Back from the dead, Turkey wins shootout to grab semis

Turkey qualified for the Euro semi-finals for the first time in their history thanks to a victory on penalties against Croatia. The victory came after a dramatic extra-time period following a goalless draw in which Croatia thought they had snatched a late winner, only for Turkey to equalize with the last kick of the game.

Contributors

Vicky Morgan

Mehmet Anik

Eagerly anticipating Turkey vs Germany

Almost as soon as Turkey had sealed the deal against the Croats the sound of car horns beeping filled the Basel sky.

There is a large Turkish population in the city but have a look at the map and you will see that its easy to predict that Wednesday's match against Germany will bring a huge wave of fans to Basel. The city is right on the German border - making it easy for fans of the Deutschland team to get here, as well as members of Germany's large Turkish population. Plenty of Swiss people have adopted Germany as "their" team - as many speak roughly the same language. So, tickets for the duel should be as hard to find as an English footballer at an international tournament!"

Turkish fans celebrating

Posted by beatthedrum 7 on June 20, 2008

Vicky Morgan

Switzerland
Journalist

My feeling was "Turkey will win this match"

This must be a dream. To begin with, it was a good match. Turkey performed well in first half, but Croatia was better in the second part of the match. We kicked-off well during extra time, making some changes. But I was in tears when Croatia scored, our goal keeper Rüstu made a big drop.

But we came back again, and at this point I got the feeling "turkey will win this match"

Croatia missed 3 penalties, and we won, and Turkish fans across the world were ready to celebrate.

I was in Copenhagen and fans here went crazy here.

Our next match is against Germany, and many players in our team are injured. It's going to be hard, but we can win!"

Mehmet Anik