Man of the Match: Nihat Kahveci (edit)

Petr Cech: (post match comments) We are absolutely devastated. It's hard to believe what just happened. We felt we played very well in the first half and were in control of the game. Jan gave us the lead and when we went two goals up there did not seem any way back for Turkey. However, they got the first and their tails seemed to go up and then I made a mistake for the second and suddenly they were back in the game. At least at that point it seemed like penalties and we were still in with a chance but then Nihat broke clear and scored an incredible goal. I had no chance. That game really sums up my season, especially after losing out on three trophies for Chelsea in the final games. We came so close but blew it in the end. (edit) Nihat: (post match comments) Up until we went 2-0 down, we didn't play well but we didn't give up. The first goal was the key, the turning point, and it created concern within the Czechs. I managed to make the most of the mistake by their keeper to score the second and then I got the third. You don't get many games like this in tournaments like these and the feeling was enormous to see the ball hit the back of the net. To see that goal qualify us for the quarter-final is an unbelievable feeling. We are so happy we did it. (edit) Tomas Ujfalusi: post-match comments) We completely messed up the end of the match. We went onto the back foot after their first goal and all we can say is we are distraught.
(edit) Fatih Terim: (post match comments) It wouldn't have mattered if we lost it 2-0 or 4-0, so we had to go for it. Even when everyone else was settling for penalties after we pulled level, I was signalling for the team to try for a third goal. We didn't start well in the match because, simply put, we couldn't. The Czechs played better than we did in the first half. But even when things were going against us we kept trying to play the right way. We never gave up hope and our performance in the second half was very good. I'm just very pleased to have a group of players who just don't give up, who didn't stop until the final whistle. We showed the world what we can do and we went on right to the very end. What was important for us is that we believed in ourselves. We have players suspended and injured for the quarter-finals, but we have good reserves. Hopefully in the next match we will play as well as we did late on right from the beginning. Our next opponents Croatia are a good team who beat Germany, but so are we, and we're getting better with each passing day. We will go to Vienna for the game and let's hope we stay there until 29 June. (edit) Karel Brückner: (post match comments) We tried to win the game from the start and exploit any space and were initially successful in our approach. However, in the latter stages we could certainly have taken some better options. I felt we defended very well in the first half and our defence looked OK. At the start of the second period we came under a five-minute period of immense pressure, but we came out of it unscathed and began to play more positively. The key factor was that we were in possession of the ball and went on to score a second. After that we had several chances to score and did not take them. In the end, we didn't manage to defend our box and at the highest level it isn't possible to play like that without being punished eventually. With only 15 minutes until the final whistle, we lost it. They scored the first, then we made a mistake for the second and the third was a collapse, from our point of view. When we were in the lead it was only natural that we came under pressure and we had to anticipate that. The key is not to surrender to the pressure – and we did. It will take me a long, long time to get over this disappointment. (edit)

Turkey's former Inter midfielder Emre Belozoglu played in the same Newcastle team as Czech defender David Rozehnal, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Lazio. (edit) The Czech Republic have reached the finals three times with their best effort coming in Euro '96 as losing Finalists against Germany. As part of the former Czechoslovakia, they won the tournament in 1976. (edit) Turkey's first Euros appearance in 1996 brought a first-round exit while their second in 2000 ended in a quarter-final appearance. (edit) Their first match was played back in May 1924 with Czechoslovakia, as they were then, beating Turkey 5-1 in Paris, which is also the biggest win and the highest aggregate score. (edit) These teams have played 14 times with the Czechs winning 10 games and drawing three. Turkey were victorious just the once - a 1-0 home win in a friendly in 1958. (edit)

Turkey Formation:

V. Demirel; H. Altintop, E. Gungor (E. Asik 63), S. Cetin, H. Balta; T. Sanli, M. Topal (K. Kazim 57), M. Aurelio, A. Turan; S. Senturk (S. Sarioglu 46), N. Kahveci. (edit) Czech Republic Formation:

P. Cech; Z. Grygera, T. Ujfalusi, D. Rozehnal, M. Jankulovski; L. Sionko (S. Vlcek 84), J. Polak, M. Matejovsky (D. Jarolim 39), T. Galasek, J. Plasil (M. Kadlec 80); J. Koller. (edit) Assistant referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant referee 2: Henrik Andrén (SWE) (edit) Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE) (edit)