Friday, June 20, 2008

Quarterfinals: Day 2 Result

Bad Omen: Luka Modric sends Croatia's first penalty kick wide.

Croatia 1-1 (1-3 pk's) Turkey
links to goals:
Ivan Klasnic (119)

Unbelievably, Turkey topped their dramatic comeback win against the Czech Republic with an even more stunning come-from-behind win against Croatia. After a nail-biting 0-0 draw through the regulation 90 minutes and the first 15 minute overtime, the match headed to the second overtime and looked destined to be decided by penalty kicks. When Croatia's Ivan Klasnic broke the tie with a goal one minute from the end of the second overtime, the Croatians went wild in jubilation, believing they had sealed their place in the semifinals. But the celebration was short-lived when, in the waning seconds of stoppage time, uber-substitute Semih Senturk rifled a shot into the upper right corner to force penalties. Croatia began inauspiciously when midfield maestro Luka Modric missed the first spot-kick. Ivan Rakitic and Mladen Petric's subsequent misses were the death of Slaven Bilic's dream ride through the Euro's. Thus, the cardiac kids of the tournament, Turkey, completed their third consecutive comeback and will face Germany in the semifinals on Wednesday -- albeit depleted as the Turks will be missing several players due to suspensions and injuries.

1 comment:

The Continentalist said...

I nearly fell off my Berkeley barstool when the Turks scored in the 122nd. I didn't think they'd pull it off again. EI and the Continentalist saw the previous improbable comeback, while we were nursing our wounds after playing in a weekend friendly on the Pacifica pitch. We thought that was incredible, but really, this one took the cake!