Turkey will face Austria in the round of 16 of Euro-2024, after winning painfully (1-2) against a Czech Republic which was reduced to 10 after 20 minutes, Wednesday in Hamburg.
The Turks eliminate the Czechs every eight years. This has at least been the case since 2008 at the Euro, before 2016 and therefore 2024.
This time, with Turkey simply having to draw to retain second place, the tension reached new heights, with plenty of duels and physical intensity from the start.
Too much. In nine minutes, striker Antonin Barak received two yellow cards and was sent off (20th). The fastest red card in Euro history.
The Czechs therefore found themselves 10 against 11 players but also against tens of thousands of Turkish supporters, ecstatic after this game. Patrick Schick, on the bench after his injury against Georgia (1-1), was sanctioned with a yellow card for having contested another refereeing decision.
Opposite, Kenan Yildiz also didn’t go far from the penalty area, taking a yellow for stepping on an opponent’s Achilles tendon, then escaping a second warning two minutes later after a foul. Several teammates of the 19-year-old Juventus player rushed to calm him down, so as not to give up their advantage.
But the Turks took time to take advantage of this advantage, with two half-chances, too far from Real Madrid’s nugget Arda Güler.
It was upon returning from the locker room that the team led by the Italian Vincenzo Montella moved up a gear. And the goal came from a splendid strike from outside by captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu (51st). During this action where he initially blocked several shots, the Czech goalkeeper, Jindrich Stanek, injured his shoulder and had to be replaced.
As when they acquired the surplus, the Turks then let the Czechs get back into the match and the Red and Blue managed to equalize through Tomas Soucek after a mix-up inside six meters (66th).
The Czech Republic then seemed to be the team to play in numerical superiority as they stormed the surface of Turkey, reduced to operating on the counterattack. But Cenk Tosun ended up freeing his team with a shot into the side net at the very end of the match. The match remained tense until the end and ended in confusion with a supporter on the field and the start of a scuffle between the two teams.
Portugal without flavor
Willy Sagnol’s Georgia, a novice at the Euro, created one of the biggest surprises in the history of the competition with a victory against Portugal (2-0) on Wednesday, which sent it to the round of 16 against Spain.
A roar of all devils accompanied the final whistle, with the heroes on the ground, and the vanquished angry, like the captain Cristiano Ronaldo, with a dark look.
The Little Thumb of the tournament shocked the Seleçao, already qualified and heavily reworked at kick-off, and sent their noisy supporters, who came to represent the 3.7 million of their compatriots, to heaven.
The former Soviet republic will be in the round of 16 against “Roja”, its silky game and its three European stars, on Sunday.
Stars Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, the only two in the squad, knocked out a Portuguese ogre by feasting on the rare offensive crumbs.
The Naples winger and the Metz striker took advantage of the blunders made by young defender Antonio Silva, guilty of a bad back pass on the opening score and a penalty on the second goal.
Mikautadze sent the ball at the right tempo and the right space to “Kvara” who scored with a left cross shot after one minute and thirty seconds (2nd, 1-0).
The Neapolitan celebrated his goal with a slide on his knees like Ronaldo, his idol, in front of the turn of his supporters, white hot, like the color of their jersey.
Ronaldo angry
The defense held firm until half-time, despite Portugal’s 70% possession and eleven shots (including 3 on target).
It took a vigilant goalkeeper to repel a distant and powerful free kick from Ronaldo (16th), recorded 130 km away, a brushed shot from Joao Palhinha (23rd), an attempt from Joao Félix (45th + 1) and a firecracker from Diogo Dalot (90th+3).
In this duel between the novice Georgia (74th in the Fifa ranking) and the regular Portuguese (6th in the Fifa ranking), a sort of David and Goliath of football, the K-0 came from the underdog.
Antonio Silva put his foot in opposition in front of Luka Lochoshvili, a fault detected by the VAR and exploited on the penalty spot by Mikautadze, with a cold-blooded shot close to the post (57th, 2-0).
Ronaldo had the bad days: he called for a penalty for a shirt pulling, in vain, collecting a warning in the process, he stamped on the pitch in spite of a missed opportunity and was replaced, furious, after the hour of play.
The former glory of Real Madrid, a rare Portuguese starter lined up on Wednesday, will have five days to vent his frustration. The Seleçao, 2016 European champion, is expected on July 1 in Frankfurt against Slovenia for the continuation of the adventures.
That of Willy Sagnol, appointed in February 2021, turns into a fairy tale with Georgia, which he qualified for the first time in an international competition, via the play-offs.
“Being here is already a victory,” the 47-year-old Frenchman said the day before, convinced that his team has “the level” to participate in the great celebration of European football.
His players play in Watford, Levante, Graz, Krakow or Nicosia, for example, but they demonstrated their value against a supercharged Turkey team (3-1 defeat), against the Czech Republic (1-1) and against Portugal .
