In a classic battle of dark horses, Turkey barely made it to face Austria but will have to change their mindset in the knockout stages. Turkey should have been able to finish the game comfortably after Czech Republic’s Antonin Barak was sent off for two yellow cards midway through the first half, but a fine finish from Hakan Calhanoglu after the break looked to give Turkey the advantage. But nothing seems to come easy for Turkey and they were heavily tilted after Tomas Soucek gave their spirited opponents a lifeline. Cenk Tosun relieved their nerves in the dying seconds and the Czechs were gone.
The Czech Republic knew from the start that all they could do was win; pre-match calculations of how the third-place play-off would affect the tournament were a luxury other teams could enjoy. Ivan Hašek’s men had a job to do, and they had to do much of it without their apparent attacking star, Patrik Schick, who limped off minutes after the equaliser against Georgia.
Would they dare to take on a Turkey side roaring with deafening roars? Under a low sun, they stormed off the starting line, thrilled the crowd with a long throw from Vladimir Coufal and then, two minutes into the game, Lukas Provod’s shot was deflected and Mert Gunok made a diving save.
Only a heavy defeat would threaten Turkey’s place in the last 16, but if they hold on to second place they will face Austria rather than Spain. Coach Vincenzo Montella took a gamble by making seven changes to his team after their shock defeat by Portugal, giving Turkey little room to bounce back.
With three-quarters of the Arena sprinting forward, Turkey found their angle. Arda Güler returned from injury but Kenan Yildiz put them ahead when his shot was deflected. It was a shaky but fascinating opening period, with the ball flying around in front of goal, Coufal crossing just past Adam Hrozek and Robin Franac heading the ball over from a well-placed spot.
What a foolish move it was for Barak to make two errors that ruined his team’s early momentum. He had already been booked for a foolish pull on Ferdi Kadioglu, and then nine minutes later he tripped Salif Ozcan’s leg with his studs. It looked more like a follow-through than a malicious act, but there’s no room for complaint. Barak trudged out the tunnel with his head in his hands as the punishment was confirmed, looking aware of the potential cost.
The Czech Republic had to try and force a shot that came very close to shocking Portugal. It was an exercise in defensive heroism as Franac held off Güler. The match was tense and anxious, with the Czechs clearly desperate to equalise. Schick received a bench warning for protesting a tackle by Ismail Yuksek at Provod, meaning he would miss the knockout games.
Just before the break, David Jurasek broke through and gave them a much-needed chance, only for Gunok to deny them. Despite the margin of error, the atmosphere remained tense.
Within six minutes of the restart, that seemed to have vanished. Perhaps in an attempt to keep 11 men on the field, Montella replaced a fired-up Ozkan with Kaan Ayhan after he had been booked for the second half. Turkey came storming back with force, however, when Baris Alper Yılmaz’s header slipped under Indlih Stanek but sailed wide of the goal. A breakthrough looked likely, but Stanek was doubly unlucky, as a brilliant one-handed save from Yıldız’s shot seemed to have kept Czech hopes alive.
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The rebound was only cleared to the edge of the area and passed to Çalhanoglu who rolled to the left and curled the ball across the keeper with the outside of his foot for a beautiful, technically brilliant shot. Stanek had clearly been injured making the initial save and was in obvious pain, possibly a dislocated shoulder, and had to be substituted.
That was surely the end for the Czech Republic, but they continued to fight and began to apply pressure until Gunok, under pressure from hulking substitute Thomas Chorley, dropped a high ball. Chorley’s shot was blocked, but Soucek’s powerful follow-on was approved by VAR and play resumed.
There was a sense of anxiety in the stands. Turkey seemed barely able to find a way to calmly tackle their new challenge. They couldn’t keep possession, they were pushed back and their opponents were trying to mount every attack. Jan Kufta burst in and for a moment thought he had performed a miracle, but it was ruled out for pushing. Turkey had been so wasteful in attack up until that point, but Tosun finally scored a goal.
