Switzerland saw their Euro 2008 hopes dashed by a last-gasp winner from Turkey’s Arda Turan that secured a 2-1 victory to end the co-hosts’ prospects of reaching the last eight in an entertaining Group A match on Wednesday.

The result also means that Portugal, who earlier beat Czech Republic 3-1, became the first team to reach the quarter-finals and are top of the group with six points ahead of the Czechs and Turkey on three with the Swiss bottom with no points.

Arda struck two minutes into added time with a deflected shot that flew over the head of Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio to keep Turkey afloat in the tournament after torrential rain had reduced the St Jakob Park pitch to a quagmire.

Switzerland had taken the lead in the 32nd minute with a goal from Hakan Yakin but Turkey equalised through substitute Semih Senturk after 57 minutes to set up the victory.

A 30-minute downpour that began soon after kickoff made conditions in the first half almost unplayable as the increasingly rain-sodden surface became dotted with puddles.

For a few minutes it looked as if the match might have to be abandoned, but the worst of the rain passed by halftime and the pitch improved in the second period. While it remained slippery the players were at least able to hold their footing.

Switzerland went ahead with a goal that owed as much to the conditions as to the quick thinking of forward Eren Derdiyok, who turns 20 on Thursday.

Forced out wide he hit a hard low cross into the box that eluded goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, and bounced in and out of a puddle before falling perfectly for Yakin who poked it into the empty net from two metres.

Yakin, one of three Swiss in the squad who holds dual Swiss-Turkish nationality, turned away with his head down rather than joyously celebrating the goal.

Turkey equalised when halftime substitute Semih outjumped Swiss skipper Ludovic Magnin to reach Nihat Kahveci’s cross and power an unstoppable header past keeper Diego Benaglio.

Yakin had had a golden opportunity to double the lead two minutes after scoring when he skewed the ball wide from close range after a cross from Valon Behrami.

Turkey had almost taken the lead themselves three minutes before Switzerland went ahead when Arda headed against Diego Benaglio’s post, but although they also attempted to put passing moves together they rarely threatened to score.

The second half was evenly balanced and Volkan had to make a fine double save from Yakin and Swiss substitute Ricardo Cabanas late on before Arda fired home the winner for Turkey in time added on from the edge of the area to secure the points.

A superb hat-trick from Spain’s David Villa and goals of beauty from Portugal, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden have put an extra sheen on a bright opening round of matches at Euro 2008.

One hugely debatable goal plus defeats for the reigning world champions Italy and European champions Greece and both co-hosts Switzerland and Austria have also added to an intriguing first four days of competition.

The action has been relatively clean too with such high stakes — after eight games to Wednesday we had not seen a single red card.

Only one match, the sterile Group C opener between Romania and France has failed to produce a goal or an outright winner.

Unusually in all four groups, the top two teams are due to meet each other in the second round of games over the next few days, including France who are second behind the Dutch in Group C over Romania for alphabetical reason.

Depending on how the results go, four teams could reach the quarter-finals with a match to spare and while it is still early days, some likely favourites appear to be emerging.

Portugal, Germany, Netherlands and Spain all impressed in their openers, and Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari summed up the feelings of all his colleagues after his side’s impressive 2-0 win over Turkey in Geneva in Group A on Saturday.

"It is so important to start well and win the first game as every opponent is tough," he said. "An opening win doesn’t guarantee a place in the next round but it helps enormously." 

OUTSTANDING GOAL

Portugal, runners-up on home soil four years ago, look as though they can reach the later stages again with Pepe contributing an outstanding goal after excellent build-up play.

Germany, who strangely had not won a match in the finals since winning Euro 96, ended that run in equally impressive fashion with a 2-0 win over Poland in Klagenfurt on Sunday.

Lukas Podolski’s second of the match, a stunning volley, finally broke Poland’s resistance.

The game of the tournament so far came when Netherlands beat Italy 3-0 in a match that evoked memories of Dutch Total Football of the 1970s.

Their second goal, a counter-attacking move ending with a volley from Wesley Sneijder, was simply breathtaking.

Their first, when Ruud van Nistelrooy scored from what looked like an offside position but was ruled as valid because Italian defender Christian Panucci was deemed to be playing him onside even though he was off the pitch, was the biggest talking point.

It could well lead to a clarification of the law by FIFA’s International Board.

David Villa’s hat-trick in Spain’s 4-1 rout of Russia has been the outstanding individual performance, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s incredible right-foot thunderbolt for Sweden against Greece is another contender for goal of the tournament.

The only blot for the two host nations were the defeats for their teams with Switzerland falling 1-0 to Czech Republic and Austria beaten 1-0 by Croatia. They now look set to struggle to survive.

Both Turkey and Switzerland lost their opening Euro 2008 Group A matches on Saturday, hence the loser on Wednesday evening will have to wait another four years for Euro 2012, local Today’s Zaman reported on Wednesday.

    The Turks will need to improve their attacking against the Swiss Wednesday after they were completely outclassed and beaten 2-0 by group favorite Portugal on Saturday. The same applies to the Swiss, who lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic in the opener.

    Turkey and Switzerland will meet in Swiss city of Basel for their second Group A match of the Euro 2008 for the first time after a brawl in their last encounter in Istanbul.

    In November 2005, Turkey hosted Switzerland for the second round of 2006 World Cup qualifying playoff and won the game 4-2. However, they were eliminated because of the 2-0 defeat in the first match in Switzerland and 4-4 on aggregate.

    Due to subsequent clashes between players and coaching staff, world football’s governing body FIFA ordered Turkey to play their first three Euro 2008 qualifiers on neutral ground behind closed doors.

    Wednesday’s match will be the 15th encounter of Turkey and Switzerland. Turkey won 7 and lost 4 games. Turkey and Switzerland both scored 19 goals in 14 matches played so far.

    Police and security officials said Wednesday’s game will be kept under control and that more police will be deployed in Basel. However, European governing body UEFA said it was not planning to increase security measures inside the stadium.

    Swiss captain Alex Frei will be their biggest absentee after being ruled out of the tournament with a knee ligament injury. His regular strike partner Marco Streller has suffered from a recurring groin problem but is expected to recover in time.