Turkey once again come back from the brink to win and Russia trounce a stunned Holland
Monday 23rd June 2008
Two unlikely results have shaken the line-up of UEFA Euro 2008 as the tournament reaches the semi-finals. Russia scored two goals in extra time to defeat a shocked Netherlands 1-3 and Turkey managed to steal the game from a seemingly stronger Croatia.
Pavlyuchenko scored after 56 minutes to put Russia ahead of Holland; the way it remained until the dying seconds when Ruud van Nistelrooy ostensibly ended hopes of a giant-killing, scoring in the 86th minute.
Russia fought hard in extra time, and during the second half Torbinski evaded a ragged Holland defence to cheekily slot in a cross passing the face of goal. Russia put the boot in four minutes later, scoring another by way of Andrei Arshavin.
Turkey, fresh from their strong fightback in the group stages against the Czech Republic, held Croatia to a 0-0 scoreline well into extra time. Klasnic scored for the Croats mere minutes before the match was to go to penalties, and then Semih immediately levelled the scoreline seconds before a Croatia win. The Turks then proceeded to thrash them 3-1 on penalties.
Germany and Spain are now favourites. Boylesport and PaddyPower respectively have them at 13/8, but a surprise win from Russia is 9/2 from ExtraBet.
