Tonight we had the first of the final round of group games.
Portugal had already qualified and the co-hosts Switzerland had already been eliminated so their game would have no effect on the final group placings. The other game, between Turkey and the Czech Republic on the other hand had everything that a neutral could want. Both teams had the same number of points, goal difference and because this was their final game, if a draw was the result, they would be forced into taking kicks from the penalty mark to decide the winner.
The Czech Republic seemed to have the game settled when they were leading 2-0 with a little over 15 minutes to play, then an extraordinary series of events meant this game will be remembered for a long time. The first action was a scything run down the Czech left and the ball was cut back across the greasy surface. It crossed the whole of the penalty area before being slammed into the goal from the right with the goalkeeper unable to keep the ball out.
The Turkish side were attacking with abandon chasing the second goal which would take the game to the kicks from the penalty mark. They were assisted by an horrific mistake by Petr Cech the Chelsea goalkeeper. A fizzing cross again from the Czech left was high and as he stretched to catch the ball, totally unchallenged, it squirmed out of his hands and dropped to the Turkish captain who bundled the ball into the empty goal.
With only one minute left the Turkish captain took control of the ball around and having sprung the Czech "offside trap" he curled the ball up and around the advancing Cech from around 22 yards. The ball struck the crossbar, bounced down over the goal line and up into the roof of the net. Cue mad celebrations from the Turkish players and supporters.
With the game moving into added time a Czech attack went very close to reproducing the same mistake as Cech made for the second Turkish goal. The goalkeeper however took exception to a challenge by a Czech attacker and pushed him to the ground with both hands. He was dismissed and with all of the substitutes having been used, the Turkish players had to put an outfield player into goal. He wasn't tested however and after more than 5 minutes added time the game was ended by the referee with the score at Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic. Absolutely fantastic comeback!
Meanwhile Switzerland had restored some pride by beating Portugal 2-0.
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