A mass brawl broke out between both sets of players following the full time whistle in Czechia’s Euro 2024 match against Turkey on Wednesday night.
Turkey had just prevailed 2-1 in Hamburg to book a last-16 tie with Austria, while the result meant Czechia were eliminated after finishing bottom of Group F.
But the final whistle did not signal the end of the action, as players from both sides confronted each other in chaotic scenes.
Czech forward Tomas Chory – who only came off the bench in the second half – was swiftly shown a straight red card after appearing to forcefully push Turkey’s Ferdi Kadioglu, but that did not bring an end to the tussle as other players and staff then got involved.
The pushing and shoving continued, before the referee then booked West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and Real Madrid wonderkid Arda Guler.
Tomas Chory (right) appeared to push Turkey’s Ferdi Kadioglu (left) after full time
He was shown a straight red card by the referee as a mass brawl broke out
Turkey manager Vincenzo Montella was then seen trying to pull one of his players away, perhaps with one eye on avoiding suspensions for the knockout stages of the tournament.
It was a sour end to what had been an entertaining contest, with the two sides eager to get a positive result to progress beyond the group stage.
Czechia made things hard for themselves when midfielder Antonin Barak was sent off inside 20 minutes for two bookable offences.
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However, they held their own until the 51st minute when Hakan Calhanoglu put Turkey ahead with a fierce strike into the far corner.
Soucek scrambled home an equaliser 15 minutes later to give his side hope, but the Euro 2020 quarter-finalists saw their dreams of repeating that run ended deep into stoppage time as former Everton striker Cenk Tosun netted the winning goal.
It was a bitter blow for Czechia to take, and they hardly touched the ball in the closing stages of the match as Turkey slowed the game down after their second goal.
That may have led to Czechia’s frustration building, with Chory then getting himself involved in some unsavoury scenes at the final whistle that resulted in him being given Czechia’s second red card of the evening.
Czechia gave themselves an uphill battle with Antonin Barak was sent off inside 20 minutes
Tomas Soucek gave his side hope with an equaliser midway through the second half
Former Everton striker Cenk Tosun netted the winning goal deep into stoppage time
Turkey’s players didn’t back down either on an emotional evening that saw them finish the group level on points with Portugal after Roberto Martinez’s men slipped to a shock 2-0 defeat by Georgia.
Portugal still took top spot thanks to their head-to-head record against Turkey after beating them 3-0 on Saturday, but they have some problems to fix ahead of their last-16 clash with Slovenia.
Meanwhile, Turkey will turn their attention to Austria in Leipzig next Tuesday, with Ralf Rangnick’s side emerging as one of the surprise packages of the tournament after they topped Group D ahead of France and the Netherlands.
