Cenk Tosun finally ended the tension when he scored in stoppage time to send Turkey into the knockout stage of the European Championship with a 2-1 win over 10-man Czech Republic on Wednesday.
With the Czechs chasing a goal that would have put them through at Turkey’s expense, Tosun, a substitute, eluded two exhausted defenders on the left and fired a fierce shot inside the far post.
“This is just the start,” Tosun said. “I’m delighted with my goal. We spoke about it beforehand, how this is exactly the time for it.”
It set off a wave of celebrations among most of the fans in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, though it also led to a flare-up between players and substitutes who had run onto the field. Czech forward Tomas Chory was shown a red card after the tumult, and team captain Tomas Soucek and Turkey’s Arda Guler were both shown yellow.
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