Turkey has been eliminated from the European Championship on Wednesday after Philipp Lahm ended their storybook run in the tournament with a late goal in a 3-2 semifinal victory that kept Germany on target for a record fourth title. A much-weakened Turkey side had dominated the first half but were only level at half-time after Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger had cancelled out Ugur Boral's opener.
The second half was a more even contest and looked to be going to extra-time after Germany striker Miroslav Klose and Semih Senturk of Turkey had each scored in the final 11 minutes. It was looking like the match was heading for the extra-time but there was still time for Lahm to smash home the winner as the three-times European champions (1972, 1980, 1996) reached Sunday's final in Vienna, where they will meet either Spain or Russia. It was Turkey's first Euro semifinal. The last time they went this far in a tournament was back in the 2002 World Cup where they made it to the semifinals too. There was one unwelcome incident during the game, when a protester carrying a banner with the word "Tibet" on it ran onto the field but was soon subdued by security officials. Meanwhile, outside the stadium, there was another problem as well. Many people around the world did not get to watch some of the last moments in the second period of the game because the international TV feed went out, due to a violent thunderstorm that hit Vienna, where the TV broadcast center is located, was blamed. [End of report]
I woke up to watch the match and of course, I was rooting for Turkey. I thought the Germans would dominate the game but I think Turkey did gave them a good fight. Just look at the scoreline. It was rather unusual because Turkey did score first, because in their previous matches, they were trailing first before they scored and went on to win the match and they almost did it again yesterday against Germany but it was never meant to be. Before the match, they had 9 players out through injuries or suspension and these were key players who have been vital for them in their previous matches such as Nihat, Turan and Emre so I didnt thought they had a good chance of making it to the finals since Germany had put out their strongest team. But just like the times before, the Turkish team proved me wrong once again and they managed to play just as well even with a weakened squad. I was really pissed off when the match was disrupted in the second half due to violent thunderstorm that hit Vienna. It happened not just once, or twice but three times if I remember correctly. As a result, I missed the third and fourth goals in the match but was just in time to watch the last goal before the broadcast went out again a few seconds later. It was 90min then and there was not much hope that Turkey would make a comeback again.
It's sad and disappointing to see Turkey losing out in the final seconds of the match but thats football. However, I think Turkey had performed very well in the tournament. If they were to go through to the finals, Im sure many of you would agree with me when I say they deserve it. It's ironic isn't it how Turkey had lost the same way they had won their previous matches, scoring in the dying seconds of the game. There is no doubt that yesterday's match was great to watch, but I think the best game for me so far is still the Turkey v Czech match. They have come to the end of a great performance, one thing they would have gain from this experience is respect I think from other football nations. Their coach Fatih Terim has said he would probably be stepping down after the tournament and he has said it again yesterday, so I think he would not be managing the team in their next match or tournament. I like the passion he has shown during the course of the tournament and I hope if he does leave the team, he would be managing a club in England someday down the road. I think he has done a brilliant job and Im sure his successor will have a tough time continuing his legacy.
With Italy and now Turkey out, my best bet is on Russia to win the competition. I have been a huge fan of Guus Hiddink since he became the manager of South Korea in the 2002 World Cup if Im not mistaken. And not to mention Arshavin is playing in the Russian team as well, so I hope they can do a payback for the Italians by knocking out Spain tonight. You may watch the match live on Starhub Channel 30 if you have subscribed to the channel or the Preview Channel for free at 2.45am tonight. If you have Indonesian channel RCTI on your television, you may watch it there as well. It might be a little bit blurry but the commentary is in english. Lets hope there won't be any thunderstorm or anything else to disrupt the broadcast tonight.
*The report was taken from CNN and Associated Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment