THIS WAS MANIC and magnificent.
Eighteen yellow cards, two reds, three goals and one dislocated shoulder.
At the end of it all Türkiye triumphed 2-1 over Czechia, a game that highlights the intense contrasts that will now begin to define this tournament as we prepare to embrace the brutality of the knockout stages.
News of Georgia’s stunning 2-0 win over Portugal to book a place in the last 16 from this group only adds another historic layer to the drama.
The Czech players were desolate when Cenk Tosun drilled in Türkiyes’s winner in the fourth minute of second-half injury time.
When the camera flashed to their bench the physical toll was evident, goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk sitting there with his arm in a sling and a scowl on his face.
The No.1 was forced off with a dislocated shoulder after pulling off a fine save from Mert Müldür in the build up to Türkiye’s opener in the 51st minute. They sustained the pressure with the rebound and within a matter of seconds Hakan Çalhanoğlu arrowed a sensational shot from left to right in the box that would have beaten Staněk even were his arms bionic.
The strike from Çalhanoğlu, the Türkiye captain, could have easily continued to rise and possibly drift into the ether had a lesser player been in that position.
Instead, the Inter Milan technician connected with such beautiful clarity that the ball simply glided with ruthless precision about one foot off the turf into the bottom corner.
It was glorious and a moment to cherish in this tournament.
Czechia’s equaliser was nowhere near as memorable but it did make the final 30 minutes or so extremely interesting.
A long throw into the box wasn’t dealt with, substitute Thomas Chory (later shown a red card after the final whistle for a confrontation which also saw Arda Guler booked) challenged Türkiye goalkeeper Mert Gunok fairly and Tomas Souchek rifled home.
They needed a win to stand any chance and it was a sign of their own spirit that they still had belief after going down to 10 men after 20 minutes.
Up until that there was little spark on a night that would end so many bookings.
Guler had a couple of speculative, long-range efforts that were nowhere near as precise as his stunning goal against Georgia.
Then Antonín Barák picked up his second yellow card of the game, referee István Kovács punishing the midfielder for what seemed like a natural follow through on the foot of Salih Ozcan after winning a 50-50 tackle in the middle of the park.
That was the catalyst for things to get a bit messy.
Tension increased, the needle too.
Türkiye could so easily have been down to 10 men themselves before the interval when Kenan Yıldız raked his studs – unintentionally but with as much malice as Barák – down the achilles of Samet Akaydin.
There was no VAR review and the 19-year-old Juventus star escaped punishment on 38 minutes when he led with his arm while challenging full back Vladimir Coufal in the air.
That was, perhaps in part, due to the fact it seemed as though referee Kovács was put off by the way in which the West Ham United made a bit of a show of himself rolling around on the floor.
He went in with as much determination as the teenager and it was clear the Czechs were intent on finding a way of evening things up.
Bizarrely, as the goals arrived in the second half and the stakes became even greater, Czechia ended up with as many their substitutes picking up yellow cards while still on the bench – three players – as those on the pitch.
Türkiye didn’t need to force it but they continued to play on the edge.
Their passage to the next round was secured with a draw but Tosun made sure they powered through with even more momentum.
It sets up what is now a tantalising encounter with Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday.
Long live this magnificent Türkiye-inspired mayhem.
