Oh, what fun we had. What noise there was, what emotion, what an occasion. Played in a fittingly epic biblical storm, water cascading off the Westfalenstadion roof, Euro 2024’s best night was a wild, wonderful open match that had 103 attacks, 36 shots, three strikes that hit the woodwork, and four goals.
One of those goals was historic, Georges Mikautadze scoring Georgia’s first at a tournament; two were ridiculous, comic‐book belters from Arda Guler and Mert Muldur; and the other was the very last touch of an extraordinary evening, just as everything and everyone was on edge, Kerem Akturkoglu released, running 80 yards to roll the ball into an empty net. From the equaliser at one end to “game over” at the other in seconds. Francisco Conceição comes off Portugal bench to break Czech Republic hearts Read more Right there, with the bench emptying, everyone heading after Akturkoglu and this place erupting once more, Turkey had the victory and this game had the ending it deserved.
Or one of them, anyway. Seconds before, Georgia had a 96th-minute opportunity to equalise – their third in added time – which would have been just as dramatic and just as deserved. Now the goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili went up for a corner, a final chance to be an unexpected hero.
Instead, the ball was cleared and Akturkoglu took that role. Him and everyone else. How do you choose a single player? This was brilliant; they were brilliant, all of them.
You ended it exhauste.
