Turkey eliminated Czechia from the competition with a thrilling and devastating 2-1 victory over them, moving them on to the Euro 2024 knockout stage. With goals from Cenk Tosun and Hakan Calhanoglu, as well as a goal from Tomas Soucek for Czechia—who also saw Antonin Barak sent off in the first half—Turkey rose to second place in Group F.
With a nail-biting 2-1 triumph that eliminated the 10-man Czech Republic from Euro 2024, Cenk Tosun, the substitute, made it official that Turkey would make its Last 16 appearance since 2008.
Vincenzo Montella’s Crescent-Stars only had to win to go to the next round, and their chances were enhanced on minute 20 when Antonin Barak was sent out for two straight quick-fire yellow cards.
Following the interval, Turkey seemed to be coasting until minute 51, when captain Hakan Çalhanoglu scored with a fantastic first-time shot from the left side of the field.
But just after the hour, West Ham’s Tomas Soucek took advantage of a mistake made by custodian Mert Gunok to set up a thrilling finish.
The 10-man Czechs gave it their all at the Turkish penalty area, but were unable to provide the game-winning late twist that would have kept them in it. Tosun finished the scoring with a fantastic strike in stoppage time.
The result places Georgia among the top three teams in Group F, while Turkey comes in second in Group F as a result of their surprising win over pool winners Portugal. Czech Republic, having advanced to the round of eight in the previous European Championship, loses out early.
Turkey will play Austria in the round of 16 on Tuesday of next week.
It would have been understandable for coach Ivan Hasek to assume that bad luck was against Turkey before a ball was kicked, considering their history of defeating the Czechs in the European Championship final group games.
Following a promising beginning that resulted in two brief cautions and a somewhat harsh red card, the Czechs were already without their leading scorer from the tournament, the injured Patrik Schick.
To their credit, the 10-men did not give up and, in spite of falling behind, they were able to seize the initiative when one of many daring set pieces proved to be successful.
An implausible comeback appeared likely until well into stoppage time, when Turkey salted their wounds with a winner on the break.
Things are never normal with The Crescent Stars, but they are usually rather entertaining. They may be the underdogs to repeat the kind of run that propelled them to the semifinals in 2008, but on paper, they seem to be drawn better.