Another thrilling show by the Comeback Kings
Table of Contents
Once again, Turkey showed they will never, ever give up as they reached the Euro 2008 semi-finals after beating Croatia 3-1 on penalties after a remarkable showdown in Vienna.
The Turks equalised in dramatic style with the last kick of extra time to take it to the penalty shoot-out where Croatia, which never quite recovered from the shock, missed three times out of four attempts.
Never-say-die Turkey, who also reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, now set up a meeting with Germany in the last four.
Croatia enjoyed the better chances over 90 minutes and should have taken the lead in the first half when striker Ivica Olič hit the crossbar from two yards.
While Ivan Rakitič, Darijo Srna and Olič again, all went close in the second period, highlighting Croatia's one critical problem for the lack of a prolific goalscorer.
Turkey, by contrast, did not force a save from Croatia keeper Stipe Pletikosa until extra time.
Most people thought the Croats had won the game when substitute Ivan Klasnič punished a Rüştü Reçber goalkeeping error to head his team in front in the 119th minute.
But there was still time for comeback kings Turkey to equalise.
Rüştü's long punt launched the ball into the Croatian area from a free-kick and the ball somehow fell for substitute Semih Şentürk who smashed a powerful shot past Pletikosa via a slight deflection.
Croatia coach Slaven Bilič was furious with the goal as he had been unable to bring on his third substitute, and that Semih's equaliser was scored four seconds after the allocated one minute of stoppage time had passed.
As the final whistle sounded, penalties looked set to decide the destiny.
Neither side had ever faced a competitive penalty shoot-out before but Turkey’s late equaliser represented a serious mental blow to the Croats.
The momentum was with the Turks as Croatia looked like they were never recovered from the blow.
Croatia then made a mess of the shoot-out, with Tottenham's record signing Luka Modrič and Rakitič sent their penalties wide.
And Turkey veteran goalkeeper Rüştü turned from villain to hero when he pulled off a wonderful save from Mladen Petrič's penalty to put the Turks through.
Arda Turan, Semih and Hamit Altintop scored all of their penalties for Turkey while only Srna scored for the Croats.
The defeat was so cruel for Croatia, who overall had the better of the chances during the match.
Croatian boss Bilič admitted that it would be difficult to forget this tragic defeat.
But despite the disappointment, Bilič said he could not fault any of his players, whom he described as heroes.
However, Fatih Terim will have more problems for the semi-final with the bookings for Arda, Tuncay Şanlı and Emre Aşık which mean they will be suspended for the semi-final along with first-choice keeper Volkan Demirel, who was banned for two matches after being sent off in the group stage.
Several of Turkey players were already missing through injury for this match.
The Turks have made a speciality of being the comeback kings, having only led for two minutes of their four matches.
An injury time winner against Switzerland, then another three goals in the last 15 minutes against the Czechs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory, demonstrated their reputation already.
Penalties:
Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Ćorluka, 3-Josip Šimunić, 4-Robert Kovač, 22-Danijel Pranjič; 11-Darijo Srna, 10-Niko Kovač, 14-Luka Modrič, 7-Ivan Rakitič; 19-Niko Kranjčar (21-Mladen Petrič 65), 18-Ivica Olič (17-Ivan Klasnič 97)
Turkey: 1-Rüştü Reçber; 20-Sabri Sarıoğlu, 15-Emre Aşık, 4-Gökhan Zan, 3-Hakan Balta; 22-Hamit Altintop, 17-Tuncay Şanlı, 6-Mehmet Topal (9-Semih Şentürk 76), 14-Arda Turan; 18-Kazım Kazım (16-Uğur Boral 61), 8-Nihat Kahveci (10-Gökdeniz Karadeniz 117)
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
Statistics:
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The Turks equalised in dramatic style with the last kick of extra time to take it to the penalty shoot-out where Croatia, which never quite recovered from the shock, missed three times out of four attempts.
Never-say-die Turkey, who also reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, now set up a meeting with Germany in the last four.
Croatia enjoyed the better chances over 90 minutes and should have taken the lead in the first half when striker Ivica Olič hit the crossbar from two yards.
While Ivan Rakitič, Darijo Srna and Olič again, all went close in the second period, highlighting Croatia's one critical problem for the lack of a prolific goalscorer.
Turkey, by contrast, did not force a save from Croatia keeper Stipe Pletikosa until extra time.
Most people thought the Croats had won the game when substitute Ivan Klasnič punished a Rüştü Reçber goalkeeping error to head his team in front in the 119th minute.
But there was still time for comeback kings Turkey to equalise.
Rüştü's long punt launched the ball into the Croatian area from a free-kick and the ball somehow fell for substitute Semih Şentürk who smashed a powerful shot past Pletikosa via a slight deflection.
Croatia coach Slaven Bilič was furious with the goal as he had been unable to bring on his third substitute, and that Semih's equaliser was scored four seconds after the allocated one minute of stoppage time had passed.
As the final whistle sounded, penalties looked set to decide the destiny.
Neither side had ever faced a competitive penalty shoot-out before but Turkey’s late equaliser represented a serious mental blow to the Croats.
The momentum was with the Turks as Croatia looked like they were never recovered from the blow.
Croatia then made a mess of the shoot-out, with Tottenham's record signing Luka Modrič and Rakitič sent their penalties wide.
And Turkey veteran goalkeeper Rüştü turned from villain to hero when he pulled off a wonderful save from Mladen Petrič's penalty to put the Turks through.
Arda Turan, Semih and Hamit Altintop scored all of their penalties for Turkey while only Srna scored for the Croats.
The defeat was so cruel for Croatia, who overall had the better of the chances during the match.
Croatian boss Bilič admitted that it would be difficult to forget this tragic defeat.
But despite the disappointment, Bilič said he could not fault any of his players, whom he described as heroes.
However, Fatih Terim will have more problems for the semi-final with the bookings for Arda, Tuncay Şanlı and Emre Aşık which mean they will be suspended for the semi-final along with first-choice keeper Volkan Demirel, who was banned for two matches after being sent off in the group stage.
Several of Turkey players were already missing through injury for this match.
The Turks have made a speciality of being the comeback kings, having only led for two minutes of their four matches.
An injury time winner against Switzerland, then another three goals in the last 15 minutes against the Czechs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory, demonstrated their reputation already.
| Croatia |  | 1 - 1 |  | Turkey |
| Ivan Klasnič 119 | 1 - 3 | Semih Şentürk 120+2 | ||
| (AP) |
Penalties:
| Modrič |  |  | Arda | |
| Srna | | | Semih | |
| Rakitič | | | Altintop | |
| Petrič | |
Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Ćorluka, 3-Josip Šimunić, 4-Robert Kovač, 22-Danijel Pranjič; 11-Darijo Srna, 10-Niko Kovač, 14-Luka Modrič, 7-Ivan Rakitič; 19-Niko Kranjčar (21-Mladen Petrič 65), 18-Ivica Olič (17-Ivan Klasnič 97)
Turkey: 1-Rüştü Reçber; 20-Sabri Sarıoğlu, 15-Emre Aşık, 4-Gökhan Zan, 3-Hakan Balta; 22-Hamit Altintop, 17-Tuncay Şanlı, 6-Mehmet Topal (9-Semih Şentürk 76), 14-Arda Turan; 18-Kazım Kazım (16-Uğur Boral 61), 8-Nihat Kahveci (10-Gökdeniz Karadeniz 117)
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 9 | - | 3 |
| Shots off target : | 11 | - | 6 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 51 | - | 49 |
| Corner kicks : | 7 | - | 4 |
| Offsides : | 5 | - | 1 |
| Fouls : | 20 | - | 23 |
| Yellow cards : | 0 | - | 4 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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