How the Czech Republic against Turkey became the dirtiest match in European Championship history

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When Cenk Tosun finished off a seven-on-four counter-attack in stoppage time, the Turkish bench was off their seats to celebrate a 2-1 win that sealed their qualification to the knockout stages.

It was chaotic, and yet that was just the beginning. In the crazy aftermath, Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs handed out five bookings, sending it into extra time the record set twenty minutes earlier for the most cards awarded in one match at a European Championship.

Of the 18 cards shown, 16 were yellow and two were red. The most curious thing was that five of the eighteen were given to players who were not even on the playing field.

It was by far the dirtiest match in the history of the European Championship. So what happened?

The match started well for the Czech Republic, who troubled Turkey’s superior midfield technicians with a man-to-man pressing system.

Then came a setback: a yellow card in the eleventh minute for Antonin Barak. Kovacs rightly punished the Fiorentina midfielder for dragging down left back Ferdi Kadioglu.

That should have been Barak’s cue to play it safe for the rest of the match by avoiding risky tackles, but the 29-year-old was having none of it.

In the 20th minute, after taking a clever tap-in to clear Ismail Yuksek’s challenge, Barak was soon attacked on the halfway line by two Turkish midfielders.

As the ball passed away from him and Hakan Calhanoglu rapidly closed in, Barak stuck out his left foot in a desperate attempt to grab it for Salih Ozcan.

Ozcan won the race and Barak stepped on his foot, leaving him in a heap. After initially giving the advantage to Turkey, Kovacs withdrew the game for a foul and gave Barak his second yellow card – the first sending-off in Euro history, beating former French defender Eric Abidal’s record (24 minutes against Italy at Euro 2008).

The decision divided experts and commentators, with Andros Townsend of British broadcaster ITV believing he had been treated harshly.

“This one was even more baffling. He is in possession of the ball; he taps it away,” Townsend said. “It is his follow-up that appeals to the Turkish player. You can always slow it down and freeze it, but at the end of the day he has the ball.”

Either way, a player of Barak’s experience should know not to take any risks in midfield in a must-win match after he’s already been booked.

After Ozcan received a yellow card in the 31st minute, the next card went to Czech striker Patrik Schick, who was not even on the field. The Bayer Leverkusen player was booked for dissent and would have missed the Czech Republic’s last 16 matches had they qualified, having been booked earlier in the tournament.

Schick, the Czech Republic’s all-time top scorer at the European Championships, was given a warning after strongly arguing that Ismail Yuksek should have been shown a yellow card for a powerful challenge on Lukas Provod, who was left writhing on the ground.

Yuksek won the ball fairly cleanly, but given the controversial nature of Barak’s second yellow he might have had a point.

A few minutes later, Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz received Turkey’s second yellow card of the evening. After beating West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal, Yildiz lost the ball to centre-back Robin Hranac. Yildiz left a tasty challenge on Hranac, who spun around quite dramatically.

If the referee had not awarded Yildiz a yellow card, there might have been a mutiny in the Czech dugout.

Between that decision and the real drama that unfolded after the final whistle, yellow cards were handed out to Calhanoglu, who scored Turkey’s brilliant opener in the 51st minute, Mert Muldur, Vitezslav Jaros, Lukas Cerv and reserve goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, who will will miss Turkey’s match in the round of 16 against Austria next Tuesday.

By the time stoppage time started at the end of the match, the Euro record for cards in a match had already been comfortably eclipsed (14 yellows and one red, better than the previous record of 10). But after Tosun took the winner, the drama really started.

With the Czech Republic heading home, Turkey’s exuberant celebration at the final whistle proved too much for many of their players. West Ham’s Tomas Soucek was the first to object to Orkun Kokcu’s fist bump in the center of the pitch.

Shortly afterwards, players and coaches ran onto the field from the sideline to participate in a scuffle that broke out at half-court.

A red card – the second of the night for the Czech Republic – was then shown to Viktoria Plzen striker Tomas Chory, who had become involved in a physical altercation with Mert Gunok, Turkey’s No. 1 goalkeeper.

As the referee struggled to maintain control, he handed out yellow cards to Soucek and Arda Guler, Turkey’s child prodigy striker who scored six goals in 10 league appearances for Real Madrid last season.

From a football perspective, this match probably had little consequence. But thanks to its glorious lawlessness, especially in the final moments, it now occupies a special place in the history of the euro.

(Top photo: Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images)