European Cup 2008: Germany v Turkey Semi-Final
Wednesday June 25 Semi-final in Basel Germany v Turkey
The Germany versus Turkey soccer game was the most insane game I have ever seen! It just ended. It was chalk full of heart stopping action. The Turks scored first, and seemed to be playing better overall than the Germans in the first half. The Germans quickly tied it up though only roughly four minutes after the Turkish goal. It was the German powerhouse duo which I have come to admire of Podolski and Schweinsteiger who scored the first goal. They were really the only fire in the German camp during the first half.
In the second half the Germans really seemed to come back strong. Michael Ballack was even helping, he who had been noticably absent from the German effort despite his being on the pitch the whole time. The second half was when it really got interesting though, as a strike of lightning three times took away the picture for the entire world. We were forced to go to the studio and only able to hear about the second German goal, soon followed by a turkish tie up goal in the 86th minute. This, to the dismay of the German fans, seemed to ensure overtime and possibly even penalty kicks. This could be good for them as the Germans have an impeccable record as far as these are concerned, however the Turks got to the semi-finals on virtually penalty kicks alone. That team, with much less experience, would have had nothing to loose and could have gone all in.
However, after the power had cut out once again near the 90th minute, Lahm took a shot and the goal soared in against the Turkish keeper. The score was now 3-2 for the Germans and with only three minutes of stoppage time awarded, the Germans had finally pulled through and won this difficult game.
I had been rooting for the Germans from the start, possibly because I was more familiar with their team, having followed them in the World Cup. I was even more confident with my choice after a few attempts at low-blows made by a few Turks out of desperation. There was even one tackle that seemed clear to the commenators on Lahm but that the referee didn't notice. I like a clean, honest game, and after these attempts, I was quickly reminded that a number of the Turkish starters were out due to penalties. This is not the way to play soccer, and I feel that the more well intentioned team won. So we will see Germany against the winner of the Russia-Spain semifinal on Sunday June 29. I am of course super excited, and just hope that there aren't any more lightning storms!
The stars of this game on the German side seemed to be Podolski, Schweinsteiger, and Lahm.