The A1 motorway is the longest national motorway in Europe. On Wednesday, much of it appeared to be packed with cars ferrying Turkish fans to Hamburg, flags hanging from the hoods of Mercedes fluttering from the windows and fans crowding gas stations.
They packed the Volksparkstadion on the outskirts of the city and, together with a Czech contingent that knows how to make noise, turned the last match of the group stage of this European Championship into a riot of passion, color, drama, tension and an epidemic of yellow cards.
There were 15 in total, a record for this tournament. In fact, there may have been more. It was difficult to keep track. The match ended with Hungarian referee Istvan Kovacs showing virtually every player on the field and some who had already been substituted and had run back.
He had already sent off Antonin Barak in the first half and now he showed Tomas Chory a red card for his participation in the last gasp. Turkish wonder Arda Guler also received a yellow card. The referee was so busy showing cards that no one realized the match was over. It was anarchy.
It was a pulsating match full of rage and fury. Czechia staged an admirable comeback that unsettled Turkish fans and gave them many anxious moments as they pushed for a late goal that would have sent Turkey home.
Cenk Tosun scored late and Turkey qualified for the round of 16 of Euro 2024 at the expense of Czechia
Hakan Calhanoglu’s technique was perfect and he scored to give his team the lead from the start.
A record number of yellow cards were shown in the match and chaos broke out at the end of the match.
Georgia’s shock victory over Portugal put the match in even more jeopardy for Turkey, but they hung on and hung on and then scored a magnificent added-time winner through Cenk Tosun to earn them a tie in the last 16. against Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday. The Czechs finished last in the group.
The noise at the start was deafening, the volume among the loudest of any match in this tournament so far. ‘Tur-kee-eh, Turk-kee-eh, Tur-kee-eh,’ the fans shouted, over and over again. When the Czechs had the ball, the field was filled with a roar of whistles.
But Czechia started more brightly. They broke free and when the ball reached Lukas Provod, Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok had to dive completely to his left to deflect the fierce shot from 20 yards.
Turkey had another scare midway through the half when Robin Hranac rose unmarked in the box six yards out but could only head his effort over the bar. But a few minutes later, the Czechs imploded with absurd indiscipline.
Antonin Barak had already been booked for pulling Ferdi Kadioglu’s shirt and when he grabbed the ball, he lunged to try to get it back and stamped on Kenan Yildiz’s foot. The referee showed a second yellow card and sent him off.
Arda Guler attempted a spectacular bicycle kick that seemed to be on target until it was superbly blocked by Ladislav Krejci, but soon the game began to turn bad-tempered.
Patrik Schick, the Czech striker, was not in the starting lineup, but he still managed to get a yellow card for jumping off the bench to protest a foul on Provod. Schick had been booked in the Czechs’ loss to Portugal, so this yellow card meant he would miss his team’s first knockout match if they advanced. It was another ridiculous mistake.
Yildiz was next in the book for a foul on Hranac and Czechia agitated for a second yellow card in as many minutes for him when he jumped to head Vladimir Coufal and Coufal went down clutching his head. The referee resisted his pleas.
A goal by Tomas Soucek (right) had given his team hope, but it turned out to be only a consolation.
When tensions calmed down, the Turkish team celebrated its passage to the round of 16, where it will face Austria.
Despite their misfortunes and mistakes, the Czechs still had the best chance of the half on the stroke of half-time when Provod stepped forward from midfield and put the ball into the path of David Jurasek. Jurasek fired cleanly, but Gunok was quick to meet it and blocked it at point-blank range with his gloves. Jurasek walked through the tunnel at halftime with his head in his hands.
Five minutes after the break, Türkiye took the lead. Baris Alper Yilmaz broke down the right flank and his cutting sparked a fight in goal before Ismail Yuksek pushed the ball into the path of playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkish captain’s technique was perfect.
He hit the ball with his laces, slightly cutting the ball and sending it out of Jindrich Stanek’s reach. Stanek had been injured while making a stop seconds before and was unable to continue. He was replaced by former Burton Albion goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
Turkey should have added a second just after an hour when Yilmaz ran down the right again and drilled a cross into the six-yard box. It seemed like it would be a touch for Arda Guler, but he was hit with such speed that the Real Madrid wonderkid couldn’t touch him.
Tosun slashed the inside of his man to send Turkey’s supporters into the ground in ecstasy.
The referee cautioned several substitute players who had been substituted earlier in the match.
A minute later, Czechia tied. Tomas Chory jumped Gunok, who had already been booked for wasting time, for a high ball and Gunok was unable to collect it cleanly. The ball came loose, Chory had an attempt cleared off the line and then Tomas Soucek crashed the ball. Türkiye was furious.
Their bench was emptied and another substitute was booked for dissent, but they held on until Tosun cut inside his man in the dying minutes and fired his shot past the goalkeeper to send the Turkish fans into raptures.