Thursday 26 June 2008

that's why I love football - euro 08 (4)

(well one of the German defenders was called Lahm!)
They nearly did it again. After running rings around Germany for most of the match and threatening to cause their third major upset in a row, Turkey finally succumbed and went out of the tournament. Here was a side with half their squad injured, half of the rest suspended and all the pundits telling us that they didn't stand a chance. But, for a glorious few minutes it looked like Turkey would take the Germans to extra time and who knows what might have happened. Sadly, Germany scored in the last minute and not even the come back kings could salvage the game.

It was thrilling stuff and the coverage was improved by an electrical storm which meant the BBC finishing the match with TV pictures and commentary from their Radio 5 Live team. The sound wasn't quite synchronised so we heard what was happening just before we saw it but it added to the spectacle.

"Here's how the game ended on TV in Hong Kong," writes Ravi Hiranand on The Guardian website. "Five guys in a studio listening in on a phone call between one of the presenters and someone sitting in the stands attempting to describe what's happened over the noise of the crowd and an awful mobile phone connection. Of course, it's all in Cantonese. Brilliant."

Another great game in a fantastic tournament. Germany 3 - 2 Turkey.

That's why I love football!

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