Turkey snatch Euro 2024 dark horses tag from Austria in last-16 win

LEIPZIG – Turkey wrested the dark horses tag from Austria’s grasp in a pulsating Euro 2024 last-16 match on July 2, when a 2-1 victory gave Turkish fans hope of another deep European Championship run after their 2008 semi-final heroics.

Merih Demiral’s brace – with his opener, clocked at 57 seconds, the fastest goal of a Euro knockout game – came from Arda Guler’s corners.

A hailstorm of bottles and cups rained down on the 19-year-old Real Madrid midfielder’s feet when he set up to take the second corner that led to their 59th-minute goal, after which Guler turned to Austria’s fans and pointed one finger to his ear. Guler’s fearlessness was remarkable.

Said Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella: “No one gave up. Everyone gave a bit extra in terms of their soul and, for a coach, that makes me very proud.”

One of Europe’s brightest young stars and the first Turkish player to win the Champions League last season, he quarterbacked Turkey all night and nearly scored with a brazen shot from 50 metres with Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz far out of his goal.

Said Montella: “He worked for the team and ran like I’ve never seen him run in his career. We still know he needs to mature physically, especially given his young age, so I compliment him.”

Turkey goalkeeper Mert Gunok put an exclamation point on the night with one of the tournament’s top saves, stretching with lightning-quick reflexes to palm away Christoph Baumgartner’s late header that looked destined for the net.

Austria’s Michael Gregoritsch, who halved the deficit in the 66th minute, described it as one of the best saves he had ever seen.

“You have to give credit to the Turkish goalkeeper because I think it was extremely difficult to stop. Unbelievable, really,” he said.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick was asked if the save reminded him of England goalkeeper Gordon Banks’ famous stop to deny Pele at the 1970 World Cup.

“True... (But) with Gordon Banks in goal, that was the last chance that we had,” he said.

The atmosphere inside Red Bull Arena in Leipzig was electric. Turkey’s matches have been like home games in Germany, where an estimated three million people with Turkish roots live.

However, Turkey, on July 3, summoned Germany’s ambassador over a row that erupted due to Demiral making an alleged ultra-nationalist gesture as he celebrated his second goal. The gesture is associated with Turkish ultra-nationalist group Grey Wolves.

His action prompted Uefa to launch a probe for “inappropriate behaviour”, and sparked condemnation from German leaders, but Ankara immediately branded Berlin’s reaction as “xenophobia”.

Turkey will be hoping that centre-back Demiral will not be banned and compound matters for Montella, who already has Orkun Kokcu and Ismail Yuksek out for their quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin on July 6 due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

When asked whether being forced to change his squad can be an advantage as a different team might make it tougher for the Dutch to prepare for the match, Montella laughed and said: “It’s a bit of a headache rather than being fun.”
REUTERS, AFP