Vincenzo Montella's Turkey stopped in the quarter-finals, beaten 2-1 by the Netherlands, who made up the first-half deficit in five minutes. Trailing by a goal from the 35th minute until 20 minutes from the end, the Turks disappeared from the field for a quarter of an hour and allowed themselves to be clawed back. From the 80th minute, however, Montella's starting 11 came forward again and nearly scored several times, which would have extended the quarter-final into extra time. No way: the Netherlands qualified for the semi-finals, the match against England will be played on Wednesday, July 10 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
The match and the controversies
Turkey took the lead in the 35th minute after a corner from Calhanoglu was cleared by the Netherlands. Akaydin, selected by Montella to replace the suspended Demiral, headed in a Güler cross, beating Verbruggen. The equaliser came in the 70th minute in a similar situation, after the Orange had started to make their projection more continuous. From a short corner, Depay placed the ball in the middle for de Vrij who shot higher than anyone else to make it 1-1. That goal extinguished the Turkish initiative and, five minutes later, the Oranje's second goal turned the game around. Mert Muldur's touch was decisive as he tried to keep out Cody Gakpo's sure shot from a low cross from the right. Turkey showed up again in the 82nd minute, going on the attack with two close-range shots blocked by the defence. Then the final attack, but the result remained unchanged at 2-1. Turkish President Erdogan was also present at the stadium, having decided to attend the match after the Demiral affair. The former Sassuolo, Juventus and Atalanta player had mimed the gesture of the Grey Wolves, a strongly nationalist movement, after the double against Austria in the round of 16. Before the match against the Netherlands, the march of Turkish fans was interrupted by the police because many fans reproduced with their hands this symbol, three fingers joined with the index and little fingers raised to form a wolf's head, which the German government considers racist and anti-Semitic. And which was then mimed again at the stadium by hundreds of fans.
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