Preview: Croatia – Turkey

The second quarter final match at Euro 2008 means a clash between tournament dark horses Croatia and Germany. Neither ever reached the semi finals.

Croatia surprised by winning Group B with wins over all of their opponents. The 1-0 victory over Austria was a bit fortunate but the following 2-1 win over Germany was more convincing. The reserve team then went on to beat Poland 1-0 in the final game.

Croatian manager Bilic will have to do without Knezevic, whose injury rules him out for the rest of the tournament.

And today it was revealed that free kick specialist Rakitic might miss the match due to a painful knee, and will be undergoing late tests on Friday.

After losing 2-0 to Portugal in their opening match, Turkey needed all of their skills to survive. A late goal against Switzerland (2-1) earned them their first points and a miraculous escape versus the Czech Republic (3-2) got them into the quarter finals.

In the match with Croatia, the Turks will be without first choice goalkeeper Volkan Demirel who is suspended for two games after pushing Jan Koller in the final group match.

But manager Fatih Terim will rely on the experience of reserve keeper Rüstü Reçber, whose presence is now more welcome than ever.

Turkey and Croatia met three times before, but only once in a competitive match. At the 1996 World Championships, Croatia won 1-0, but would eventually lose to Germany in the quarter finals.

UEFA have assigned Roberto Rosetti to be Friday’s referee, assisted by fellow Italians Alessandro Griselli and Paolo Calcagno as linesmen and Manuel Mejuto González as fourth official.