An unfathomable blunder by Petr Cech and one of the greatest comebacks in the
history of international football saw Turkey through to the quarter-finals
of the European Championship in Geneva last night.
At 74 minutes, the Turks were 2-0 down to the Czech Republic and going home.
After 89 they were 3-2 up and heading to a date with Croatia in Vienna on
Friday. That Cech, arguably the world’s greatest goalkeeper and one believed
capable of deciding the destination of the Barclays Premier League title
when between the posts for Chelsea, should be largely responsible for the
downfall of his team just adds the unexpected to the scarcely believable.
As the game was played out in scenes of frantic chaos, Volkan Demirel,
Turkey’s goalkeeper, was sent off in injury time and with Turkey having used
all three substitutes, Tuncay Sanli, the Middlesbrough forward, had to put
on the gloves for the last two minutes. It was that sort of match. It has
been that sort of tournament, really. Every day it gets better, although
only an Austrian win against Germany tonight could top this for excitement.
There have been beautiful games and fascinating talking points in Euro 2008,
but not a match like this. Indeed, it was difficult to remember one in
previous competitions, either, a game that turned on its head with moments
remaining, that in one instant looked predictable and constant and in the
next became a raging tempest, uncontrollable and thrilling.
The whole occasion was a buzz, really, so delicately poised was the second
qualification place in group A, with two teams level on points, goal
difference and goals scored going head to head, and the prospect of a
penalty shoot-out to separate them if the scores were tied at the end of
full-time; but nobody could have envisaged the drama that would be contained
in the 90 minutes itself, certainly not after the Czech Republic had taken a
commanding two-goal lead with less than 30 minutes remaining.
Jan Koller, the giant talismanic striker who would not look out of place at
Plough Lane in the 1970s — or Stoke City in the Premier League next season,
for that matter — had given the Czechs the lead in the 34th minute with a
header from a Zdenek Grygera cross. Turkey were finding him incredibly hard
to combat, the hapless Servet Cetin in particular, and the first half had
passed with barely a foray into Cech’s territory. Turkey looked brighter
after half-time and came close through Tuncay after 52 minutes, but soon
after Libor Sionko, again the Czechs’ best midfield player, struck a cross
from the right that was converted by Jaroslav Plasil, the left winger, at
the far post. The Turks protested furiously that they had been denied the
opportunity to get a substitute on for the injured defender Emre Gungor when
the goal was scored, and were disadvantaged with ten men, but the
complaints, like any hope of a comeback, seemed forlorn. This game was over.
There would be no penalty shoot-out, no edge-of-the-seat climax. How wrong
we were.
In the 75th minute, Hamit Altintop, the Bayern Munich midfield player deployed
Michael Essien-style at right back by Fatih Terim, the Turkey coach, sped
down the flank and hit a cross which fell perfectly for Arda Turan, one of
five Galatasaray players to make the starting line-up.
The finish was smart and Turkey were within one goal of equality. But the
Czechs appeared untroubled; with ten minutes remaining, Karel Bruckner,
their veteran coach, had such confidence that the game would not need to be
won again that he removed his wide players, Sionko and Plasil, to shore up
the play and keep what he had.
He had clearly not factored in an error by a player widely believed to be at
the pinnacle of his profession and neither had the rest of us. Cech does not
make big-match errors. With him, Chelsea win the league, when he is missing,
it hands the advantage to Manchester United: that is the perception in
England, anyway.
Maybe it will change after this, the biggest goalkeeping howler of the
competition so far; worse than the Greek guy against Russia. Yes, that bad.
The cross came from Altintop again but, frankly, it was not much to write
home about. Cech could have caught it in his headgear with relative ease had
he the mind. Nor is there mitigation to be had in blaming the conditions.
Cech has seen enough rain in his time not to be fazed by the amount that
fell in Geneva, torrential though it was for much of the match.
He dropped it, simple as that. Took his eye off the ball or let his
concentration slide or misjudged his jump or did whatever it is that makes
even the best in the world let one fall through his fingers under pressure
occasionally. The ball was presented to Nihat Kahveci and he stuck it in an
empty net. The Villarreal striker had been Turkey’s only goal threat until
then, but that isn’t saying much. The goal was open, he was six yards out.
In reality, chalk that one down to Cech.
The next, however, was Nihat’s alone. His run, his timing, his perfect finish,
as he slipped the shackles of the shaken Czech side, particularly Tomas
Galasek who believed he was playing him offside, but was not, and ran on to
fire the ball into the net, bouncing down off the underside of the bar and
over the line, as all great-looking goals of importance should. The stadium
may have been denied the adrenalin rush of the shoot-out, but this was an
even greater thrill. Could there be anything left in this remarkable game
after that? Apparently, there was.
With two minutes of injury time remaining, after a minor, legal, skirmish in
the Turkish penalty area, Volkan, for reasons best known to himself and,
quite possibly, his psychiatrist, decided to push Koller to the floor with
the ball out of play.
Peter Fröjdfelt, the Swedish referee not unused to controversy in this
tournament, saw it and brandished a red card. Tuncay went in goal but,
sadly, did not have a save to make. It was the only anti-climax of the
night; perhaps the only disappointment of the tournament so far.
How they rated:
Turkey: 4-4-2 - Volkan Demirel 5, Hamit Altintop 8, Emre Gungor
5, Servet Cetin 5, Hakan Balta 6, Mehmet Topal Y 5, Mehmet Aurelio Y 6, Arda
Turan 7, Tuncay Sanli 7, Nihat Kahveci 8, Semih Senturk 4. Substitutes:
Sabri Sarioglu (for Semih Senturk, 46min), Colin Kazim-Richards (for Mehmet
Topal, 56), Emre Asik Y (for Emre Gungor, 61).
Czech Republic: 4-5-1 - P Cech 5, Z Grygera 6, T Ujfalusi 6, D Rozenhal
5, M Jankulovski 6, L Sionko 7, M Matejovsky 6, T Galasek 6, J Polak 7, J
Plasil 7, J Koller 7. Substitutes: D Jarolim (for M Matejovsky,
38min), M Kadlec (for J Plasil, 80), S Vlcek (for L Sionko, 84).
