves. At the 19th minute, Vivica Olic struck the crossbar after a receiving a perfect cross from Luka Modric. Niko Kranjcar was unable to control the rebound as he headed it wide of the goal. At the start of extra-time, the play was pretty well balanced with no team dominating the other. It looked like it was going to penalties when at the 119th minute, substitute Ivan Klasnic scored the first goal of the match after a cross from Modric. All Croatia had to do from then on was to keep their focus, and hold on. They faltered at the last minute of extra-time (122th minute) when Turkey cleared the ball from their end to Croatia's 18-yard box. There, two Croatian defenders got tangled up, unable to clear the ball, and Turkish substitute Semih Senturk volleyed the ball past an helpless Pletikosa. It was going to penalties after all.
Although no team seemed better than the other, Turkey had the psychological advantage when it came to the shootout. They were the ones who came back from behind. They were the ones who kept their focus while Croatian players looked completely deflated. The Croats' state of mind was made fairly evident on their penalties where both Modric and Rakitic shot wide while Petric saw his shot stopped by Rustu. Veteran Darijo Srna was the only one who scored for Croatia while Turkey beat Pletikosa in three shots (Arda Turan, Semih Senturk, and Hamit Altintop).
Turkey goes on to face Germany knowing that anything is possible in this tournament. However, two of their key players will be suspended for the semi-finals as both Arda Turan and Tuncay Sanli picked up their second yellow card of the tournament. Croatia are going home heartbroken and I gotta say that I'm going to miss Bilic's antics on the bench. This guy feels for his team, and I hope we'll see him again in 2010.
Pretty much nothing happened during the 90 minutes of regular play as Turkey had eight players on their starting eleven with a yellow card. Since they needed to watch their tackles, the game wasn't as intense as everyone expected. There was only one clear-cut scoring opportunity during the two halves. At the 19th minute, Vivica Olic struck the crossbar after a receiving a perfect cross from Luka Modric. Niko Kranjcar was unable to control the rebound as he headed it wide of the goal. At the start of extra-time, the play was pretty well balanced with no team dominating the other. It looked like it was going to penalties when at the 119th minute, substitute Ivan Klasnic scored the first goal of the match after a cross from Modric. All Croatia had to do from then on was to keep their focus, and hold on. They faltered at the last minute of extra-time (122th minute) when Turkey cleared the ball from their end to Croatia's 18-yard box. There, two Croatian defenders got tangled up, unable to clear the ball, and Turkish substitute Semih Senturk volleyed the ball past an helpless Pletikosa. It was going to penalties after all.
Although no team seemed better than the other, Turkey had the psychological advantage when it came to the shootout. They were the ones who came back from behind. They were the ones who kept their focus while Croatian players looked completely deflated. The Croats' state of mind was made fairly evident on their penalties where both Modric and Rakitic shot wide while Petric saw his shot stopped by Rustu. Veteran Darijo Srna was the only one who scored for Croatia while Turkey beat Pletikosa in three shots (Arda Turan, Semih Senturk, and Hamit Altintop).
Turkey goes on to face Germany knowing that anything is possible in this tournament. However, two of their key players will be suspended for the semi-finals as both Arda Turan and Tuncay Sanli picked up their second yellow card of the tournament. Croatia are going home heartbroken and I gotta say that I'm going to miss Bilic's antics on the bench. This guy feels for his team, and I hope we'll see him again in 2010.
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