Tylers Diary - Part 3 | Martin Tyler | Blogs | Euro 2008 | Football

Group A
Team	Pl	Pts
Portugal	3	6
Turkey	3	6
Czech Republic	3	3
Switzerland	3	3

Group B
Team	Pl	Pts
Croatia	3	9
Germany	3	6
Austria	3	1
Poland	3	1

Group C
Team	Pl	Pts
Holland	3	9
Italy	3	4
Romania	3	2
France	3	1

Group D
Team	Pl	Pts
Spain	3	9
Russia	3	6
Sweden	3	3
Greece	3	0

Turkey: better than United in 99!

I still cannot come up with anything that really compares to Turkey's incredible comeback. England were 2-0 up against Portugal at Euro 2000 but they hit back rather quicker and even Manchester United's Champions League win over Barcelona in 1999, didn't end up with Peter Schmeichel being sent off and David Beckham taking over in goal!

Martin Tyler

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Martin Tyler has put off his summer holidays to head to Austria and Switzerland for Euro 2008 - and he'll be sharing his experiences right here on skysports.com.

While England's flops are spending the summer on beaches across the globe, Sky Sports' voice of football will be taking in the colour and excitement of the European Championships - and you can read what he's been up to in his exclusive Euro 2008 diary.
Entry number three takes in Friday 13th, a sensational Sunday showdown between Turkey and Czech Republic and a meeting with three former international strikers.

Oh, and a run-in with Uefa's strict sponsorship mandate...

Potent cocktail

I have had a wonderful run of games since my last entry, starting on Friday the 13th, which was anything but unlucky for Holland!

It was the first time we have seen Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben together and what a potent cocktail they served up, especially with that second goal.

Thierry Henry did pull a goal back, but before you knew it, Robben had scored again and the Dutch were on there way through and Raymond Domenech and Les Bleus were left with their day of destiny against Italy.

I did see Marcel Desailly in the press area after the match but thought it best to steer clear of him and as I am not doing interviews post-match I did not get to speak with Domenech. But I can tell you he is not quite as dour and serious as he might seem.

For instance, I found out this week that on April Fool's Day he posted a statement on the French Football Federation website that said something like: "due to the amount of big games the players have had to play recently, they will be too tired and it would be better if we didn't enter the European Championships".

He has also been responsible for one of my favourite quotes so far after drawing a blank with Romania: "We have a team that can score at any moment. It's just that we haven't found that moment yet." They could do with one such moment against Italy.

But for me, the highlight of the tournament came on Sunday, although even the sight of the Turkish fans bouncing up and down in the Stade de Geneve hours before kick-off did not prepare any of us for what was to come!

Incredible comeback

It has not been the footballing celebrity fest that the World Cup was, but before kick-off I did bump into Sami Al-Jabar, a veteran of no fewer than 152 caps for Saudi Arabia and several World Cup finals and one of Richard Key's colleagues on Al Jazeera. He asked me how Richard was, because he is actually based in Doha, and we had a quick chat and I have to say, he was utterly charming.

I also bumped into Arsene Wenger, who was doing a quick preview for the same channel, but it was little more than a handshake and a hello. He was long gone by the time I could say "so what is happening with Aleksandr Hleb then?"!

And then came the game itself and in the two days since, I still cannot come up with anything that really compares to Turkey's incredible comeback. England were 2-0 up against Portugal at Euro 2000 but they hit back rather quicker and even Manchester United's Champions League win over Bayern Munich in 1999, didn't end up with Peter Schmeichel being sent off and David Beckham taking over in goal!

I have been lucky enough to have been doing this job since 1974 and I still cannot remember anything quite as dramatic. Even when Nihat scored the third and as a commentator I went for broke by saying "Turkey have won it", I couldn't be sure, thanks to the volcanic Volkan! Then all of sudden, the historic penalty shoot-out was a distinct possibility - with Tuncay in goal!

But it didn't quite come to that and as heart-breaking as it was for the Czechs and Petr in particular, you had to feel pleased for the Turks, not least their burly defender Servet. He may look more like a nightclub bouncer, but ended the game barely able to walk and deserved his place in the knockout stages. Here is a man who has already been through three central defensive partners in two games and really put his body on the line.

It was a draining night for us all and in truth, it I was still trying to come to terms with it when I had to walk out on it all a little early to head back to the hotel to grab a bit of sleep before heading to Vienna for Monday night's local derby between Austria and Germany.

Banned substance

But even when I got there after little more than five hours shut-eye, there was no escaping what had happened the night before because the Prater Ferris Wheel that overlooks Vienna has been decked out as Petr Cech, with his arms as the spokes. It was a stark reminder of the agonies the Chelsea keeper had been through.

There wasn't quite the passionate fans' welcome at the Ernst Happel Stadium, but there was an all too familiar chain of events when I tried to get in. I should have expected to fall foul of Uefa's strict sponsorship policy though (having done so at the last World Cup when Fifa guidelines determined that I down a whole two-litre bottle of the wrong brand of water before entering one game) and having had little more than five hours sleep, I soon found out that my energy drink was indeed a 'banned substance'.

Thankfully I was not forced to abandon it or down it and the security guys kept it for me, meaning that 90 minutes before kick-off I was able to nip down and replenish the energy levels that were flagging.

It was then I bumped into Jan Aage Fjortoft and Hans Krankl, the Austrian who famously sent Germany packing in the 1978 World Cup. Hans had also scored in that 1984 Cup Winners Cup final as Everton beat Rapid Vienna (which is where the Fjortoft connection comes from), as did a certain Andy Gray.

Energy levels

He said Andy was a "very fine striker" and as I have been ringing my old mucker in his north-east American base quite regularly with some on-site atmosphere and updates, I did so before the game. Needless to say he was delighted with the compliment, although I was less pleased when I had to turn down Fjortoft's dinner invite because he is a gregarious, out-going character and always very good company.

Sadly for Austria there was to be no repeat of the Krankl heroics and it was left to Michael Ballack to hammer home the first free-kick of the tournament and take Germany through. Yet there was still a twist as the two coaches earnt themselves a red card, which given that they are both two intelligent, erudite and sophisticated men, was almost as big a surprise as Turkey's comeback!

If my energy levels were OK, then so too were Austria's - and that was down to an Englishman, Roger Spry, their fitness coach. He cut his teeth with the likes of Malcolm Allison and Ron Atkinson over here and although my good luck message clearly didn't have the desired affect, he can be proud of the performance the Austrians put in. It's just a shame, I suppose, their passing, crossing and finishing coaches weren't so proficient!

I did get a lie-in until 7am on Tuesday when it was up to take the train back across the border to Berne for Holland against Romania. All the talk has been of conspiracy theories of course, but as we count down to kick-off ask yourself who the Dutch really want to accompany them through to the knockout stages.

They have put three past Italy, four past France in this tournament, but in the two qualifying games with Romania? They lost 1-0 and drew 0-0...