TURKEY coach Fatih Terim hailed his side's never-say-die attitude after they scored three times in the final 15 minutes to defeat the Czech Republic 3-2 and clinch a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.
The Czechs looked like they would be the ones playing Croatia in Vienna on Friday when they went 2-0 up after an hour thanks to goals by Jan Koller and Jaroslav Plasil.
But Arda Turan sparked a Turkish recovery when he halved the deficit in the 75th minute, and captain Nihat Kahveci capped a memorable fightback by netting twice in a dramatic final four minutes to clinch victory.
"I am very pleased to have a team that doesn't give up, that doesn't stop until the referee blows the final whistle," said Terim.
"In my career, I have never thought of giving up. It wouldn't have mattered if we had lost 2-0 or 4-0 as I have seen many things happen in the last minutes of games, for and against me.
"I am aware of what we can deliver but my team likes to create excitement at the end of matches."
Turkey, who beat Switzerland 2-1 last Wednesday thanks to a last-minute winner by Arda, were dreadful in the first half but upped their game considerably after the break.
And the game changed when the left-winger slid home a neat finish to make it 2-1.
"The first goal was a big boost," Terim added.
"And then when we got the second goal, everyone was preparing for penalties but I was signalling for a third.
"And they managed to do it. I have said all the time that we would go to the very end."
Amid all their celebrations, Terim will have to resign himself to losing goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and Mehmet Aurelio for the Croatia game because of suspension.
Volkan was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident involving Koller in the dying seconds, while Aurelio picked up his second booking of the tournament.
Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner, who will step down from his post as planned following the team's elimination, was disappointed with his defence in the final 15 minutes.
"We surrendered," said the 68-year-old, who admitted it would take "very many nights" to recover from the defeat.
"We simply didn't manage to defend our box and it wasn't possible to get away with defending like that.
"For the second goal, there was a mistake (by goalkeeper Petr Cech) but mistakes like those happen. The third goal was an error.
"To lose such a match like that is incredible. We simply had to face up to the pressure and defend.
"We just had to deal with it."
But Arda Turan sparked a Turkish recovery when he halved the deficit in the 75th minute, and captain Nihat Kahveci capped a memorable fightback by netting twice in a dramatic final four minutes to clinch victory.
"I am very pleased to have a team that doesn't give up, that doesn't stop until the referee blows the final whistle," said Terim.
"In my career, I have never thought of giving up. It wouldn't have mattered if we had lost 2-0 or 4-0 as I have seen many things happen in the last minutes of games, for and against me.
"I am aware of what we can deliver but my team likes to create excitement at the end of matches."
Turkey, who beat Switzerland 2-1 last Wednesday thanks to a last-minute winner by Arda, were dreadful in the first half but upped their game considerably after the break.
And the game changed when the left-winger slid home a neat finish to make it 2-1.
"The first goal was a big boost," Terim added.
"And then when we got the second goal, everyone was preparing for penalties but I was signalling for a third.
"And they managed to do it. I have said all the time that we would go to the very end."
Amid all their celebrations, Terim will have to resign himself to losing goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and Mehmet Aurelio for the Croatia game because of suspension.
Volkan was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident involving Koller in the dying seconds, while Aurelio picked up his second booking of the tournament.
Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner, who will step down from his post as planned following the team's elimination, was disappointed with his defence in the final 15 minutes.
"We surrendered," said the 68-year-old, who admitted it would take "very many nights" to recover from the defeat.
"We simply didn't manage to defend our box and it wasn't possible to get away with defending like that.
"For the second goal, there was a mistake (by goalkeeper Petr Cech) but mistakes like those happen. The third goal was an error.
"To lose such a match like that is incredible. We simply had to face up to the pressure and defend.
"We just had to deal with it."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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