By DPA,
Zagreb : Football euphoria in Croatia was brutally cut down in its tracks Friday night after Slaven Bilic’s side lost a dramatic quarter final match against Turkey in Vienna.
“This is a dream cut short and it will leave a deep mark on the players and fans,” said one Croatian commentator after his team lost 3-1 on penalties.
“We’ve been robbed of something that belonged to us,” said another. “The Turks were kissed by lady luck”.
The game was scoreless after 90 minutes, but ended dramatically 1-1 after extra time.
“We had one foot in the semi-finals when (Ivan) Klasnic scored in the 119th minute, but then the Turks scored a goal,” daily Vecernji list wrote on its web site.
In the shoot-out Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic shot wide, while Rustu Recber saved Mladen Petric’s penalty.
“Turkey survived Vienna thriller,” wrote Jutarnji list on its web site. “This is a huge blow.”
“This is a great pity. This was a chance for this generation to enter the history books, but we failed during penalties,” web portal Javno.hr wrote after the game. “Everything good on this tournament is gone with the wind.”
Turkey will now play Germany in the semi-final Wednesday in Basel.