It's a Turkey twizzler as dramatic late twist makes Croats fall apart

CROATIA 1 TURKEY 1 (aet; 0-0 at 90 mins; Turkey win 3-1 on penalties)

Even when the football is awful, this tournament somehow continues to deliver. After almost two hours of mind-numbing attrition came a quite extraordinary climax and something that will forever haunt Slaven Bilic and his cultured Croats.

They paid, ultimately, for a shocking inability to hit the target, first in normal time and then in a penalty shoot-out that proved there is actually a country worse than England at scoring from 12 yards.

Turkish delight in Vienna

But Bilic will dwell not so much on three out of four misses but what happened in the dying moments of extra-time. A headed goal from Ivan Klasnic for Croatia in the 119th minute appeared decisive.

It was then followed by a stunning half-volley of an equaliser from Semih Senturk that Croatia's manager clearly thought had come after the final whistle should have been blown. He had a point, given that a further 74 seconds had passed beyond the 120-minute mark.

Twice Bilic sprinted on to the pitch, initially to celebrate what he thought was his country's first European Championship semi-final and then to complain bitterly to referee Roberto Rosetti.

A more experienced manager would have remained calm but Bilic's anger and frustration spread to his players. They suddenly felt they had been mugged and it showed in the penalties.

Luka Modric, so impressive in this tournament and even last night, was the first to accept the challenge and he missed, pushing his effort hopelessly wide. Ivan Rakitic then did the same with the scores at 2-1, before Mladen Petric enabled the outstanding Recber Rustu to bring the lottery to an end with another poor effort.

So Turkey - who, incredibly, have only led for two minutes of the 390 they have played in the tournament - will meet Germany in the first of next week's semi-finals after demonstrating again that they never give up; that the spirit they showed in fighting back to beat Switzerland and then the Czech Republic continues to flow.

Missing in action: Olic sees his shot hit the bar when it would have been easier to score

It is their first European Championship semi-final. Fatih Terim is already called 'The Emperor'. What honour can possibly be bestowed upon him now?

Surely their adventure will end in Basel, because what they possess in courage they lack in real ability. They were probably the worst of the last eight and it seems unthinkable that they will get lucky again. Not against the Germans, especially if it comes down to penalties.

They sucked the life out of this quarter-final and out of Croatia, responding to the pace and fluency of their opponents by dropping deeper and deeper into their own half. They employed spoiling tactics and lost three players for the semi-finals - Turan, Asik and Tuncay - as a consequence.

When Croatia did carve out an opportunity, they not only missed the target but missed the injured Eduardo. What a difference the Arsenal striker might have made to this game. What a pity.

They should have scored after 19 minutes following an excellent delivery from the right by Modric. Ivica Olic drove a shot against the bar from no more than four yards and Niko Kranjcar then seized on the rebound with a header that floated agonisingly off target. Bilic could not quite believe it, given that it would have been easier to score.

In the second half, Olic almost juggled the ball over the line with his head and Darijo Srna unleashed a vicious free-kick that brought a wonderful save from Rustu. Afterwards Bilic responded with dignity. 'I want to congratulate both teams for a great game of football,' he said. 'This match shows why it's the most dramatic and most popular game in the world.

'My players put in a heroic performance and I can have no complaints about any of them. Penalties are a lottery and the players felt confident enough to take them.'

On reflection, it was probably good news for England and in particular a watching Fabio Capello. A victory for Turkey after that win for the Germans against Portugal suggests a more pragmatic approach is proving successful at this festival of fast-flowing football.

Holland and Russia are both loyal to the beautiful game but if Italy beat Spain tomorrow, Capello will press ahead with his plans unchanged for Croatia and those coming World Cup qualifiers.

How depressing.