WHY IT ALL KICKED OFF AT FULL-TIME OF TURKEY 2-1 CZECHIA
- Turkish defender Kaan Ayhan's celebration sparked tensions with Czech striker Tomas Chory, leading to a post-match brawl.
- Despite being down to ten men, Czech Republic fought back to draw with Turkey before a late Cenk Tosun winner.
- Manager Vincenzo Montella believes Turkey's hard work and resilience earned their qualification to the Euro 2024 round of 16.
The reason for the post-match melee between Turkey and Czech Republic at Euro 2024 appears to have been revealed as footage of Turkish defender Kaan Ayhan has gone viral. The final group game between the two sides was a feisty affair, with 18 yellow cards and two red cards being brandished, with half of those coming in the final ten minutes.
Despite being down to ten men, the Czechs fought their way back to keep the game level going into the 90th minute. However, a late Cenk Tosun winner for the Turks led to emotional scenes and a mass brawl come the final whistle. Now, the footage of Ayhan's celebration appears to shed new light on what caused the tensions to reach the surface at full-time.
Ayhan Celebrates in front of Czech Republic Striker
Tomas Chory was sent off in the full-time brawl
As can be seen in the footage below, 29-year-old Czech striker Tomas Chory was standing on the halfway line as Turkey scored the late winner that confirmed Ivan Hasek's side would finish bottom of Group F. This led to wild scenes from all the Turkish players, but none more so than by Ayhan.
The Galatasaray man can be seen sprinting over towards Chory before knee-sliding at the feet of his opponent before jumping up and punching their air in delight. The towering forward retaliated by shoving Ayhan afterwards and was later in the thick of the pushing and shoving between the two sides, leading to his dismissal after the final whistle.
During the commotion at the end, Chory can be seen being held back by some of his teammates, with Real Madrid wonderkid Arda Guler also being pulled away from the scene. After things calmed down, the Viktoria Plzen man admitted that he wanted to unsettle Turkey, stating:
"I wanted to add some aggression to the field, to poison them. I knew the Turks would not like it."
Montella Claims Turkey Proved Critics Wrong
The Italian-born manager believes they were deserving of the qualification to the next round
The emotional scenes at full-time were not just ones of players who had been involved in a hard-fought battle. It was also one of joy and relief as Turkey secured their place in the round of 16 at Euro 2024.
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The Turks have been on the receiving end of some tough criticism thus far, having barely beaten Georgia in their opening game and being dismantled 3-0 by Portugal following that. However, manager Vincenzo Montella believes that the resilience his side showed against the Czech Republic proved they were deserving of qualification. As per Yahoo Sports, the Italian claimed:
"We are always focused and hard-working, we deserve this qualification. We have suffered some criticism that was not deserved, and we overcame that.
"I'm used to pressure, I don't mind it, but I don't like when pressure is put on my players. Tonight we just want to celebrate, we deserve it, great sacrifice. But starting tomorrow, we want to continue to make history."