Euro 2008 SF1 LiveBlog: Germany vs Turkey

SEMI-FINAL 1	June 25th, 2045 CET, Basel (Switzerland)
Germany 3 VS Turkey 2 Schweinsteiger 26′ Klose 78′ Lahm 89′   Borel 22′, Senturk 86′

How ironic that Turkey loses to a last-minute goal.

And it is apparently over. Germany goes through. What an odd game. Well-played to the Turks, and congrats to the Germans on coming back.

90′ GOAL!!!! Germany Lahm!! and we’ve lost the picture again. Trying to remember what happened. One of the Turkish defenders went down injured, (and stayed down) which allowed Lahm to break free and lay the ball of to Hitzlsperger. Lahm makes the run, Hitzlsperger sends him the ball in front of goal and Lahm sends it home.

89′ Senturk sends in a long, hopeful shot that goes out.

88′ Okay, Laurie’s back again. I didn’t see the goal, but saw the replay. Lehman and the German defense make a hash of it. Germany is trying desperately to score. Gokdeniz on, Borel off for Turkey. (Why would he take off Borel? MOTM in my opinion.)

86′ IT’S HAPPENED AGAIN!!! Turkey have equalized!!! 2-2.

81′ Erdinc has come on for Akman. Fatih Terim’s done well just to find an uninjured unsuspended player to come on. No goalscorers on the bench though. If only Hakan Sukur was there, eh?

Anglea Merkel spotted having a good clap. I’m sure a German victory is good for her politically.

This is weird, the commentary is ahead of the picture. So I’ve got Alan Green telling me what’s happened before I see it on the TV.

We have the picture back on the BBC now. Turkey going for it. They need another miracle.

Apparently Rustu made a howler and missed the ball. Not sure if we’ll ever see the goal though. ESPN must be kicking themselves.

GOAL!!! Not kidding. 2-1 to Germany. According to the Radio Five Live commentary Miroslave Klose has headed home.

Hi all, Daryl here filling in

77′ And we’ve lost the TV feed again. And back we go to the studio.

76′ Germany has a long stretch of possession, inching forward, with even Metzelder coming up past the center line. But in the end Turkey gets it back.

75′ another German longball that Podolski can’t get to in time. Out for a Turkey throw.

74′ Longball to Ballack, who heads it in to Hitzlsperger (?), who misses it.

– and almost immediately Hitzlsperger gets off a shot from distance that goes just a bit wide.

73′ Borel gets a shot off that goes to Lehmann.

71′ Recber comes out to the edge of the box to collect the ball. At the other end, Kazim is offside.

70′ Kazim does some pretty dribbling before Lahm pulls him down in the box. No call.

68′ Borel wins a corner. He’s having a great game and coaches everywhere are probably taking notice. Corner is headed out by Germany, but Turkey gets it back. Sabri sends the ball back into the box, but Ballack heads it out.

66′ Turkey has only three outfield players available for subs. And one of them, Tumer Metin, is injured but still a possible sub. Sabri gets a great chance coming up the right. He crosses to the ball and Germany misses it, but there are no Turkish players anywhere close.

65′ Okay, we’re back. Andy Gray says we missed “one little spell of pressure by the Germans.” But otherwise nothing missed. And Daryl is heaving a huge sigh of relief, because they still had picture in England and I was going to rope him into finishing the game.

62′ish. They’re saying it’s still 1-1. Julie Foudy is taking us through the Turkey goal, just like she did at halftime. Yawn. I could go take a nap. Wake me when we come back.

60-ish’ Chris is telling me that I’m not getting out of liveblogging this easy. As long as the TV feed is down, he says I have to liveblog Julie Foudy’s and Tommy Smyth’s commentary. But fortunately for you, I’ll spare you that.

58′ Still no game. Power hit in Switzerland that has taken out ESPN’s TV feed. We get to watch the guys in the studio while having no idea what’s happening. AARRGGHH!!

57′ Hamit Altintop takes down Michael Ballack right outside the box, dead center. Michael Ballack has proven that he can be lethal from this postion. But not this time. Straight into the wall. And we just lost the picture, so ESPN is showing the fans sit and watch the game. They’re seeing a lot more than we are right now.

56′ Metzelder is taken down by Senturk, and he stays down for awhile.

55′ Friedrichs comes up the right and sends the ball into the box. Topal clears it. Germany eventually gets it back and Hitzlsperger sends a shot over the crossbar. This looks like a differrent German team.

54′ Long, hopeful ball for the Turks. Metzelder shields it and it goes out for a German throw.

53′ Senturk takes down Frings and gets yellow for his trouble.

51′ Lahm is taken down just inside the box. No penalty awarded, and the German fans are NOT happy. Replay shows a definite foul, but there’s a question of whether it was inside or outside the area. Whatever. No foul called.

50′ The German defense is looking more cohesive this half.

48′ Turkey plays it around the back for awhile, the the ball goes back and forth between teams. altintop is dragged down by Lahm rather cynically. No card. Free kick maybe 35 yards from goal, goes straight to Lehmann, who only has to stretch a few inches.

47′ Schweini sends a ball toward Klose, but Turkey is able to get it back with some good defending. Turkey gets it back but surrenders it at midfield. And on the other end, Podolski comes up the left, but crosses it too far and too high. Out for a goal kick.

46′ We’re off. And Torsten Frings is on! Watch the ribs!

– and that’s the half. 1-1, which is flattering to Germany, who managed to score on their only opportunity. Germany’s going to have to really step it up if they want to win. Unless they want to go to penalties, since they haven’t lost a shootout since 1976. That’s a pretty dangerous strategy with the comeback Turks, though.

45+1 One minute of stoppage time.

45′ Altintop tries a hard show, but it’s blocked. Rolfes is back on the field, and that cut looks ugly. Senturk is taken down with a tackle from behind. Germany clears the free kick easily and it deflects out for a German throw.

43′ Altintop sends in another hopeful shot. Rolfes is still lying on the sidelines, and Frings is warming up. Huh…what? Broken rib?

42′ Germany takes a long time holding possession at the back. I think they’re rattled. Turkey has dominated this game offensively.

41′ Turkey gets another chance. Altintop is alone in front of goal, but the German defender manages to get there. Then Sabri gets the ball and blasts it toward goal. It just barely goes over.

40′ Rolfes and Akman collide, and Akman goes down as if shot. Blood on both players — Rolfes’ forehead and Akman’s scalp, in the back. Akman is getting stapled together. Eek.

37′ Lahm fouls Kazim with a high kick (under the armpit) just outside the eighteen-yard box., on the right. Borel takes the free kick and blasts it, but straight to Lehmann’s fists. It eventually goes out for a throw.

36′ How much more fun and interesting is this game than Italy-Spain? A lot. Just sayin’

34′ Podolski receives a ball on the left side and charges forward, beating all the Turkish defenders. But he sends the shot high and wide.

31′ Rolfes fouls Senturk maybe twenty yards outside and to the left of box. Altintop sends in a long, high free kick that almost slips over Lehmann’s head; he has to smack it over the top for the corner. Germany sends the delivery out for another corner. Germany sends it away, but Turkey gets it back and Borel sends in a soft shot to Lehmann.

29′ Soft cross to Sabri in front of the German goal, who sends a gentle header straight to Lehmann. Immediately on the other end Klose threatens, and Zan concedes a corner for safety’s sake. Corner headed away by Balta.

26′ GOAL Schweinsteiger! Podolski comes up the left, sends in a perfect cross to Schweini, who taps it with the outside of his foot to send it past Rustu.
26′ Altintop sends in a corner. Aurelio heads it toward Senturk, who can’t get to it in time.

24′ Hitzlsperger takes a shot from distance that’s blocked by Germany. Boral gets upended.

22′ GOAL!!!! The woodwork takes away the first strike here, but Turkey will not be denied! The rebound goes straight to Borel, and Lehmann botches it. Borel sends it in. Borel’s first international goal!!

21′ Borel is a speedy little guy! He’s outrunning Germany on a regular basis, but having a hard time connecting with his teammates after the runs.

20′ Long ball for Germany that Zan barely gets to before Schweinsteiger.

17′ Schweinsteiger takes the ball into the Turkish box, but he’s taken down. No foul. Germany manages to get it back again. Ballack threatens with his head, but doesn’t connect and Turkey clears for a corner. Rustu punches the corner down the field.

16′ Boral takes down Klose. Soft penalty. Germany gets a free kick. Hitzlsperger sends the free kick toward goal. It takes a pretty bend, but Recber is able to grab it.

13′ Turkey is denied by the woodwork. Excellent offensive effort from Turkey, starting with Aurelio. Kazim sends it toward goal, hard, and even then Germany can’t kill it off. Turkey threatens a couple more times before Germany sends it out for a corner. The corner goes strraight to a German hear, but Turkey gets it back and wins another corner. Ballack heads that one away, but Turkey gets it back again! Germany clears it, but they’re looking rattled.

12′ Borel steals the ball and makes a speedy run up the left, but German defense eventually wins out again.

10′ Sloppy German passing gives the ball away again, but Germany gets it back without too much effort.

8′ Mistake by Lahm, who loses the ball in the box. Turkey comes close to capitalizing again, but the German defense is able to get it away. Turkey is playing a surprisingly attacking game so far.

7′ Kazim sends off a long hard shot that goes straight to Lehmann.

6′ Borel gets a look at the German goal, but nobody there. And then almost immediately Sabri puts in a nice cross from the other side that Schweini heads away. Turkey is certainly not going to lie down and die.

4′ The ball’s getting traded back and forth in the midfield. Backpasses to both keepers, Turkey going for safety first. Germany seems to be biding their time.

3′ Long ball for Turkey, straight to Lehmann.

2′ Nothing going on so far. Germany looks efficient when they’re on the ball.

1′ And we’re off

– And the weather guys are saying 60-70% chance of rain. Woohoo, rain! Let’s see that slipand slide again!

-1′ Lep-nn-hmann is in fluorescent green, Recber in the brightest lemon yellow I’ve even seen. You will not be able to miss the goalkeepers today.

-2′ And now Rustu is saying something in what I assume is Turkish against racism. And now it’s Michale Ballack, in German, saying what I assume is the same thing.

-3′ And now the German. Has anybody else noticed that almost all of the German players have pale eyes?

-4′ How many games in and I still love the Turkish national anthem. A great minor-key song.

-5′ All righty. The boys are on the field and we’re getting ready for the national anthems. They’re explaining the Unite Against Racism slogan on all the tickets, etc. in multiple languages.

-17′ Okay, now that I’ve seen the UEFA diagram, this makes a little more sense. Turkey is kind of a 4-1-4-1, with Mehmet Aurelio hanging out in front of the backline, and Semih Senturk the lone striker. Altintop is in the midfield.

-25′ You guys got the last one pretty easily, so let’s try another. Also jumbled.

-35′ And here are our lineups. Are these out of order, or is Turkey playing Altintop up top instead of in the back? I knew they were going to do some juggling to deal with all the injuries/suspensions, but this is scrambled eggs. Heading now to the UEFA site to see what this will look like on the field.

Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Rolfes, Schweinsteiger, Klose, Ballack, Hitzlsperger, Lahm, Mertesacker, Podolski, Metzelder.

Turkey: Rustu, Balta, Gokhan Zan, Topal, Aurelio, Semih, Boral, Kazim, Ayhan, Sabri, Altintop.

Are we ready for another puzzle? This is one of today’s players. But because you guys are way too quick on these, we’ve added a complication. The pictures are not in order. Ready? Set? Go solve!

Hello and welcome to our liveblog. The Germans vs. the Turks in the first semifinal of Euro 2008. The most recent news is that Torsten Frings and his fractured rib will not be starting. I think it’s probably for the best. Fractured ribs hurt.