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UEFA EURO 2008 Group A - 15 June 2008 - Genève - Stade de Genève
TURKEY 3 - 2 CZECH REPUBLIC
Koller 34,Plašil 62
Arda Turan 75
Nihat Kahveci 87, 89
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The above details go quietly into the history books. However, there is something to share about this game that is beyond what these statistics reveal.
This is not just a football match where 22 jobless fellas run after a ball. This game should be packaged and shown as a part of crucial management training in business schools, firms and where ever required. Most management books state what to do, and some even describe how it has been done. However, this match 'shows' what is written in those management bibles. I thought of tagging this article to my 'Sports Mirror' section alone. However, it is not just about sport. There is a lot for an MBA to extract out of it. So, I tagged it to my "MBA talk" as well.
It was a crucial Group A clash between Turkey and the Czech Republic and the winner automatically reserves a berth in the last eight. With every thing to play for and a penalty shoot out on cards, this pulsating encounter started off with both the teams playing football, interfacing caution with aggression.
In football matches such as these, for that matter any sport, where I am a neutral, when not really biased towards any side, I desire that a weaker team comes from behind and wins the game. In other words, I develop favorites as the match progresses. I particularly don't have any bitter experiences with either sides and I just let the game move on.
I must say that this game is of two halves, where the Czechs dominated and the Turks looked vulnerable in the first half. To show-up for their efforts, the Czechs got their goal, thanks to Koller, The 6 foot 8 tower. I sensed that the game was turning out to be a one sided encounter and made a move to go to bed as it was 1:30 a.m already.
But hang on guys. I sensed something else too: A "Turkish revival". I just wanted to check if those Turks have that grit, that verve to make a game of it. So, I waited for the second half to start. And, I tell you, my decision not to go to bed was probably one the best decisions that I have taken for a long time. Had I slept without watching the second half, I wouldn't have witnessed and shared this remarkable come back of the Turks in the history of the European Championships.
The second half was underway. I had absolutely no idea what the Turkish coach, Fatih Terim, said to his players during, perhaps, the most crucial half time talk of his tenure. He must have hypnotized the entire contingent and fed them the elixir of "BELIEF".
They came out roaring in the second half, with delicately balancing aggression with caution. Move after move, chance after chance they pressed forward with that belief, yes the belief alone. The face of the game transformed quite amazingly. It was all Turks and the Czechs sat back on their knees praying. What a dramatic turn around.
I always love to see fight backs, come backs, twists in the tails, heroics that sport and the war alone provide. Movies do provide. However, it is unreal, a movie after all. They don't excite me. I said to myself, is this the game where I can see such a fight back? Not every game produces such thrillers as these. You must be lucky or else you would end up watching a boring one sided game.
Ok. Back to the game. I could see a goal coming sooner or later from the Turks. At least, not one from the Czechs. The Turks really pressed on and on. They showed all the quality to equalize to get on level terms. By all means they deserved an equalizer. However, chances knocked and disappeared like a playful kid troubling his neighbors. The Turks still played with loads of energy and with a level head until this happened. Just after hour mark, one move from the Czechs and Plasil darted forward and slotted the ball for a second.
This is the point and this is moment that many teams fall apart. The second goal from the Czechs virtually sealed the game off. Any other side would have given it up after this unrecoverable blow. However, now, the actual Turkish revival, the remarkable come back that I was talking about started.
With just 15 minutes to go, with exit doors opening wide and handsome, with the thousands of Czech fans already celebrating, the Turks never ever gave up. They just didn't want to quit. Here goes the famous saying "You lose only when you quit". Turks followed it and they followed it badly. Their shoulders never dropped. Though with aching bodies and draining energy, they hit back hard. They showed tremendous belief that alone won them the first opening, a goal. The much needed one from Arda Turan. With pumped confidence and punching fists Turks were on their way for a second one.
Now, just 5 minutes to go. Seconds draining like anything, Turks hit and hit. It was a delight to watch the positive body language of the Turks and the coach Terim even in those tense moments. You all must have heard this saying too: "The fortune favors the brave". I too heard it many times. However, I was not sure of relevance of this saying until Petr Cech, one of the best goal keepers in the world at the moment, spilled a cutting cross on to the brave Turkish captain Nihat and to delight of the Turkish fans he placed the ball at the back of the net.
The thousands of Turkish fans behind the Czech goal were just amazing. They pulled their team off. It is all square now. Certainly a penalty shoot seemed coming. But, I felt that Turks with this tremendous momentum could just finish the Czech off. It was all Turkey at the moment and exactly after 2 minutes of finding a unlikely equalizer, the captain courageous, Nihat, broke the off-side trap, and curled a stunner past the goal keeper on to the back of the net. The Winner it was. And one of the remarkable come backs in the history of the game was complete. Czechs, who were comfortably heading to the quarter finals just 15 minutes ago found themselves out of the tournament to their utter disbelief.
This game teaches some essential management lessons such as Team work, Leadership, Strategy etc and practically shows the applicability of these theories. The way the Turkish captain, Nihat, lead from the front and the way the team responded to him is out of the top draw. The sense of urgency and the 'never say die' attitude of the Turks are the qualities that stand out.
When the Turks got the winner, I wasn't excited. I just smiled within me as I know what was coming when a team shows such qualities. I don't know how far Turks go in this championships. But, in this game they not only showed the world what they can do, but also showed the world that one can achieve the so-called impossible with BELIEF.
UEFA EURO 2008 Group A - 15 June 2008 - Genève - Stade de Genève
TURKEY 3 - 2 CZECH REPUBLIC
Koller 34,Plašil 62
Arda Turan 75
Nihat Kahveci 87, 89
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above details go quietly into the history books. However, there is something to share about this game that is beyond what these statistics reveal.
This is not just a football match where 22 jobless fellas run after a ball. This game should be packaged and shown as a part of crucial management training in business schools, firms and where ever required. Most management books state what to do, and some even describe how it has been done. However, this match 'shows' what is written in those management bibles. I thought of tagging this article to my 'Sports Mirror' section alone. However, it is not just about sport. There is a lot for an MBA to extract out of it. So, I tagged it to my "MBA talk" as well.
It was a crucial Group A clash between Turkey and the Czech Republic and the winner automatically reserves a berth in the last eight. With every thing to play for and a penalty shoot out on cards, this pulsating encounter started off with both the teams playing football, interfacing caution with aggression.
In football matches such as these, for that matter any sport, where I am a neutral, when not really biased towards any side, I desire that a weaker team comes from behind and wins the game. In other words, I develop favorites as the match progresses. I particularly don't have any bitter experiences with either sides and I just let the game move on.
I must say that this game is of two halves, where the Czechs dominated and the Turks looked vulnerable in the first half. To show-up for their efforts, the Czechs got their goal, thanks to Koller, The 6 foot 8 tower. I sensed that the game was turning out to be a one sided encounter and made a move to go to bed as it was 1:30 a.m already.
But hang on guys. I sensed something else too: A "Turkish revival". I just wanted to check if those Turks have that grit, that verve to make a game of it. So, I waited for the second half to start. And, I tell you, my decision not to go to bed was probably one the best decisions that I have taken for a long time. Had I slept without watching the second half, I wouldn't have witnessed and shared this remarkable come back of the Turks in the history of the European Championships.
The second half was underway. I had absolutely no idea what the Turkish coach, Fatih Terim, said to his players during, perhaps, the most crucial half time talk of his tenure. He must have hypnotized the entire contingent and fed them the elixir of "BELIEF".
They came out roaring in the second half, with delicately balancing aggression with caution. Move after move, chance after chance they pressed forward with that belief, yes the belief alone. The face of the game transformed quite amazingly. It was all Turks and the Czechs sat back on their knees praying. What a dramatic turn around.
I always love to see fight backs, come backs, twists in the tails, heroics that sport and the war alone provide. Movies do provide. However, it is unreal, a movie after all. They don't excite me. I said to myself, is this the game where I can see such a fight back? Not every game produces such thrillers as these. You must be lucky or else you would end up watching a boring one sided game.
Ok. Back to the game. I could see a goal coming sooner or later from the Turks. At least, not one from the Czechs. The Turks really pressed on and on. They showed all the quality to equalize to get on level terms. By all means they deserved an equalizer. However, chances knocked and disappeared like a playful kid troubling his neighbors. The Turks still played with loads of energy and with a level head until this happened. Just after hour mark, one move from the Czechs and Plasil darted forward and slotted the ball for a second.
This is the point and this is moment that many teams fall apart. The second goal from the Czechs virtually sealed the game off. Any other side would have given it up after this unrecoverable blow. However, now, the actual Turkish revival, the remarkable come back that I was talking about started.
With just 15 minutes to go, with exit doors opening wide and handsome, with the thousands of Czech fans already celebrating, the Turks never ever gave up. They just didn't want to quit. Here goes the famous saying "You lose only when you quit". Turks followed it and they followed it badly. Their shoulders never dropped. Though with aching bodies and draining energy, they hit back hard. They showed tremendous belief that alone won them the first opening, a goal. The much needed one from Arda Turan. With pumped confidence and punching fists Turks were on their way for a second one.
Now, just 5 minutes to go. Seconds draining like anything, Turks hit and hit. It was a delight to watch the positive body language of the Turks and the coach Terim even in those tense moments. You all must have heard this saying too: "The fortune favors the brave". I too heard it many times. However, I was not sure of relevance of this saying until Petr Cech, one of the best goal keepers in the world at the moment, spilled a cutting cross on to the brave Turkish captain Nihat and to delight of the Turkish fans he placed the ball at the back of the net.
The thousands of Turkish fans behind the Czech goal were just amazing. They pulled their team off. It is all square now. Certainly a penalty shoot seemed coming. But, I felt that Turks with this tremendous momentum could just finish the Czech off. It was all Turkey at the moment and exactly after 2 minutes of finding a unlikely equalizer, the captain courageous, Nihat, broke the off-side trap, and curled a stunner past the goal keeper on to the back of the net. The Winner it was. And one of the remarkable come backs in the history of the game was complete. Czechs, who were comfortably heading to the quarter finals just 15 minutes ago found themselves out of the tournament to their utter disbelief.
This game teaches some essential management lessons such as Team work, Leadership, Strategy etc and practically shows the applicability of these theories. The way the Turkish captain, Nihat, lead from the front and the way the team responded to him is out of the top draw. The sense of urgency and the 'never say die' attitude of the Turks are the qualities that stand out.
When the Turks got the winner, I wasn't excited. I just smiled within me as I know what was coming when a team shows such qualities. I don't know how far Turks go in this championships. But, in this game they not only showed the world what they can do, but also showed the world that one can achieve the so-called impossible with BELIEF.
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