Klasnic 119′ - Semih Senturk 120′ + 2′

Turkey made it through to their first UEFA European Championship semi-final at Croatia’s expense after a thrilling match in Vienna was decided on penalties after the two sides had swapped goals in the final moments of extra time.

Sensational comeback
When Ivan Klasnić headed in Luka Modrić’s cross with a minute of the overtime period to play, Croatia looked to have booked their place in Wednesday’s semi-final against Germany. However, for the third game running, Turkey sensationally hit back at the death to force the first shoot-out of these finals when Semih Şentürk drove in, with the aid of a deflection, from just inside the area. They went on to win 3-1 on penalties after Rüştü Reçber saved Mladen Petrić’s kick following earlier misses from Modrić and Ivan Rakitić. Turkey coach Fatih Terim, though, will struggle to get a team together to play Germany with Emre Aşık, Tuncay Şanlı and Arda Turan all suspended along with Volkan Demirel after being booked here.

Nervy start
Terim, without the banned Volkan Demirel and Mehmet Aurélio and with injuries also taking their toll, made four changes from the side that defeated the Czech Republic dramatically to reach the quarter-finals. The 35-year-old Rüştü, who had played against Croatia coach Slaven Bilić at EURO ‘96, started in goal, while Bilić reverted to the team that had beaten Germany en route to topping Group B. With so much at stake, both sets of players made nervy starts. On five minutes Turkey right-back Sabri Sarıoğlu’s misplaced pass allowed Rakitić to dart to the byline and he pulled the ball back for Darijo Srna whose shot was blocked by Hakan Balta. It was a portent of things to come as Croatia probed with success down both flanks with Terim’s reshuffled back line struggling to cope with their slick passing.

Olić denied
For Turkey, Hamit Altıntop flashed an early effort wide and Robert Kovač bravely blocked his free-kick, but Bilić’s men were soon in the ascendancy and should have gone ahead on 18 minutes. Croatia fans had descended on Vienna en masse during a baking hot day and they roared as one when Modrić raced clear on the right. His low centre singled out Ivica Olić who crashed a shot off the crossbar before Niko Kranjčar headed the rebound over. Just as against Austria, however, Croatia lost their way when it looked like they were ready to take a stranglehold on proceedings. Turkey began to enjoy more of the possession and though chances were few, Mehmet Topal drew a gasp from the crowd with a 30-metre drive that whistled just wide.

Rüştü saves
The traffic was soon flowing back towards Rüştü, with Croatia almost given a goal four minutes after the restart. Gökhan Zan’s weak header let Olić in and the veteran goalkeeper had to race off his line to get a finger to the striker’s headed attempt. Rüştü saved from Kranjčar moments later and then, on 70 minutes, Rakitić fired over after a neat one-two with Olić had given him a clear sight of goal inside the box. Knowing their side’s propensity for late goals Turkey supporters grew in confidence as extra time loomed. But as the clocked ticked down Croatia again came close, Rüştü brilliantly tipping away Srna’s curling free-kick on 83 minutes, then blocking from Olić.

Incredible climax
Having taken the match to added time, Turkey started to show more adventure. Stipe Pletikosa did well to parry after Emre Aşık had skipped through the Croatia defence and the goalkeeper was then grateful to see Tuncay’s drive flash wide on 102 minutes. In an incredible climax, Klasnić would head Croatia in front in the final minute – Modrić capitalising on an error by Rüştü to provide the assist – only for Semih to hit back with the last kick of the game. His deflected strike flew past Pletikosa, leaving it to a shoot-out to finally tilt the balance in Turkey’s favour.

Croatia rested a host of players yet still proved too strong for Poland as they won 1-0 in Klagenfurt to finish on maximum points in Group B and confirm their opponents’ early exit.

Klasnić winner
Ivan Klasnić scored the winner early in the second half at the Wörthersee Stadion to end another defiant show from goalkeeper Artur Boruc and further boost Croatia’s confidence before they tackle Turkey in the quarter-finals on Friday. Poland’s slim qualifying hopes rested on at least a two-goal victory here and a win for Austria over Germany, and neither came off as Michael Ballack struck the only goal in Vienna.
Duo retained
Poland needed goals so it was something of a surprise that Leo Beenhakker chose to omit Euzebiusz Smolarek, whose marksmanship played a big part in securing qualification to UEFA EURO 2008 as group winners ahead of Portugal. The coach also left out defender Jacek Bąk who had been hoping to make his 97th appearance. As expected, Slaven Bilić made wholesale changes to the Croatia team with only two players retained from the starting XI who had conjured the famous victory over Germany.

Knežević injury
One of those was left-back Danijel Pranjić and when he made an early forward raid it left a gap which Poland were quick to exploit. Marek Saganowski headed on for Wojciech Łobodziński whose cross brought goalkeeper Vedran Runje out to clear, injuring Dario Knežević in the process. Although the right-back played on after treatment, he was eventually forced off in the 27th minute. By that stage Croatia were taking a firm grip on proceedings and only the brilliance of Boruc kept the score at 0-0. Mladen Petrić played Klasnić in but out came the Poland No1 to make another of those blocks that so frustrated Austria four days ago. From a difficult angle, Ivan Rakitić then found Boruc in the way as he attempted to clip the ball across into the area.

Klasnić goal
After a promising start in which Dariusz Dudka got up well to meet a corner only to place his header wide, Poland were largely on the back foot. On the stroke of half-time Boruc came to the rescue again after Klasnić had skilfully worked an opening. In the 53rd minute Klasnić at last got the better of him. The architect was Pranjić and when he picked out the striker in the penalty area, Klasnić stylishly whipped the ball back across Boruc and into the far corner. Despite the introduction of Smolarek, things remained relatively easy for Croatia’s defence with Dario Šimić, winning his 99th cap, also looking to attack from right-back when the opportunity presented itself. 
Poland chances
A smart turn from Roger Guerreiro almost brought Poland back into the contest but he was narrowly wide of the mark. It was a rare moment of hope for the massed ranks of their supporters seated behind the Croatia goal, though another arrived soon after when Marcin Wasilewski’s header forced Runje to stretch. Bilić could afford to give Nikola Kalinić his first run-out at the tournament and only his second cap late on, although Poland did threaten parity when Smolarek fired just wide and substitute Tomasz Zahorski saw a great opening closed by the diving Runje.

Germany coach Joachim Löw said that Croatia deserved their 2-1 victory in Klagenfurt but expressed confidence in his team’s powers of recovery. It was an opinion shared by opposite number Slaven Bilić, for whom the Mannschaft remained strong UEFA EURO 2008™ contenders, although the Croatia coach was more concerned with his own side’s superlative display.

Slaven Bilić, Croatia coach
It was a great match and I would like to extend special congratulation to my players, not only for battling hard but also for playing excellent football. There is no other way to beat Germany than to play well. They are a great team and are still one of the title favourites. You cannot allow them to control any part of the pitch and that’s how we tried to play against them. For me, this victory is a bigger achievement than beating England at Wembley. I keep getting questions about similarities between this team and the team I played in in 1998. All I can say is that we are Croatians, we play for our fans but we are not the only team who play like this. It was the same in 1998 and it’s the same now. We are always emotional, we cannot change that. Even if we wanted to, we don’t want to. There are coaches who stay in the dugout and those like me who are more active. I like to take part by giving advice and by being as close as possible to the pitch. Every team here, apart from Switzerland because they have been eliminated, can win the title. The difference in modern football is very small. As for Luka Modrić, he was already a star before this tournament. I keep telling him that he is the best player in Europe but he’s not the only great player in our team. My team prove to me day in, day out, in training and out on the pitch that they are world class.

Joachim Löw, Germany coach
It goes without saying that we are all a bit disappointed after losing this match, and looking back at the game through the rear-view mirror I think we deserved to lose – as a team we weren’t precise enough or fast enough to really trouble Croatia. We were unable to make our combinations or have a fluid game. The Croatians dropped back after the first goal and we were unable to penetrate their defence, which is why we have to accept our defeat. I’m not surprised that they tried to knock my players out of their rhythm, we were expecting this. I told them beforehand that Croatia would probably put an extra man in midfield and that’s what they did. I think that, unfortunately, we played straight into their hands by playing a lot of long balls and crosses. Over the last few years we’ve had a number of defeats – we’ve not only been winning games. The team have managed to get over these setbacks and I’m confident we will be able to do so again. It is clear that, had we won, we would have been much closer to the quarter-finals but I’m sure we will be able to perform better on Monday against Austria.