Euro 08 Semi Finals: Germany vs Turkey

[El Turco]

if we somehow win this, i cant wait till people start complaining how "better" team didnt win.

yeah, no sh*t.

[El Turco]

"You can't replace any players after the first game (of the tournament) has been played," said Uefa spokesman William Gaillard.

"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules.

"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match, then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and we would find it a bit difficult changing now."

Regarding Tolga playing outfield,

"He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man (in defence) or a centre forward," said Terim.

"We can't allow ourselves the luxury of players choosing where they want to play."

*shucks*


Here s a scenario, Germany is up 1-0 going into 87th minute. Semih scores from outside of the box to tie the game but gets injured during goal celebrations. Since we dont have anymore subs our 3rd string GK gets in the game to play centre forward and scores the winning goal in 90+3.

[Basti]

if we somehow win this, i cant wait till people start complaining how "better" team didnt win.

yeah, no sh*t.

I wouldn't!

[BlackMamba]

man, tough luck for the turks, nihat is out of the euro.

[Kayariel]

terim is thinking of playing back-up goalkeeper tolga zengin to play in midfield and applied uefa for it , this is no joke

[Basti]

"You can't replace any players after the first game (of the tournament) has been played," said Uefa spokesman William Gaillard.

"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules.

"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match, then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and we would find it a bit difficult changing now."

Regarding Tolga playing outfield,

"He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man (in defence) or a centre forward," said Terim.

"We can't allow ourselves the luxury of players choosing where they want to play."

*shucks*


Here s a scenario, Germany is up 1-0 going into 87th minute. Semih scores from outside of the box to tie the game but gets injured during goal celebrations. Since we dont have anymore subs our 3rd string GK gets in the game to play centre forward and scores the winning goal in 90+3.

I re-read this quote once again and either I'm mistaken or the UEFA changed it's rules because back in 1996 Germany asked the UEFA to get another player just prior to the final because they also had big trouble considering injuries (our back-up goalkeepers already got their "field"-jerseys) and they were allowed to invoke another player.

[El Turco]

well, i would be shocked if UEFA ever makes a decision that would favor Turkey.

[Captain_Obvious]

Well, teams back then had 19 players. Today NTs are allowed to take 20 players with them, so Turkey is in the exact same position as Gemany in the finals 1996.

[BlackMamba]

with the turk's heart i could believe that the 3rd GK could end up being some kind of hero in this game.

[kandiking]

well, i would be shocked if UEFA ever makes a decision that would favor Turkey.

wrong. only americans can be racist

*actually serious quote i've heard from a french classmate

[Point forward]

Projected lineups:

Lehmann - Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm - Frings, Hitzlsperger - Schweinsteiger, Ballack, Podolski - Klose

TUR
Rüstü - Sabri, Gökhan Zan, Mehmet Aurelio, Hakan Balta - Hamit Altintop, Mehmet Topal - Kazim Kazim, Gökdeniz, Ugur - Semih

Comment: GER's 4-5-1 will provide Ballack with every freedom to go into attack mode (in 4-4-2, he would stay a bit behind). Turkey's GK/back line is the most makeshift GK/back line I have ever seen in an EC or WC half finals, with injured Gokhan and midfielder Mehmet Aurelio in the middle.

[Point forward]

Also note that TUR has this juggernaut of a bench available:

Tolga (GK)
Ayhan (MF)
Tumer (MF) -- playing through injury
Mevlut (AT)

Realistically, Fatih Terim can only field Ayhan and Mevlut, b/c Tumer is pretty beat up. If defender Gokhan Zan (who is already injured) has to be subbed during the game, expect TUR to field two pure midfielders in as centre backs. I also half expect to see 6 foot 4 Tolga as a late game striker if TUR falls behind.

EDIT: a creative but of course totally illegal idea would be to collect all the Turks who played the Euro 2008 for other teams, like the Swiss Eren Derdiyok (AT), Hakan Yakin (MF) or Gokhan Inler (MF), or the Austrian Umit Korkmaz (DF).

[Jedini]

I'm sorry but IMO the journey ends for Turkey right here. It would be too much to advance here, against this strong German team. Just hope there won't be any type of a blowout because Turkey showed some heart and good (shocking) football and I for one am thankful for all their great comebacks because that's why this game is still and will always be number 1 on this planet.
Germans 2:0 is my prediction.

[Sleepy]

Blowout? Gimme a 1:0 win and I'm pleased. This thing has "upset" written all over it and will definitely be the most difficult game so far for the Germans. It's hard to prepare a team mentally for such a game... there's this whole underdog thing AND the never-give-up-attitude-producing-miracles story which makes playing the Turks so difficult right now. Usually, the German teams got nerves of steel, let's hope that's the case again. But really, I can't think of any similar case, where a team was such an underdog but at the same time had the reputation of turning even the gravest situations around...

That being said, I think we'll win this thing. Against Portugal, who were all skill, all talent, we brought aggressive marking, cleverness and fight. Again the Turks, all heart and will, we need to bring our A game and really outplay them. Play faster, outsmart them tactically and by the 60th minute, this one should be in the freezer. Germany needs to come out firing, the longer the Turks can keep us from scoring, the harder it'll get.

[blues_man5]

I'm sorry but IMO the journey ends for Turkey right here. It would be too much to advance here, against this strong German team. Just hope there won't be any type of a blowout because Turkey showed some heart and good (shocking) football and I for one am thankful for all their great comebacks because that's why this game is still and will always be number 1 on this planet.
Germans 2:0 is my prediction.

thats a realistic view of looking at it..but Turkey just got luck on their side right now..maybe they can pull off an upset.

[magik9113]

luck on their side...ironic considering their injuries/suspension

[El Turco]

Luck? lol. We won 4 out of 5 virtual elimination games by coming from behind-within a year. Believe me that is not luck that is a product of mentality that you rarely see in high level sports competitions.

Opponents remarkable ability to keep discipline gives us less chance given the conditions. But one thing you can count on is that whoever gets a chance to wear a Turkish jersey tomorrow will play their hearts out and wont be afraid of the opponent. Will that be enough to win? we ll see that tomorrow but i have full confidence of my team.

GET READY FOR BIGGEST UPSET OF FOOTBALL HISTORY!!!

[ICMTM]

^ I wouldn't take it that far, but the Germans will be too strong in this one. I have this 2-0 Germany.

[Geddy]

I'll say it's going to be 3-0 for Germany with a couple of goals from Klose

[kandiking]

0-0 turkey wins penalty kicks 6-5