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Turkey versus Switzerland 2005: kicks, blows and a ruptured urethra

2021-06-25T07:09:32.561Z


In the evening, Turkey and Switzerland will meet at the European Championships. In 2005 this duel escalated into one of the biggest scandalous games in football history: the "Wound of Istanbul".


2005: Swiss players fled the field

Photo: Ben Radford / Getty Images

Two game days have already been completed at this European Championship, in Group A the Swiss are third and fourth with one point and Turkey with zero points.

Before the direct duel in the evening (6 p.m., TV: MagentaTV, ticker: SPIEGEL.de), both teams are about a lot.

Everything was at stake on November 16, 2005 in the relegation second leg in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup between the two teams.

The Swiss won the first leg 2-0 and lost the second leg in Istanbul 2-4, but due to the away goals rule they reached the tournament in Germany.

Because of the circumstances, one remembers this game with horror.

A football game that began with kicks on the pitch and ended with brutal attacks in the cabin corridor.

It was a scandal that Turkish football in particular had to struggle with for a long time.

The situation had already worsened in the first leg in Bern. The Swiss fans had whistled the Turkish national anthem, and unsportsmanlike conduct by Swiss Ludovic Magnin and Turkish coach Fatih Terim could be seen on and off the pitch. The emotions boiled high and the Swiss were harassed as soon as they got to the second leg. At the airport, the passports of the players were checked, sometimes for 20 minutes, the luggage did not arrive. Insulting slogans were chanted and posters were displayed.

At first it looked like a quiet evening on the square. Alexander Frei had already put the guests in the lead in the 2nd minute with a penalty, the Turks now needed four goals to advance. But then the first goal fell, the second, the third. In the last 40 minutes, the hosts, who were third in the 2002 World Cup, were only missing one goal. But then Marco Streller scored 3: 2, the 4: 2 for the Turkish team with Bundesliga players Alpay Özalan, Hamit Altıntop and Yıldıray Baştürk just before the end was not enough.

Immediately after the final whistle, the Swiss players ran towards the cabin, the Turkish assistant coach left his leg against Valeron Behrami and things took their course.

Benjamin Huggel kicked the assistant coach, Emre and Alpay also reached out, in the minutes after that there were brutal scenes during which, among other things, the Swiss substitute Stéphane Grichting suffered a urethral rupture from a kick in the abdomen.

“We will act and take tough action.

The fair play has been trampled, «said Fifa President Sepp Blatter.

For the Turks it was a double fiasco: The dream of the 2006 World Cup in Germany was over, a tournament where, with the many Turkish-born fans living in Germany behind you, you could have felt as a co-host. The appearance also had consequences for the near future: the team had to play six home games outside the country, and numerous regular players were banned from up to six games. The Swiss Huggel should also watch half a dozen games, the suspension was later reduced.

It wasn't until almost two years later that the Turkish team was allowed to play a home game in their own country as part of the European Championship qualification, but the qualification was still successful. At the 2008 tournament they met Switzerland again for the first time after the events in Istanbul. The Turks won in stoppage time, the Swiss were eliminated as co-hosts after the 2nd match day. And even if the table constellation was explosive, it remained calm. The shock after the duels two and a half years earlier was too big, and those responsible for both teams tried too hard to calm down.

Terim of all people, not insignificantly involved in the escalation in 2005, had previously worked as a bridge builder.

He had written an email to his coaching colleague Köbi Kuhn, who at the time had spoken of a "persecution to the cabin", inquiring about the condition of Kuhn's sick wife.

"We'll come as friends," Terim promised before the tournament.

Magnin, who was conspicuous in the first leg in 2005 with a faked shot at the Turkish substitute bench, said: "Now both peoples have an interest in showing that we are there to play football."

It should be the last duel between these two teams so far.

At the EM 2021 there is a lot going on on the last day of the group.

But probably never again for everything like on November 16, 2005 in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-06-25

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