Croatia-Turkey: Don't Call It A Comeback

2008-09-10T06:59:38-04:00

2008-06-20T09:26:12-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:33-04:00

2008-06-23T02:18:06-04:00

VeritasVosLiberatit

Glenview 443350

Turk that! No one saw Turkey winning, but the team is very unpredictable. Another possible last minute miracle against Germany? Then...a final-to-remember. 2041692

2008-06-20T22:12:46-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/443/244/thumb/DSCN5228.jpg 5 GA

Ebru

Savannah 443684

Turks have done it again. Sorry but the predicted 3-1 ended to be the penalty shoot out result. Croatia did fought well but Turkish mid-field controlled the game. Hamit Altintop ( Go Bayern) played in his usual place and what a difference that made. We did not see Croatian team pass the ball like they did against the German's. The 1-1 was the fair result of this game and as Bilic said after the game penalty shoot out are just another way to gamble. Turks won. 2031409

2008-06-20T17:51:55-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/443/184/thumb/usc.jpg 1 CA

USCTrojan4Life

Anaheim 443624

Turkiye has done it again! WOW that was such a great game at the end there. Watch out Germany! 2030677

2008-06-20T17:31:26-04:00

DriveC

Madison 210470

Wow what a finish. Perhaps Turkey truly is the team of destiny. 2030583

2008-06-20T17:29:43-04:00

ExMax

Big northern country 442690

Yeeeah... Truly Slavic Team. Amen. 1.30AM. Time to sleep 2030532

2008-06-20T16:29:24-04:00

Pub1

Pilgrims Knob 345342

jessumm, have you learnt nothing about how tournaments go? the group games mean nothing - mentality and defensive strength is what its about in the knock-outs - just look at the portugal result for that. i may very well be proved wrong, and teams winning the WC follwed immediately by the EC is very very rare and i realise the italiens were weak in the qualifiers and they are missing cannavaro, but the teams that do best in competitions are nearly always the ones that start slow and build momentum - just look at france at the last world cup who struggled to qualify from a weak group but then only lost on penalties, whilst brazil flew out the blocks and looked almost unstoppable only to lose to france in the quarters. argentina were exactly the same - they were favourites after the group stage too, only to go out in the quarters. in 1990 argentina finished 3rd (3rd!!) in their group and finished runners up. in tournaments its the slow starters that are the ones to keep your eyes on - the ones who burn brightest at the beginning tend to be burnt out before the end - spain are the perfect example of this. i may turn out to be wrong but in tournaments its no coincidence that its the same teams in the final. italy are hurting but thats when they are at their strongest and those teams that breeze the group stages always tend to falter under true pressure when they actually hit adversity. italy are a bold choice because their defense looks shaky but i'll put my neck on the line and back the battle hardened, experienced tournament teams, not the ones playing the pretty football. 2029954

2008-06-20T16:01:55-04:00

Ivanka

No City 443541

Croatia will win today. They have the skill & the drive. I just found out that Turkeys spectators were throwing smoke bombs at the Croatia spectators. This is unexceptable behaviour. I feel that Turkey should be penalized for these actions. It just shows that the Croatians not only have the skill to win, but also the class to win. Being a hooligan is not exceptable behaviour. 2029579

2008-06-20T15:58:08-04:00

Ivanka

No City 443541

I think Croatia will win. They deserve it. I heard the Turkish spectators were quite crude & throwing smoke bombs. In my opinion the Turkish team should be penalized for that. This is unacceptable. This is showing the Croatians have not only skill to win, but also the class. Go Croatia. 2029633

2008-06-20T15:36:47-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/171/911/thumb/uclalogo2.gif 340 CA

BruinsWin!

San Francisco 172211

This game is terrible so far 2029339

2008-06-20T15:04:36-04:00

jessumm

Seattle 442453

>>>Pub1<<<, what are you talking about? Italy vs. Ned in the semis with Italy into the final AND THEN BEATING GERMANY?? you got a screw loose man, Italy already got stomped by NED and was lucky to escape Romania with a tie. You talk about tournament experience, but that stuff only really matters to fans. What matters for real is the fact that Germany stomped the lights out on crybaby Portugal, and Spain is going to do the same to Italy. I mean seriously, how can you even justify going with Italy? TWO main players out on suspension, Buffon the Buffon in goal (I don't care what anyone says, he IS NOT the best goalkeeper in the world, its Cech or Van Der Saar). Face it Italy fans, they were lucky to win the WC (Buffon blocked ZERO pks, it was all because Trezeguet missed... all this AFTER cheapo Matterazzi had to resort to coward tactics against Zidane, a TRUE legend), they were lucky to get out of the group, and they will be lucky to score against Puyol and the boys. Even if they somehow manage to get past Spain, Vans- Persie, Bronckhorst, Nistleroy, Basten, and der Saar will be waiting to administer another 3-0 beatdown. And don't forget about Robben and Cocu. The final will be NED-CRO with an Orange X-mas. 2028984

No lie: Slaven Bilic saved me at World Cup ’98. When you’re a rookie American reporter covering a team without many English-speaking players, you find out which ones speak the language well and latch onto those guys for dear life. At World Cup ’98 that meant I became a quasi-stalker of France’s Franck LeBoeuf, Brazil’s Roberto Carlos (who at least spoke Spanish as his second language, like I do) and Croatia’s Bilic—who could provide pithy analysis (and the occasional heavy-metal band recommendation) as my go-to quote on the surprise World Cup semifinalists. (Of course, Bilic also perpetrated one of the most shameful fakery incidents in soccer history in that tournament, but that’s a story for another day.) Back in ’98 I never would have assumed that 10 years later the same Bilic would be coaching Croatia at age 39, much less leading the checker-boarders to the brink of another surprise semifinal berth in a major soccer tournament. (At least he’s still got the earring and the heavy-metal music going for him.) But Bilic’s team has been a marvel in Euro 2008: tactically solid, technically precise, and with enough confidence on the ball to drop a 15-pass build-up on Germany before scoring (for me, at least) the best possession-based goal of the tournament. Suddenly, Slaven Bilic is a rising star in the coaching world. Next thing you know Dennis Rodman will be an NBA coach. Anyway, now that we’ve seen one Euro 2008 group winner (Portugal) already eliminated by Germany in the first quarterfinal, will we see another one (Croatia) go down today? Let’s dive in: Croatia-Turkey (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN). Croatia stunned just about everyone by going 3-0 in Group B and upsetting the Germans. Turkey, meanwhile, has engineered <strike>Euro 2008’s only</strike> two come-from-behind wins, including its classic 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic to get here. It would be easy to dismiss the Turks based on who they’re missing (essentially the spine of their defense): goalkeeper Volkan Demirel (suspended) defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurélio (suspended) and central defenders Servet (injured) and Emre Gungor (injured). But we’ve learned in this tournament that Turkey is highly adaptable, and its offensive firepower remains intact in Nihat, Tuncay and breakout starlet Arda Turan. I’d be very surprised if the Turks don’t score a goal today. Yet while the Turks have shown a remarkable mental toughness in Euro 2008, Croatia’s mentality has been just as strong and far less stress-inducing, essentially boiling down to this: We won’t need to engineer comebacks because we’ll grab the game by the neck from the opening whistle. The Croatian dominance has been all the more impressive because star playmaker Luka Modric hasn’t had a great tournament yet. I think Modric will show up in a big way in this game and take advantage of Mehmet Aurélio’s absence. Croatia has gotten sterling wing play from the left side (Ivan Rakitic and Danijel Pranjic) and the right (Darijo Srna), so look for them to continue banging balls into the box and putting the makeshift Turkish defense under heavy pressure. Substitute goalie Rüstü Reçber has big-tournament experience (remember him in World Cup ’02?) but there’s a reason he’s no longer the No. 1. Sorry, Turks: no comeback this time. Croatia 3, Turkey 1.Who do you like in today’s game? How do you think Croatia or Turkey would stack up against the resurgent Germans in the semifinals? Please post your comments below and come back after the game for the next edition of the Euro 2008 blog ... 1320 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615