Portugal Beat Czech Republic, and Swiss Out After Losing to Turkey
Czech Republic 3-1 Portugal, Switzerland 1-2 Turkey
Wednesday saw the first qualifiers for the next round, along with the first team to be eliminated. Portugal beat the Czech Republic with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring one and creating another, and Turkey cam from behind to beat hosts Switzerland.
Portugal are now through to the knockout stages, as they sit at the top of the table on 6 points. With Turkey and the Czech Rep to play each other next, only one of them can possibly catch them.
Portugal opened the scoring after just 8 minutes when Deco scrambled home from close range, but credit must go to the Czech’s who clawed their way back into the game with an equaliser from Libor Sionko, who headed home from a corner.
Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal ahead again, with a fantastic low drive from the edge of the box just after the hour mark.
Sionko almost equalised for the second time of the night with another headed effort, but was denied when Ricardo tipped over the bar.
Instead, it was Portugal who scored next, ensuring they advanced to the next round. A quick free-kick caught the Czech’s out, and both Ronaldo and Quaresma broke free. Ronaldo squared the ball to Quaresma who made no mistake in tapping the ball into an empty net.
Later on in the evening, the Swiss became the first team to be eliminated from Euro 2008. Turkey had to come from behind to win though, as Yakin tapped in a cross that had slowed on the drenched pitch.
The scoreline remained the same until just before the hour, when Senturk headed home the equaliser. The atmosphere was tense inside the stadium, with the home fans knowing that a loss would see them out of the competition. Swiss hearts were broken late in injury time, when Turkey scored the winner.
Turan hit a deflected effort from outside the box, that beat keeper Benaglio that keeps them in with a chance of qualifying for the next round.
The Turks will now meet the Czech Republic on Sunday evening for a place in the knockout stages. With both teams on 3 points, it’s set to be a tense match, with the winner to go through.
