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Portugal became the first team to qualify for the Euro 2008 quarter-finals while co-hosts Switzerland went out in heart-breaking circumstances after two action-packed Group A matches today.
Portugal, the 2004 runners-up, beat Czech Republic 3-1 in a hugely entertaining game in Geneva while Turkey snatched an injury-time 2-1 win over Switzerland in Basel, where torrential rain left first-half playing conditions almost farcical.
In an added twist to the day’s drama, two hours after the opening game, in a bizarrely-timed statement from London, English Premier League club Chelsea announced that Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari would become their new manager from July 1 – two days after the Euro 2008 final.
Portugal now have six points from their first two matches and are guaranteed to top the group regardless of what happens in their final game against Switzerland.
The Czechs and Turkey each have three and meet in their last game – a winner-takes-all battle for second place which, for the first time in a major tournament group phase, will go to penalties if it ends level.
Today’s opening game was another cracker and also featured the first equaliser of the tournament when Libor Sionko’s diving header for the Czechs cancelled out Deco’s opener in a high-tempo first half.
Portugal pressed on after the break and got the vital second with a sweetly-struck shot by Ronaldo after 63 minutes, Ricardo Quaresma rounding it off with an injury-time breakaway.
“We created a lot of chances and played as a unit. If we keep on playing like that we’ve got a good chance of doing well in this tournament,” said Ronaldo, the man of the match.
The last time Switzerland and Turkey met, in a World Cup qualifying playoff in 2005 in Istanbul, the match finished with a Swiss success and a touchline brawl.
This time it was the Swiss who suffered a devastating body blow when Arda Turan cut inside two defenders to score a 92nd minute winner that changed everything in the group.
It had been looking good for Switzerland when Hakan Yakin put them ahead in the first half, showing admirable patience as a pass from Eren Derdiyok stopped first in a goalmouth puddle.
The equaliser came via a header from halftime substitute Semih Senturk to set up a furious last half-hour as both teams, aware that a draw was little use to either, poured forward until Turan’s decisive intervention.
The games maintained the positive start to the competition on and off the pitch that has delighted UEFA officials.
“We’ve seen some great football, with some exciting action,” said UEFA president Michel Platini.
“We have seen a spectacular decrease in the number of yellow and red cards. No red cards have been shown and the number of yellow cards is down by 40 per cent compared with Euro 2004.”
TV viewing audiences are also breaking records, with figures of 80 per cent or more of the market share recorded in Portugal and the Netherlands and impressive numbers for “neutral” games.
In the day’s main injury development, Sweden’s delight in beating holders Greece 2-0 in their first Group D game on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) was tempered by the news that midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson will miss the rest of the tournament with a torn hamstring.
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