New Delhi: After a fairy-tale run in UEFA Euro 2020 where they reached the quarterfinals of the competition, the Czech Republic had an extremely horrendous campaign this time around as they finished bottom of their group with zero wins and just a single point to show for their efforts in Germany.
Having already lost to Portugal in the opening game and drawn with Georgia on matchday two, the Czech Republic knew they had to win if they were to proceed further in the tournament. Manager Ivan Hašek chose to make two changes to the side that drew with Georgia as Patrick Schick and Vaclav Cerny were dropped in favour of
Mojmir Chytil and Antonin Barak.
Turkey won their opening game against Georgia but lost horribly to Portugal in their second game and needed only a draw to qualify for the next round. Vincenzo Montella decided to make seven changes to the side that lost embarrassingly to Portugal. Altayir Bayandir, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Zeki Celik, Kaan Ayhan, Orkun Kokcu, Kerem Akturkoglu, and Yunus Akgun were all dropped and were replaced by Mert Gunok, Mert Mulder, Merih Demiral, Ismail Yuksek, Salih Ozcan, Arda Guler, and Kenan Yildiz.
The game was off to a bright start as Czechia had the first chance of the match and looked threatening. However, two yellow cards in the gap of nine minutes meant Barak had been given his marching orders, becoming the first person since Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 FIFA World Cup to be sent off in a major tournament and that red card killed all the momentum they were looking to build.
Both captains got on the scoresheet as Hakan Calhanoglu gave his side the lead before Tomas Soucek got his side level. The game seemed to be headed for a draw but late drama ensued and Cenk Tosun scored late to give his side the victory before Tomas Chory became the second person to be sent off on the night.
Key Highlights from Turkey’s last-minute win over Czechia
Cenk Tosun scored late to win the game for his side. (Photo by Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Czech Republic had the first chance of the game within the first two minutes as Barak played the ball towards Lukas Provod whose low shot was pushed away by Gunok.
Guler received the ball in the middle of the pitch before finding space on the wing, he drove towards goal but his eventual shot was wide of the target.
20 minutes into the game Antonin Barak was sent off for a second yellow as he stepped on Ozcan. Two yellow cards in nine minutes were enough to end his night.
The last chance of the first half fell towards the Czech Republic as Provod broke down the middle of the pitch and held onto the ball well, before passing through to Jurásek. His effort though is straight at Gunok who saves well.
Six minutes into the second half, Calhanoglu gave his side the lead after Czechia were unable to clear Yildiz’s shot. Yuksek gained possession after Stanek’s save and set up Calhanoglu’s strike in the bottom corner.
15 minutes after going behind, the Czechs were back in the game as Soucek’s effort from Coufal’s throw-in led to Chory’s shot that was cleared off the line before Soucek tucked it in on the rebound.
It was all Turkey after they were brought back on level terms as Yilmaz and Yokuslu tried to find the winning goal but were unable to do so.
Four minutes into added time Tosun grabbed the winner for Turkey as he collected a pass from Kokcu on the left and cut in on his right before firing a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
As exit loomed for Czechia, their night went from bad to worse as Chory was shown a straight red for violent conduct as the match came to an end.
Czechia needed a win here in Hamburg in order to proceed to the next round but a late goal from Cenk Tosun saw them lose 2-1 to Turkey as they end their campaign with zero wins. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
