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September 8th, 2008
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No consolation

National team staggers out of Euro after falling apart in stunning loss to Turkey

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 18th, 2008 issue

Photo by ERIC BRETAGNON/ISIFA
Members of the winning Turkish national team give David Jarolím the old great-game talk after the Czech squad's 3-2 defeat.
Collapse.
For a long time, that word more than any other will stand as the byword for Euro 2008 in the Czech soccer community.
The national team stood close to advancing to the Euro quarterfinals, leading Turkey 2-0 in its June 15 match. But three goals scored by the Turks in the game’s last 15 minutes — two of those coming with merely two minutes remaining in the game — sent a demoralized and shocked the Czech team back to Prague.
“It was a crazy match with a horrific ending,” outgoing head coach Karel Brückner said after the game. “We totally collapsed.”
Having won the tournament’s opening game against Switzerland, 1-0, June 7 and then losing to Portugal, 3-1, June 11, the national team faced a do-or-die game against Turkey in Geneva. Advancement to the quarterfinals was at stake. The teams went into the match with identical group records.
Despite previous concerns about the national team’s readiness, stemming from the squad’s weak showing against Switzerland and the loss to Portugal, the Czechs took early initiative in the Turkey game.
Towering striker Jan Koller was recalled to the starting lineup after being dropped for the first time in five years before the previous game against Portugal.
And it was Koller who crowned the Czech attack effort in the first half, by heading in the opening goal on a Marek Jankulovski cross from the right wing in the 34th minute. In what later turned to be Koller’s last appearance on the national team, the striker scored his 55th goal for the team, further boosting his position as the Czech Republic’s all-time leading scorer.
As the second half got under way, the hopes of the Czech team received a further boost in the 62nd minute, when midfielder Jaroslav Plašil staked the team to a 2-0 lead.
The Czechs could have sealed their victory in the 71st minute, but a shot by midfielder Jan Polák went off the post. Four minutes later, Turkey’s Arda Turan started the Turkish comeback with a goal.
Then, with only two minutes remaining in the game, goalie Petr Čech, who is widely considered one of the best keepers in the world, made a fatal error by dropping a cross just in front of striker Nihat Kahveci, who tapped the ball in to level the score.
“The ball was all of a sudden too far away from me, and, as I tried to control it, it just landed in front of Nihat,” the devastated Čech said.
One minute later, Nihat stunned the Czechs by beating the offside trap and scoring the winning goal.
Čech admitted that the third goal was a consequence of the second.
“My mistake was such a shock for everyone,” Čech said.
Ironically, Čech was the team’s best player in the tournament. His saves helped the Czechs win the opening game against Switzerland despite the team getting only one shot on the Swiss goal. Even in the loss to Portugal he had several impressive saves.
Soccer experts said, however, that it was not just Čech to be blamed for the shocking loss. The team’s overly defensive play in the late stages of the second half helped the Turks come back.
“I’ve never seen such different play by a team in the first and second halves of one game,” said former Czechoslovak goalkeeper Ivo Viktor, who backed the national team to a victory in the European Championship at Belgrade in 1976.
Former Sparta Praha coach Jaroslav Hřebík agreed.
“The Turkish defense was not very well organized, but we stopped testing it and rather sat back,” Hřebík said. “It was the worst mistake.”
Head coach Brückner, who announced before the tournament that he would retire from the national team, said the loss was “incredible.”
“We buckled under the pressure,” he said. “It’s going to take many nights to get over this game.”

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


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