(Hamburg) Turkey will face Austria in the round of 16 of Euro-2024, after winning painfully (1-2) against a Czech Republic which was reduced to 10 after 20 minutes, Wednesday in Hamburg.
The Turks eliminate the Czechs every eight years. This has at least been the case since 2008 at the Euro, before 2016 and therefore 2024.
This time, with Turkey simply having to draw to retain second place, the tension reached new heights, with plenty of duels and physical intensity from the start.
Too much. In nine minutes, striker Antonin Barak received two yellow cards and was sent off (20th). The fastest red card in Euro history.
The Czechs therefore found themselves 10 against 11 players, but also against tens of thousands of Turkish supporters, ecstatic after this game. Patrick Schick, on the bench after his injury against Georgia (1-1), was sanctioned of a yellow card for having contested another refereeing decision.
Opposite, Kenan Yildiz also didn’t go far from the penalty area, taking a yellow for stepping on an opponent’s Achilles tendon, then escaping a second warning two minutes later after a foul. Several teammates of the 19-year-old Juventus player rushed to calm him down, so as not to give up their advantage.
But the Turks took time to take advantage of this advantage, with two half-chances, too far from Real Madrid’s nugget Arda Güler.
It was after the break that the team led by the Italian Vincenzo Montella moved up a gear. And the goal came from a splendid strike from the outside by captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu (51st). On this action where he first repelled several shots, the Czech goalkeeper, Jindrich Stanek, injured his shoulder and had to be replaced.
As when they acquired the surplus, the Turks then let the Czechs get back into the match and the Red and Blue managed to equalize through Tomas Soucek after a mix-up inside six meters (66th).
The Czech Republic then seemed to be the team to play in numerical superiority as they stormed the surface of Turkey, reduced to operating on the counterattack. But Cenk Tosun ended up freeing his team with a shot into the side net at the very end of the match. The match remained tense until the end and ended in confusion with a supporter on the pitch and the start of a scuffle between the two teams.
Georgia, which is playing the first Euro in its history, qualified for the round of 16 by beating Portugal, already qualified, 2-0 on Wednesday in Gelsenkirchen, during the third and final day of Group F.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (2nd) and Georges Mikautadze (57th) scored for Willy Sagnol’s team, third in their group, which will face Spain in the next round. Portugal will play against Slovenia.
