Report - Germany 3 - 2 Turkey
The final game of the co-hosted championships in Switzerland saw a highly charged semi-final end in favour of the pre-season tournament favourites Germany, as the outsiders Turkey finally had their tournament hopes shattered by a last minute goal.
Turkey started off by far the stronger side, despite their underdog status, and the German defence struggled to clear away a couple of early low crosses. Colin Kazim-Richards had the best of the early chances, forcing a save from German keeper Jens Lehmann from the edge of the area. Then Germany's defence panicked again, as Philip Lahm gave the ball straight to Hamit Altintop who produced a smart stop from Lehmann.
After 13 minutes, another moment of madness in the German area should have seen the Turks lead, Aurelio's cross eventually falling to Kazim, who shook the crossbar with a powerful effort.
And then, Turkey did take the lead soon after. Another teasing cross was deflected goalwards by the infectious Kazim, whose effort hit the bar again and bounced out to Ugur Boral, whose weak shot somehow squirmed under a hapless Lehmann, provoking joy from the Turkish fans.
It was short lived cheer though, as Germany crafted their first real chance of note to equalise. A clearance from the back found Lukas Podolski, who sprinted down the left channel and sent a low cross across the Turkish penalty area, and Bastian Schweinsteiger was there to deflect the ball past Rustu Reckber from close range.
Germany were buoyed by the goal, and went close through a Hitzelsperger free kick, but Lehmann was looking dodgy. He was nearly caught out by a deep free kick, and then flapped at consecutive corners, as Turkey continued to enjoy the best of the chances. And yet Germany should have been ahead at half time, as Podolski raced away on another counter attack, only to shoot over when Miroslav Klose was free in the centre of the area.
The second half started as frantically as the first, as Germany had a penalty shout, following a crunching foul on Lahm by Sarioglu Sabri right on the edge of the area. Replays show that it was just outside the area, but it was certainly a free kick, and Massimo Busacca's decision to wave away protests was questionable at best.
The game trailed off as both sides looked to be playing not to lose, rather than to take a decisive move towards winning. But it was a goalkeeping blunder that broke the standoff, and shockingly, it wasn't Lehmann who mad it. Rustu came out for a cross, but never looked like getting near it, and Klose headed simply into the empty Turkish net.
As Turkey went on the offensive, Germany could have wrapped things up, but Podolski failed to do more with a decent release pass from substitute Torsten Frings. And then, like in their games against Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia, Turkey found one last attack, with Sabri racing away down the right of the penalty area and sending a low pass into Semih at the near post, whose shot somehow got past Lehmann to square the game up again.
Just as the match seemed destined for extra time, though, Lahm went on a run down the left for the Germans, played a neat 1-2 with Thomas Hitzlsperger and fired past Rustu from inside the penalty area, to break Turkish hearts and fire Germany into a final that they had rarely looked capable of reaching.
Nevertheless, reach it they did, to face either Russia or Spain in Sunday's final. They will likely have to play much better than this to win the tournament though, while Turkey tried their hardest, but in the end this proved to be a game too far for their injury-riddled squad.
Result
| Germany | 3 | Turkey | 2 |
| Schweinsteiger 26' | Boral 22' | ||
| Klose 78' | Semih 88' | ||
| Lahm 90' |
Teams
Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm, Hitzlsperger, Rolfes (46 Frings), Schweinsteiger, Ballack, Podolski, Klose (90 Jansen).
Turkey: Rustu, Sarioglu, Topal, Zan, Balta, Aurelio, Kazim-Richards (90 Metin), Altintop, Akman (81 Erdinc), Boral (84 Karadeniz), Senturk.
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