Image: GEPA pictures/ Witters/ Valeria Witters
Turkey has earned a round of 16 clash with Austria at the European Football Championship in Germany. Team manager Vincenzo Montella’s team celebrated a 2-1 win against the Czech Republic at the end of the group phase in Hamburg on Wednesday, finishing second in Pool F behind Portugal. For the Portuguese, a 0-2 defeat against Georgia, who had also been promoted, was meaningless. Austria and Turkey will meet in Leipzig on Tuesday (9 p.m.).
- Read more: Why Turkey is weakened going into the EURO round of 16 duel with Austria
This will be a repeat of a friendly match in preparation for the European Championship, in which the ÖFB team clearly prevailed 6:1 in Vienna. It is also good for Austria that Samet Akaydin and Hakan Calhanoglu received their second yellow card in the tournament and will therefore have to watch the round of 16. Young star Arda Güler and Co. secured second place, as Calhanoglu (51′) and “joker” Cenk Tosun (94′) scored in the Volksparkstadion. For the Czechs, who were outnumbered for a long time, a goal by Tomas Soucek (66′) was not enough.
The highlights of the match:
Red against Czech Barak
The Czechs, who were playing at a major tournament without Patrik Schick for the first time since the last European Championship group match in 2016, almost got off to a dream start, but Lukas Provod was stopped by goalie Mert Günok (3′). On the other hand, Güler, who was again in the starting line-up this time, created the first chance, but shot over the bar (13′). Something similar happened with a header from the Czech Robin Hranac (17′). By the 20th minute at the latest, the Turks were on a power play, as Antonin Barak had been shown the yellow card for repeated fouls.
But the Czechs remained compact even when outnumbered, narrowing the spaces and giving the Turks few chances to score, such as with an Akaydin header (28th minute). In the 39th minute, the Turks were also in danger of receiving a yellow-red card, but Kenan Yildiz was lucky not to receive two yellow cards in a very short space of time after using his elbow. Shortly before half-time, Czech player David Jurasek tested the Turkish goalkeeper with a shot from a tight angle (45th minute).
Turks with the decision in injury time
Immediately after the restart, Jindrich Stanek had to parry a Yilmaz shot (46th minute) and he injured his shoulder during another brilliant save from a Yildiz shot (51st minute). After this save, the ball remained in play, could not be cleared properly by the Czechs and Calhanoglu hit the far corner with his full instep. Güler should have followed on, but did not hit the ball properly after a Yilmaz cross (65th minute). This came back to haunt him. After an aerial duel between Tomas Chory and Günok and a missed chance, Soucek scored from the five-yard box.
As a result, the Czechs suddenly only needed one goal to advance, and the Turks had to worry, as they would have been eliminated if they had conceded a goal. The Turks, however, came closer to scoring, but missed the winning goal when Okay Yokuslu had a chance (87′). In injury time, Tosun finally made it clear in a combination of two substitutes. After the final whistle, several players got into a scuffle and Chory was shown the red card. In contrast to 2016 and 2021, the Turks once again made it through the group stage of the European Championship.
The round of 16 pairings
- Spain – Georgia
- Germany – Denmark
- Portugal – Slovenia
- France – Belgium
- Romania – Netherlands
- Austria – Türkiye
- England – Slovakia
- Switzerland – Italy
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Source: Nachrichten
