Turkey progress after late win

The Czechs looked home and dry in the 61st minute when Jaroslav Plasil added to Jan Koller's first-half opener to put his team 2-0 ahead.

But Arda Turan halved the deficit in the 75th minute before Nihat drew the sides level in the 86th minute and then sparked delirium among the Turkish fans when he curled home an unstoppable winner with two minutes remaining. There was still time for Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to receive his marching orders for an off-the-ball incident involving Koller, but his team held on to record their first win over the Czechs in 12 attempts.

The Czechs dominated the first half and got the goal they deserved when Juventus full-back Grygera galloped down the right and crossed for Koller to power home a trademark header in emphatic style from eight yards out.

They looked more tentative in the second half but Plasil settled any nerves with their second just after the hour mark. Moments earlier, Koller had sidefooted wastefully wide with just Volkan to beat but Osasuna midfielder Plasil did much better when he got on the end of Sionko's right-wing cross to prod home at the far post.

The goal initially took the wind out of Turkey's sails and midfielder Jan Polak almost made it 3-0 when he sidefooted Libor Sionko's cross against the post from 10 yards.

But it was not all over. Arda set up a tense final 15 minutes when he slid home a low finish past Cech after pouncing on a Hamit Altintop centre.

And after Servet somehow headed wide from close range in the 81st minute, Petr Cech spilled a deep cross from the right, allowing Nihat to force home the equaliser into an empty net with three minutes remaining.

Worse was to come for Cech when barely a minute later, Nihat made the most of some dreadful defending to latch onto a through-ball and curl home a superb finish off the bar.

In the final few seconds, Volkan saw red for an incident involving Koller but Turkey held on for a dramatic victory.