There Türkiye qualified as second in group F to the round of 16 with Vincenzo Montella shouting mission accomplished after the 2-1 obtained in the 94th minute in Hamburg against the Czech Republic reduced to 10 men from the 20th minute due to the expulsion of Barak, already booked in the 11th minute ‘ with the fierce criticism of the Romanian referee Kovács. The Turks suffered a lot in the second half despite having numerical superiority but in the end, gritting their teeth, they managed to defend the positive result and achieve the success that was worth qualification. The first turning point was the yellow card for midfielder Barak who visibly held back Kadioglu, then shortly after he received the second card for a stomp in midfield against Ozcan.
The match was always in the balance with the Czechs who, with one man down, tried to manage the game as best they could, organising the defensive phase and managing to resist Turkey’s offensive initiatives.
On the other hand, Montella’s team had control of the game without however managing to worry their opponents: in fact, none of the eight shots attempted by Turkey in the first half ended up in the mirror of the goal defended by Stanek. Indeed, before the break the Czech Republic scared everyone on the counterattack orchestrated by Provod who, having reached the edge of the area, served the onrushing Jurasek in the area on the left. The Czech winger controls the ball and shoots, finding decisive opposition from Gunok on the exit.
History changes in the 6th minute of the second half with Calhanoglu. Long action by the Turks: first a miracle from Stanek on Yildiz, then moving forward the goalkeeper can do nothing about the Inter midfielder’s angled shot. Right shoulder problems for Stanek after the great save on Yildiz. Hakan Calhanoglu scored his 19th international goal, moving up to sixth place in Turkey’s all-time top scorer rankings alongside Metin Oktay, Cemil Turan and Nihat Kahveci.
Indomitable Czechs. They equalized in the 21st minute with Soucek, after a VAR check for a possible attacking foul that didn’t exist. The mistake of the Turkish defense, which falls asleep above all with its goalkeeper Gunok who gives the ball to Chory, is paid dearly: after a back and forth a few steps from the goal, the ball reaches Soucek who kicks powerfully under the crossbar finding the 1-1. Turkish thrill in the 90th minute: Tosun wasted an excellent opportunity on the counterattack by missing the deep pass. In the 94th minute Tosun doesn’t forgive: the striker owned by Besiktas, served by Kokcu, enters the area, centers himself and shoots finding the bottom corner to Kovar’s left. Montella enjoys it.
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