UEFA Euro 2008 Group A

Group A of UEFA Euro 2008 is one of four groups competing of nations at UEFA Euro 2008. The group's first round of matches was played on 7 June, with the final round played on 15 June. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Basel and Geneva. The group consisted of co-host Switzerland, UEFA Euro 2004 host and finalist Portugal, as well as Czech Republic and Turkey.

Portugal won their first two games against Turkey and the Czech Republic, scoring five goals in the process, to qualify for the quarter-finals by winning the group. The second quarter-final place would go to the winner of the match between Turkey and the Czech Republic. As the two teams had identical records going into the game, if the match had finished as a draw, the quarter-final place would have been determined by a penalty shootout – what would have been the first group stage penalty shootout in a major international tournament. Meanwhile, Switzerland became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament after losing to Turkey 2–1 in their second match, Arda Turan scoring a deflected winner in the last minute, having lost 1–0 to the Czech Republic in their opening match. This match between Switzerland and Turkey was dubbed the "Bath of Basel" as the rain poured down incessantly. The weather suited the long-ball Swiss more than the short-passing Turks, and before half time the Swiss had capitalised on the conditions. Indeed, Hakan Yakin's goal stemmed from the ball stopping in a puddle and allowing him an easy finish, which led the BBC commentary team to utter the classic, "It's a tap-in ... Hakan Yakin!" In the second half Turkey's more direct style yielded two goals, the second a last-minute long-range shot from Arda Turan which went in off a deflection. This was the first of several last-gasp victories for the Turkish team at the tournament, made all the more impressive by their injury woes at that time.

...
Wikipedia