Turkey secured their place in the knockout stage of the European Championship with a dramatic 2-1 win against a 10-man Czech Republic on Wednesday. Cenk Tosun’s stoppage-time goal sealed the victory, eliminating the Czechs from the tournament.
In the final moments of the match, with the Czech Republic pressing for a goal that would have sent them through at Turkey’s expense, Tosun, who had come on as a substitute, managed to evade two defenders and fired a powerful shot inside the far post.
“This is just the start,” Tosun said. “I’m delighted with my goal. We spoke about it beforehand, how this is exactly the time for it.”
The goal sparked celebrations among the majority of the fans in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion but also led to a confrontation between players and substitutes on the field. Czech forward Tomas Chory received a red card following the incident, while team captain Tomas Soucek and Turkey’s Arda Guler were shown yellow cards.
Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs had a busy night, issuing 18 yellow cards in total and sending off Czech midfielder Antonin Barak in the 20th minute. Barak received his first yellow for a tactical foul in the 11th minute and the second for a stamp on Salih Ozcan’s foot.
“I only saw him in the break,” Czech coach Ivan Hasek said of Barak. “He was sad, with his head in his hands. He really punished himself by beating himself up about it.”
The numerical advantage spurred Turkey to launch wave after wave of attacks. Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Guler caused significant problems for the Czech defense.
The Czech team, missing star player Patrik Schick due to a calf muscle injury, struggled offensively. Schick, who was booked for protesting from the bench, made no further contribution.
Yildiz was booked for a stamp on Robin Hranac in the 37th minute and narrowly avoided a second yellow after catching Vladimir Coufal in the face with his elbow, an incident the referee did not see.
Calhanoglu opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a low shot inside the far post. Czech goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek, who had made a brilliant save to deny Mert Muldur, was unable to continue after injuring his shoulder during the save. Bayer Leverkusen reserve goalkeeper Matej Kovar replaced him.
Soucek equalized for the Czech Republic in the 66th minute after a goalmouth scramble. A VAR check confirmed that goalkeeper Mert Gunok was not impeded.
Needing another goal to advance, the Czechs were ultimately thwarted by Tosun’s late strike, which ended their hopes of progressing in the tournament.
“It’s disappointment. We all wanted to advance. We had a goal to beat them from the start but we didn’t make it, that’s disappointing,” Soucek told the Czech public broadcaster.
Soucek reflected on the challenge of playing with a man down and lamented the goals his team conceded. “We all did the maximum,” he added. “I have to thank all my teammates. It’s just a sad end.”
The Czech Republic finished bottom of Group F, behind Georgia, which surprised group winner Portugal with a 2-0 win to progress as one of the best third-place teams.
Turkey finished runner-up with six points and will face Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday.
