Germany out Turkeyed the Turks with a last-gasp win in arguably the best match of the tournament. Turkey dominated the possession and made the most chances, but the Germans came from behind to take the lead before surrendering the advantage and then dealing a last-minute knockout blow.
Germany lined up against Turkey as strong favourites after disposing of Portugal in the quarter-finals. Coach Joachim Low opted to stick with the 4-2-3-1 system that had worked so well, with Miroslav Klose again taking the lone striker role. Behind him Michael Ballack took a more advanced role, while Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger held the wide positions. Arne Friedrich, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Simon Rolfes all kept their places after Torsten Frings failed a late fitness test.
Turkey boss Fatih Terim faced some tough decisions going into this game with so many absences. No less than four players were suspended and a hefty injury list, including stars Nihat Kahveci, Servet Cetin and Emre Belozoglu, meant Ayhan Akman, Ugur Boral and Semih Senturk all made their first starting appearance of the tournament.
The match started with a message of mutual respect from the two captains Rustu Recber and Ballack, asking the fans to unite in a celebration of football and denounce racism. Once the niceties were concluded Germany took control of possession in the early stages, although it was Turkey who came closest to opening the scoring in the first five minutes, with the German defenders twice having to clear dangerous crosses from inside their six-yard box.
The Crescent Stars also had the first shot as Colin Kazim-Richards struck a long-range effort into the chest of German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, and the veteran No 1 was soon called into action again as he smothered the ball at the feet of Hamit Altintop after the midfielder had caught Philipp Lahm in possession on the edge of the area.
Turkey continued to threaten and Kazim-Richards was unlucky to see his rocket fly back off the crossbar following a slick move after Schweinsteiger had given the ball way in midfield, resulting in the English-born winger striking the cut back around the penalty spot.
It was Germany’s turn to worry the opposition defence next though, as Podolski managed to poke a loose ball ahead of Ballack in the penalty area, but makeshift centre-back Mehmet Topal cleared the threat with an excellent last-ditch tackle. However, Low’s side were still struggling to keep possession in Turkey’s half and were surprisingly second best.
The Turkish domination was represented in the scoreline after 22 minutes when Kazim-Richards’ looping shot hit the crossbar again, but this time the rebound fell to Ugur Boral to strike the ball through the legs of Lehmann, just ricocheting over the line under the desperate goalkeeper’s body.
But their lead lasted just four minutes. Podolski found acres of space on the left wing and slid the ball low across goal for Schweinsteiger to beat his marker to the cross and flick the ball with the outside of his foot, leaving Rustu with no chance from such close range.
Lehmann was nearly caught out when he started to come out of his goal early for a floated Hamit Altintop free-kick, before the Stuttgart new boy back-pedalled and managed to tip the ball over the bar at full stretch.
Germany looked set to complete a comeback when Hitzlsperger set Podolski free on the half way line, but after sprinting clear of the Turkish defenders the Bayern Munich forward fired his shot just over the bar after opting for power over accuracy.
Lehmann redeemed himself after his nervy start to the game when he pushed away Hamit Altintop’s free-kick, with the German-born midfielder trying to catch the former Milan ‘keeper by surprise with a powered shot from a tight angle.
Ayhan Akman and Rolfes both had to go off the field for treatment after a nasty clash of heads left both players bleeding, although the German’s cut around his eye was the most worrying. The temporary reduction of players saw the game open up though, as Germany and Turkey both broke quickly before Sabri Sarioglu’s powerful shot fizzed narrowly over the bar.
The injury to Rolfes proved to be more serious than originally thought and seemed to have forced Low into a gamble, as Frings prepared to come on despite failing his fitness test before the match. However, a change of plan saw Rolfes came back on to the field of play still looking a little dazed from the collision with two minutes left before half time.
He didn’t have to wait long to get a longer rest though, as Swiss referee Massimo Busacca called time on a thoroughly entertaining first half, even if the Turkish would be by far the happiest of the two teams after exploiting the space in the German defence and looking the most dangerous.
Frings was introduced by the start of the second half after a closer inspection of Rolfes’ injury. Low resisted the urge to change his tactics though, with Frings being a straight replacement beside Hitzlsperger as one of the two holding midfielders.
Germany were outraged five minutes into the second half when Lahm cut inside on the left wing and went down under a challenge from Sabri right on the edge of the penalty area. The Turkish full-back certainly seemed to make contact with the Bayern Munich star, but the referee waved away the fierce protests for a penalty as Turkey played on.
The second half continued a lot more even than the first, although Germany were still suffering due to their poor distribution from the back. Both teams were finding chances much harder to come by though, even if Turkey did start regain the advantage as the game entered the final 20 minutes of normal time.
Ugur Boral kept Lehmann on his toes as he cut inside from the left wing, but his shot was hit straight at the German shot stopper at the near post. Hitzlsperger responded immediately with a trademark left-foot drive from range that skimmed the outside of the post with Rustu beaten.
It was Germany who took the advantage with 11 minutes left, completely against the run of play. Lahm crossed deep from the left and Rustu rashly rushed off his goal line to punch, but was beaten to the ball by Klose who headed into the gaping net.
It wasn’t to last though as Turkey once again showed their resilience by hitting back almost immediately. Full-back Sabri beat Lahm on the right wing and crossed low into the six-yard box. Semih met the ball first and flicked the ball on towards the near post, where it rolled over the line past Lehmann who had already gone down to collect the cross.
With 30 seconds remaining of normal time there was one final twist left as the Turkish bench got involved in a row as they tried to bring on their third substitute. Lahm found himself free in the penalty area with his back to goal and turned well before striking the ball above the dive of Rustu and into the roof of the net to give Germany the lead.
There were three minutes of injury time still to play, but Turkey couldn’t find one of their trademark late comebacks to deny Germany a place in the Final despite the Crescent Stars dominating much of the game.
Germany: Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Hitzlspelger, Rolfes (Frings 46); Schweinsteiger, Ballack, Podolski; Klose (Jansen 92)
Turkey: Rustu; Sabri, Mehmet Topal, Gokhan Zan, Hakan Balta; Mehmet Aurelio; Kazim-Richards (Tumer Metin 92), Hatim Altintop, Ayhan Akman (Mevlut Erdinc 81); Ugur Boral (Gokdeniz 84); Semih Senturk
Ref: Busacca (Swi)
Ref From channel4.com
