Although Güler’s aim failed, Turkey achieved victory in stoppage time after a very open match in Hamburg. The diminished and struggling Czech Republic only capitulated in the penultimate play, after threatening for a long time to score a second goal, claiming victory, turning Group F around and being paired with Spain.
1
Jindrich Stanek (Matej Kovár, min. 54), Ladislav Krejcí, Robin Hranác, Tomáš Holes, Lukás Provod (Ondrej Lingr, min. 74), David Jurásek (Matej Jurásek, min. 80), Tomáš Soucek, Vladimír Coufal, Mojmír Chytil (Jan Kuchta, min. 54), Adam Hlozek (Tomás Chory, min. 54) and Antonín Barák
2
Mert Günok, Merih Demiral, Mert Müldür, Samet Akaydin, Ferdi Kadioglu, Kenan Yildiz (Kerem Aktürkoglu, min. 75), Arda Güler (Cenk Tosun, min. 74), Salih Özcan (Kaan Ayhan, min. 45), Ismail Yüksek (Okay Yokuslu, min. 62), Hakan Çalhanoglu (Orkun Kökçü, min. 86) and Baris Alper Yilmaz
Goals
0-1 min. 50: Calhanoglu. 1-1 min. 65: Tomas Soucek. 1-2 min. 93: Tosun
Referee István Kovács
Antonin Barak (min. 10), Salih Ozcan (min. 30), Schick (min. 33), Kenan Yildiz (min. 36), Ismail Yüksek (min. 48), Mert Günok (min. 63), Calhanoglu (min. . 65), Ugurcan Cakir (min. 67), Müldür (min. 80), Vitoslav Jaros (min. 83), Samet Akaydin (min. 84), Lukás Cerv (min. 84), Ladislav Krejci (min. 90) , Orkun Kokcu (min. 94), Kaan Ayhan (min. 94), Tomas Soucek (min. 97), Arda Guler (min. 97)
red cards
Antonin Barak (min. 19), Tomas Chory (min. 97)
The Czechs went for the game, without looking at the scoreboard or the classification, knowing that only victory was worth them and therefore they needed to score even if the injured Schick was not there. They never faltered with their direct football, attentive to the strategy and the second plays, physically superior to a more technical Turkey and dedicated to the play between the lines of midfielders like Çalhanoglu and Güler, substitute against Portugal (according to the coach, it was due to fatigue muscular). Montella changed more than half the team to forget the defeat against Cristiano’s team and recover the victorious path opened against Georgia. The large Turkish fans associated Güler’s ownership with a sure victory against the Czech Republic.
The game definitively sided with Türkiye with the expulsion for a double warning of the intemperate Barak. The Czech player misjudged a couple of very close tackles and saw the red card in the 20th minute. The team’s plethora of displays helped disguise his numerical inferiority and kept the irregular and discontinuous Turkey in check. The match was constantly interrupted by fouls and there were no clear shots despite the pressure from the Montella boys.
The best chance was for Jurasek in a one-on-one with Günok. The goalkeeper saved the Czech midfielder’s shot after a counterattack that portrayed the poor retreat of a Turkey that played with fire for Georgia’s victory against Portugal. The Turks woke up and after the restart they did not stop shooting until Çalhanoglu scored with an excellent cross shot after Stanek was injured while rejecting Güler’s shot.
The Czechs, however, did not give up and tied after a throw-in in which they imposed their aerial game against the weakness of the Turkish goalkeeper. The VAR validated Soucek’s goal and the match, now without Güler, was open to any result, until Tosun got it right.
The Turks knew how to play better in the final minutes against the desperation of the Czech Republic. The tension caused by the result on the field contrasted with the merriment of the Turkish fans gathered in Hamburg.
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