European Championship against Czech Republic
Two expulsions, 15 yellow cards – Türkiye after heated duel in the round of 16
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Heated duel – Turkey’s last-minute victory in video
Turkey wins its last group match and moves into the round of 16 of the European Championship. The Czech Republic receives an early red card, but still has hope until injury time. Then the Turks seal the deal. The highlights in the video.
The Czech Republic needed a win against Turkey to qualify for the European Championship round of 16, but they were outnumbered. And yet the intense and heated match remained exciting right up until injury time.
At his former place of work, Hakan Calhanoglu led the Turkish national football team into the knockout round of a European Championship for the first time since 2008 and sealed the Czech Republic’s elimination in the preliminary round. In the 2-1 (0-0) win against the 1976 European champions, who played with a man down for more than 70 minutes, the former HSV professional scored the opening goal in the 51st minute in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion on Wednesday, before Cenk Tosun (90th+4) scored the winning goal late on, securing his team second place in Group F and a place in the round of 16.
The interim equaliser by captain Tomas Soucek (66th) was of no use to the self-sacrificing Czechs, who had Antonin Barak shown a yellow-red card after just 20 minutes. They were eliminated in fourth and last place in the group. Tomas Chory was also shown a red card after a commotion after the final whistle.
The reason was unsportsmanlike conduct by the Czech, who had previously been provoked by substitute Kaan Ayhan. After the goal to make it 2-1, Ayhan demonstratively celebrated in front of Chory and slid across the pitch on his knees. Both were shown yellow cards at first, but even afterwards they exchanged words. The Turk waved his hand in front of Chory’s mouth when the Czech said something to him and was sent off with a red card. In addition to the two expulsions, there were a total of 15 yellow cards – a record in a European Championship match.
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The Turks will play Austria in the round of 16 on Tuesday (9 p.m.) in Leipzig. In 2008, they were defeated by Germany in the semifinals.
Soucek rewards the morale of the Czechs
As expected, coach Vincenzo Montella brought in young Turkish star Arda Güler from the start. In recent days, the Italian had been criticized after he initially left the 19-year-old on the bench in the 3-0 defeat against Portugal. Montella justified this by saying he was injured. The coach had already indicated on Tuesday that the Real Madrid striker was fit and would play.
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The Czechs, however, were without their European Championship record scorer Patrik Schick. The calf injury from the match against Georgia (1:1) proved too serious. The striker from German champions Bayer Leverkusen remained on the bench for the entire match – and still received a yellow card in the first half for complaining.
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50,000 spectators created a party atmosphere in the evening sun in Hamburg before the match. The Turkish fans in particular were as vocal as in the previous games. However, they had to deal with the first shock after just two minutes when Lukas Provod forced the Turkish goalkeeper Mert Günok to react strongly with a shot.
In the following period, the Czech Republic struggled to control the game. Arda Güler and the former Hamburg player Calhanoglu tried to push the Turks’ game forward. The Turks had the upper hand, but the Czechs had the more dangerous moves. Robin Hranak (17th minute) headed the ball over the goal from a promising position. Three minutes later, the Czechs suffered a setback when Barak was shown a yellow-red card.
The Turks gained an even greater advantage. However, they lacked the creativity to seriously threaten the Czechs, who were now positioned deep. They could have even taken the lead shortly before half-time through David Jurasek after a counterattack. Günok was there again.
This last-minute goal ends Turkey’s nail-biting match
Turkey wins its all-or-nothing match against Slovakia and is in the round of 16. Despite having a man advantage for a long time, the Turks have to worry about the draw they need until injury time. Then Tosun puts the lid on it. The goal in the video.
After the break, the Turks’ actions finally became more focused. And they were successful thanks to Calhanoglu. Even more bitter for the Czechs: their previously strong goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek injured his right shoulder during a save a few seconds earlier and had to be replaced by Matej Kovar.
The Czechs did not give up and forced the equalizer through captain Soucek. The equalizer remained valid even after a VAR check. The Turks were also embarrassed several times in the final phase, but then ex-Frankfurt player Tosun struck shortly before the end.
2024-06-26 22:47:56
#Euro #expulsions #yellow #cards #Türkiye
