Terim’s minute men rise up again
RUSTU IS SHOOT-OUT HERO FOR THE COMEBACK KINGS
Turkey led for a total of six minutes in their five matches at Euro 2008 – and still came within seconds of reaching the final. And the Crescent Star’s victory over Croatia in the last eight was among the most extraordinary in the tournament’s history.
Turkey reached the knockout stages by scoring a stoppage-time winner against Switzerland before striker Nihat Kahveci netted in the 87th and 89th minutes against Czech Republic to turn defeat and elimination into a ridiculous 3-2 win.
But Fatih Terim’s side were to surpass those victories for drama in a heart-stopping quarter-final.
Slaven Bilic’s Croatia, who had knocked England out in qualifying, dominated the match, with Luka Modric outstanding. But they could not score the opening goal until the final minute of extra-time when Ivan Klasnic headed home a
Modric cross, seemingly taking them to the semi-finals.
Turkey coach Terim later said: “After Croatia scored, I saw players lying on the pitch and I told Arda Turan to get the ball out of the goal and start again. I wasn’t giving up. There is something special about this team.”
And Semih Senturk then produced something special by lashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner with the last kick of extratime to cap a crazy 60 seconds. But the Turks were not finished there.
The next red and white hero was veteran goalkeeper Rustu Recber, a star of the team who finished third at the 2002 World Cup. The 35-yearold had arrived at the tournament as a reserve but returned to the starting team afterVolkan Demirel’s late dismissal against the Czechs. Modric and Ivan Rakitic both missed the target in the shootout before Rustu saved Mladen Petric’s kick as Turkey win 3-1 on penalties. Pandemonium followed.
Bilic said: “This is the third match Turkey have won in this extreme manner. It is obvious that they have quality and the X factor, which you need. The game had an incredible ending, the kind you can only find in football.”
Turkey faced Germany in the semi-finals with only 14 players because of injuries and suspensions.
After outplaying the Germans for long periods, a further shock seemed possible when Senturk forced an equaliser just four minutes from time to make it 2-2. But in another incredible finale, this time the tables were turned on the Turks as Philipp Lahm netted a last-minute winner.
I wasn’t giving up. There is something special about this team