European Football Championship - Turkey struggles into the round of 16
Hakan Calhanoglu danced at the historic venue with his teammates after the first entry into the knockout phase of the EURO tournament in 16 years, enjoying the applause of the fans. In the 2:1 (0:0) against Czech Republic, the former HSV professional brought Turkey into the lead with his leadership goal in the 51st minute, before Cenk Tosun scored the late winning goal in the 90.+4th minute.
Thus, the 33-year-old secured his team a final place in Group F and qualification for the Round of 16. "It's a great feeling that you can hardly describe. I'm obviously happy about my goal," said the former Frankfurt player and added relaxed, "This is just the beginning."
The equalizer by captain Tomas Soucek (66') gave the more than 70-minute underdog Czechs, who had already seen Antonin Barak receive a yellow-red card after 20 minutes, nothing more. The European champion of 1976 exited as fourth and last in the group. Tomas Chory saw a red card after the final whistle due to a tumult.
Next up against Austria
For Turkey, it goes on to the quarterfinals on Tuesday (21.00 CET) in Leipzig against Austria. In 2008, they had failed in the semifinals against Germany. "We will prepare well and of course we want to win," said Tosun about the tough task against Ralf Rangnick's team.
As expected, Turkish coach Vincenzo Montella brought on the young star Arda Güler from the start. In the past few days, criticism had been leveled at the Italian for leaving the 19-year-old on the bench in the 0:3 against Portugal. Montella had attributed it to an injury. Already on Tuesday, the coach had hinted that the striker from Real Madrid was fit and would play. The Czechs, however, did without their EURO record scorer Patrik Schick. The thigh injury from the game against Georgia (1:1) proved to be too severe. The striker from German champion Bayer Leverkusen remained on the bench the entire game and received a yellow card in the first half for whistling.
50,000 spectators created a party atmosphere before the game in the evening sun of Hamburg. Above all, the Turkish fans were as vocal as in the previous games. They had to endure a scare after just over a minute when Lukas Provod forced Turkish goalkeeper Mert Günen into a strong reaction with a shot.
Creativity was lacking
In the following period, Czech Republic struggled to maintain control of the game. Arda Güler and the former Hamburger Calhanoglu tried to drive the Turkish game forward. The Turks had the numerical advantage, but the Czechs had the more dangerous attacks. So Robin Hranek (17') headed the ball over the goal from a promising position. Three minutes later, the Czechs countered, and Barak saw a yellow-red card. The Turks gained even more numerical superiority.
They lacked creativity to seriously put the Czechs in danger before the break. The Czechs had even taken the lead through David Jurasek after a counter just before halftime. Once again, Günench was there. The Turks' actions became more focused after the substitutions. And they succeeded thanks to Calhanoglu. Bittersweet for the Czechs: Their previously strong goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek had been injured a few seconds earlier during a save on his right shoulder and had to be replaced by Matej Kovar.
The Czechs didn't give up and forced an equalizer through Captain Soucek. It remained valid even after VAR review. In the closing phase, the Turks found themselves in difficult situations a few times, but then Tosun scored just before the final whistle.
- Hakan Calhanoglu, a former HSV professional, scored the leadership goal for Turkey in their 2:1 victory over the Czech Republic in the EURO tournament, securing their place in Group F and the Round of 16.
- Vincenzo Montella, the Turkish coach, brought on Arda Güler from the start in the game against the Czech Republic following criticism for leaving him on the bench in the previous game against Portugal.
- Germany awaits Turkey in the quarterfinals of the European Football Championship, a challenge Cenk Tosun and his team are ready for following their 2:1 win over the Czech Republic.
- The game between Turkey and the Czech Republic at the historic venue in Hamburg was attended by 50,000 spectators, with the Turkish fans providing a vocal presence throughout the evening.
- Robin Hranek had a chance to score for the Czech Republic in the early stages of the game, but his header went over the goal from a promising position, while Arda Güler and Hakan Calhanoglu attempted to drive the Turkish game forward.
- The Czech Republic saw their goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek injured during a save in the game against Turkey, leading to his replacement by Matej Kovar.
- Tomas Soucek scored the equalizer for the Czech Republic against Turkey, but it was not enough to prevent their exit from the group stage as they finished in fourth place.
- Cenk Tosun secured Turkey's qualification for the Round of 16 at the EURO tournament with a late winning goal against the Czech Republic, taking his place of work to the quarterfinals where they will face Austria in Leipzig.
