Lahm late goal stops the Comeback Kings
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Germany have reached the Euro 2008 final as they earned a dramatic 3-2 win over Turkey in Basel.
Defender Philipp Lahm scored a 90th minute winner to end Turkey's last-grasp winning streak.
Germany clinched the victory with what was nearly the last kick of the match and kept them on target for a record fourth title.
Turkey reached the semi-final with the reputation as the tournament's comeback kings with last-gasp wins over Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia.
But they went into the match with only their last 14 players, including third-choice keeper Tolga Zengin and the walking wounded Tümer Metin.
Four players were suspended, another two were injured and a further two out of the tournament already.
Despite all the injuries and suspensions, coach Fatih Terim had stated before the match that they would not be simply looking for a miracle.
In total contrast, Germany had all 23-men fit and ready for the semi-final.
Germany coach Joachim Löw played the same line-up and 4-5-1 formation that overcame Portugal in the quarter final.
Despite having Torsten Frings available to select again, the 48-year-old coach decided to keep Bayer Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes in central midfield.
The pre-tournament favourites said they would not be complacent against the Turkish underdogs but made all the mistakes they had promised to avoid.
The Germans were sloppy, they underestimated Turkey’s ability in attack and made careless mistakes in defence.
And The Turks took a deserved lead mid-way through the first half, a period in which they dominated.
London-born forward Kazım Kazım sent a right-wing cross against the crossbar before Uğur Boral volleyed home the rebound through the legs of Jens Lehmann.
Germany immediately responded and four minutes later they equalised with their first real attacks.
Lukas Podolski raced down the left and his low cross into the box was cleverly flicked into the net by Bastian Schweinsteiger, in almost a copy of his finish in the 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal.
The break through for Germany came in the 79th minute as they seemed to have scored the winner when an error from Turkish keeper Rüştü Reçber leaving Miroslav Klose to head into an empty net.
But the real drama was reserved for the closing minutes as Turkey appeared to have pulled off another remarkable comeback, when Sabri Sarıoğlu beat Lahm on a wing-duel before crossing for Semih Şentürk to squeeze an equaliser past Lehmann with four minutes to go.
The match was heading for a fourth extra time in a row at this competition, but Lahm made sure it didn’t happen.
With seconds of normal time remaining, Lahm played a one-two with Thomas Hitzlsperger before calmly curling the ball past Rüştü to put some 20,000 German fans at St. Jakob Park in seventh heaven.
The 24-year-old defender was extremely relieved that he had made up for a major error that had led to the Turkish equaliser.
Der trainer Löw expressed his relief at reaching the final, and acknowledged that his side performance wasn't very good during the match.
For Turkey, it was the end of an unforgettable tournament, its best since making the World Cup semifinals six years ago.
Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Arne Friedrich, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 16-Philipp Lahm; 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 6-Simon Rolfes (8-Torsten Frings 46), 13-Michael Ballack, 15-Thomas Hitzlsperger, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose (2-Marcell Jansen 90+2)
Turkey: 1-Rüştü Reçber; 20-Sabri Sarıoğlu, 6-Mehmet Topal, 4-Gökhan Zan, 3-Hakan Balta; 18-Kazım Kazım (11-Tümer Metin 90+1), 22-Hamit Altintop, 7-Mehmet Aurelio, 19-Ayhan Akman (21-Mevlüt Erdinc 81), 16-Uğur Boral (10-Gökdeniz Karadeniz 84); 9-Semih Şentürk
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
Statistics:
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Defender Philipp Lahm scored a 90th minute winner to end Turkey's last-grasp winning streak.
Germany clinched the victory with what was nearly the last kick of the match and kept them on target for a record fourth title.
Turkey reached the semi-final with the reputation as the tournament's comeback kings with last-gasp wins over Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia.
But they went into the match with only their last 14 players, including third-choice keeper Tolga Zengin and the walking wounded Tümer Metin.
Four players were suspended, another two were injured and a further two out of the tournament already.
Despite all the injuries and suspensions, coach Fatih Terim had stated before the match that they would not be simply looking for a miracle.
In total contrast, Germany had all 23-men fit and ready for the semi-final.
Germany coach Joachim Löw played the same line-up and 4-5-1 formation that overcame Portugal in the quarter final.
Despite having Torsten Frings available to select again, the 48-year-old coach decided to keep Bayer Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes in central midfield.
The pre-tournament favourites said they would not be complacent against the Turkish underdogs but made all the mistakes they had promised to avoid.
The Germans were sloppy, they underestimated Turkey’s ability in attack and made careless mistakes in defence.
And The Turks took a deserved lead mid-way through the first half, a period in which they dominated.
London-born forward Kazım Kazım sent a right-wing cross against the crossbar before Uğur Boral volleyed home the rebound through the legs of Jens Lehmann.
Germany immediately responded and four minutes later they equalised with their first real attacks.
Lukas Podolski raced down the left and his low cross into the box was cleverly flicked into the net by Bastian Schweinsteiger, in almost a copy of his finish in the 3-2 quarter-final win over Portugal.
The break through for Germany came in the 79th minute as they seemed to have scored the winner when an error from Turkish keeper Rüştü Reçber leaving Miroslav Klose to head into an empty net.
But the real drama was reserved for the closing minutes as Turkey appeared to have pulled off another remarkable comeback, when Sabri Sarıoğlu beat Lahm on a wing-duel before crossing for Semih Şentürk to squeeze an equaliser past Lehmann with four minutes to go.
The match was heading for a fourth extra time in a row at this competition, but Lahm made sure it didn’t happen.
With seconds of normal time remaining, Lahm played a one-two with Thomas Hitzlsperger before calmly curling the ball past Rüştü to put some 20,000 German fans at St. Jakob Park in seventh heaven.
The 24-year-old defender was extremely relieved that he had made up for a major error that had led to the Turkish equaliser.
Der trainer Löw expressed his relief at reaching the final, and acknowledged that his side performance wasn't very good during the match.
For Turkey, it was the end of an unforgettable tournament, its best since making the World Cup semifinals six years ago.
| Germany |  | 3 - 2 |  | Turkey |
| Bastian Schweinsteiger 26 | Uğur Boral 22 | |||
| Miroslav Klose 79 | Semih Şentürk 86 | |||
| Philipp Lahm 90 |
Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Arne Friedrich, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 16-Philipp Lahm; 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 6-Simon Rolfes (8-Torsten Frings 46), 13-Michael Ballack, 15-Thomas Hitzlsperger, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose (2-Marcell Jansen 90+2)
Turkey: 1-Rüştü Reçber; 20-Sabri Sarıoğlu, 6-Mehmet Topal, 4-Gökhan Zan, 3-Hakan Balta; 18-Kazım Kazım (11-Tümer Metin 90+1), 22-Hamit Altintop, 7-Mehmet Aurelio, 19-Ayhan Akman (21-Mevlüt Erdinc 81), 16-Uğur Boral (10-Gökdeniz Karadeniz 84); 9-Semih Şentürk
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 3 | - | 10 |
| Shots off target : | 4 | - | 9 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 46 | - | 54 |
| Corner kicks : | 2 | - | 8 |
| Offsides : | 0 | - | 1 |
| Fouls : | 14 | - | 16 |
| Yellow cards : | 0 | - | 2 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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