Turkey produced an incredible comeback when they scored three goals in fifteen minutes to overturn a 0-2 deficit and beat the Czech Republic in their final group game in Geneva. The result means that Turkey finish second in Group A and the Crescent Stars will now meet Croatia in the last eight.

Karel Bruckner chose to start with Jan Koller instead of Milan Baros, and the former Dortmund player was easily the best Czech Republic player on view in the first half. His height caused problems for all the Turkish defenders- Servet Cetin in particular. Koller gave the Czechs the lead in the 34th minute, when he powerfully headed home from Zdenek Grygera's cross. It was the striker's 55th and last international goal for the Czechs, if he indeed does decide to retire after the Championships. Minutes later the Czechs were forced to make a substitution, with Reading midfielder Matejovsky having to be replaced by David Jarolim.

While the Czechs did not enjoy as much possession as the Turks, they certainly did a lot more with the ball. Turkey started off the second half brightly, but it was the Czechs who scored again. Koller shot wide from a promising position, and just a minute later, Jaroslav Plasil raced down the left flank to slide in Libor Sionko's cross at the far post. The Turks were furious, because Emre Gungor had been just been stretchered off, and they had wanted to replace him with Emre Asik. Jan Polak had a chance to finish the game off in the 71st minute, but his shot hit the post, and in his effort to reach for the rebound, Polak nearly had his face taken off by Emre's boot.

Arda Turan gave Turkey a glimmer of hope when he drilled home a shot in the 75th minute. Cech got his fingers to it, but the ball hit the post and went in. Turkey went scrambling forward in search of the equaliser, and Kazim Kazim was a bit wasteful from two good positions. Just as it seemed that the Czechs were going to go through, Petr Cech fumbled Hamit Altintop's cross. Nihat Kahveci, the Turkish skipper, could not hide his glee as he sent the ball home even as a desperate Cech tried to cling to his legs. And two minutes later, Hamit Altintop's pass found Nihat with space. The Villareal forward let loose a powerful right footed shot from 22 yards, which gave Cech no chance. There was more drama to come, as the referee gave Volkan Demirel the marching orders and a yellow card to Czech striker Milan Baros, who was watching from the sidelines. Sanli Tuncay played in goal for Turkey after Demirel was sent off.

For Turkey, it was nothing short of a fairytale, and for the Czechs, a loss that will haunt them for years to come as they crash out of Euro 2008.