Bruckner reeling from shock loss

Czechs crash out in spectacular fashion

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 15th June 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Bruckner reeling from shock loss

Bruckner: Heartache

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Karel Bruckner is struggling to come to terms with Czech Republic's exit from Euro 2008.

The veteran boss saw his side throw away a two-goal lead against Turkey as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat in Geneva.

They appeared to be cruising into the quarter-finals, until a frantic final 15 minutes wrecked their dreams.

Jan Koller and Jaroslav Plasil had given the Czechs a comfortable cushion, only to see that lead slip agonisingly from their grasp.

Arda Turan gave the Turks hope on 75 minutes before, with time running out, Nihat Kahveci completed the most remarkable of turnarounds with two goals in as many minutes.

The Czechs were left stunned, with no-one more disappointed to see their bid for European Championship glory come to close than their coach.

Mistakes

"To lose such a game is incredible, even with four minutes to go we were winning 2-1, and to concede two goals in the last four minutes is unbelievable," Bruckner told reporters.

"You cannot make mistakes like that and expect to win games. We made mistakes on the second and third goals and we did not defend well, and you can't play like that.

"We tried to play a simple game, we went 2-0 up and we were doing well, and we had chances to score more. In the end we surrendered to Turkey's pressure.

"This defeat is going to take me many nights to get over," he added.

"To lose like that is just incredible. We were three minutes from the last eight!"