Turkey pull off amazing comeback
Two late goals from Nihat Kahveci sent Turkey into the Euro 2008 quarter-finals with an amazing 3-2 win against the Czech Republic.

The Turkish captain scored in the 87th and 89th minutes of an extraordinary encounter as Fatih Terim's side came back from 2-0 down to seal a tie against Croatia in the last eight.
Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was sent off in injury time for pushing over Czech scorer Jan Koller, meaning forward Tuncay Sanli wore the gloves for the final, nervous moments.

Czech custodian Petr Cech will be haunted by a basic error, dropping a Hamit Altintop cross to allow Nihat to prod home the equaliser.
Turkey looked out of contention as the game entered its 75th minute, with the Czechs two goals to the good and looking comfortable.
They led through a first-half header from the excellent Koller and a 62nd-minute Jaroslav Plasil goal in a winner-takes-all encounter.
Arda Turan pulled one back with a low strike to set up a frantic finale, and when Nihat equalised it looked as if a group stage game would be settled on penalties for the first time in a major tournament.
But spot-kicks were not required as Nihat got behind the Czech defence and left Cech helpless with a stunning 25-yard curler that bounced in off the underside of the bar.
Czech coach Karel Bruckner opted to use Koller as a lone striker, consigning Milan Baros and Vaclav Sverkos to the bench. It might have looked negative on paper, but brought immediate returns on the pitch.
The six-foot-seven veteran proved a wonderful target for the Czechs' direct passing, knocking the ball down for the attacking midfield duo of Plasil and Libor Sionko.

With five men across the midfield, the Czechs controlled the game, forcing Turkey to concede free-kicks from which they could target the reliable Koller.
Marek Matejovsky had a shot on target before being taken off injured in the first half, but the breakthrough inevitably came from Koller.
On 34 minutes overlapping right-back Zdenek Grygera had time and space to measure his cross into the danger area, where Sionko was waiting with Koller.
The giant 35-year-old did not have to leave his feet, but instead twisted his neck and directed a powerful header past Demirel, who got a glove to the ball but could not keep it out.
Euro 2008 has been a tournament for the older gentleman, already featuring the three oldest scorers in European Championship history.
The 39-year-old Ivica Vastic of Austria leads the way ahead of Koller and Italy's Christian Panucci, also 35.
With 55 goals from 90 caps, Koller is by far his country's top scorer since its inception in 1993. The game signalled his retirement from international football, and he will certainly be missed.
The only time he was found wanting came just after the hour mark when he improbably broke through the Turkish offside trap and trundled painstakingly towards goal before dragging his shot wide.
Turkey added the steel of Sabri Sarioglu for the ineffective Semih Senturk at half-time and registered an immediate improvement.
Tuncay, moved from the wing into a more central attacking role, twice went close with headers while Arda finally stretched his legs with direct, pacy runs at the Czech defence.

The pressure intensified with the introduction of the English-born Colin Kazim-Richards, who immediately peppered the Czech box with crosses.
The Turkish revival looked in vain when Plasil converted Sionko's cross to put the Czechs two up, and Jan Polak could have made it three when he hit the woodwork from a Plasil cross.
He could hardly have imagined his miss would prove so costly as Turkey produced a near-miraculous comeback to take this wonderful tournament to new heights.



Swiss beat Portugal to restore pride

Switzerland ended their Euro 2008 campaign with their heads held high by beating Portugal 2-0 in Basel.

Two second-half goals from Hakan Yakin gave the joint-hosts, who were already eliminated before the match at St Jakob Park kicked off, their first win.
Switzerland's desire to exit the tournament well shone through after the break, and after an extended bout of pressure with 20 minutes to go Eren Derdiyok's deft touch put Yakin through on goal and the striker blasted past Ricardo to spare the hosts the ignominy of finishing with no points.
Yakin then scored his and Switzerland's third of the tournament form the penalty spot after Fernando Meira fouled substitute Tranquillo Barnetta in the final ten minutes.
The result does not change Portugal's status as winners of Group A, but the break in their momentum may yet affect them in the quarter-finals.
Switzerland fielded the same outfield players that started their first two matches, while Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari made eight changes to his first-choice side.

Two of those inclusions, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma, caused Switzerland plenty of problems on the wings.
Nani in particular was involved in many of Portugal's best moves. He hit the post when put clean through on goal in the second half, and also had two strong penalty claims turned down by Austrian referee Konrad Plautz.
With a quarter of an hour gone, the Manchester United winger was hacked down by Stephan Lichtsteiner, and then later fell down dramatically after being held inside the box by a defender.
Former Tottenham striker Helder Postiga, playing as the lone frontman in place of Nuno Gomes, put two headers wide from inviting crosses and also saw his clinical stab past goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler incorrectly ruled out for offside.
Although Portugal enjoyed the bulk of the possession, Switzerland had chances of their own, with Derdiyok's header forcing an acrobatic save from Ricardo and Philippe Senderos unlucky not to get a telling touch on the end of an inviting cross.
In the second half Switzerland manager Jakob Kuhn introduced Barnetta in place of the disappointing Johan Vonlanthen, and almost immediately the young striker's presence had a positive effect on his team.
Gokhan Inler hit the post from distance and Barnetta himself pulled a shot wide from a good position, before Yakin's double gave the Swiss people reason to remember the tournament with fondness.

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