Euro 2008:Turkish Comeback Kids Do it Again as They Defeat Croatia in Penalties

On Friday, Turkey were down to their last breath after conceding a late goal to their opposition Croatia. It seemed they had no time to stage another comeback as they had done so in their last two games. However with the injury time already expired they managed to get one final shot off.

That shot, taken by Semih Şentürk, found its way between two Croatian defenders along with goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa to once again cap off an unprecedented comeback. Despite emphatic claims by Croatian trainer Slaven Bilic that the injury time went above the announced three minutes, the goal would set up the first penalty shootout of the competition.

With Hamit Altıntop putting his side up 3-1 in penalties, Mladen Petrić’s shot was saved by backup keeper Rüştü to clinch the victory for the comeback kids of Euro 2008. Whether the Croatian players were exhausted or still in shock from the late equalizer we will never know, but they truly never got any momentum going having missed two of their penalties while the Turks calmly buried each one they took.

The game itself saw many chances for both countries but neither side could find the back of the net as the game went into extra time. The first frame of extra time came and went as everyone in the stadium assumed penalties were on the agenda.

However as Luka Modric went into the 18-yard box in the dying minutes of the second frame, Rüştü followed him out there only to see a cross go to a lone Ivan Klasnic who headed the ball into an empty net giving the Croats the 1-0 lead. However, the goat would be a hero as he delivered the cross from outside the midfield mark that would eventually find Şentürk.

Modric would go on to miss the first penalty with a shot that sailed way past the net while his Turkish counterpart Arda Turan would beat Pletikosa. Darijo Srna would tie things up but only to see Şentürk regain the lead for the Turks. Ivan Rakitić would too miss for his side as Altıntop gave Turkey the commanding 3-1 lead.

Having needed to score to continue on, Petric fired a hard shot only to be met with a great save by Rüştü to seal Turkey’s first European Championship semi final berth. They now will play Germany on Wednesday in Basel for the right to play in the final.