In the first 1/4 finals, Croatia vs. Turkey, before the game, almost everyone was optimistic that Croatia would be able to advance, not to mention the record of the group stage, just the neatness of the personnel, the Plaid Army was far better than the Star and Moon Iron Cavalry.

In this game, Turkey's previous main goalkeeper Demirel was banned, the second goalkeeper Volkan was injured, and only an old goalkeeper Rustu remained, and it was with Rustu's excellent performance that the Turkish team drew with Croatia in regular time, and finally eliminated Croatia by virtue of a penalty shootout.

Croatia actually played very well in this game, especially Modric, Digan's little brother in Fiorentina, almost all of Croatia's threatening attacks were initiated by Modric.

Especially in extra-time, in the last minute, Modric launched a lethal attack, a through ball to Krasnic, almost stuffing Croatia's first European Cup semi-final in history into his pocket. However, Modric, who was the first to play in the penalty shootout, unexpectedly missed the penalty and fell from the hero to the mortal world.

However, after the game, Croatia coach Bilic did not blame his disciple and still praised him: "Luca is a very good player, I have always believed in that, he is a hybrid of Cruyff and Zola, not only that, Modric is also a player who can run on the pitch, Croatia has never had such a midfielder. ”

To be compared to either Cruyff or Gianfranco Zola is a supreme honour for a young player, and it is amazing that Modric has the qualities of both.

Bilic's praise for Modric may be out of support for his compatriots' juniors, but "Milan Sport" also gave Modric a surprising description, if not more than Bilic.

"Cruyff's comprehensiveness, Zola's imagination, Pirlo's organization and big-picture vision, Deco's boundless drive, Gattuso's fighting spirit."

Although he finally lost the whole game in the penalty shootout and stopped in the quarterfinals of the European Cup, it could not hide the performance of the Croatians, and the core Modric contributed excellent performance, and the battle with Turkey, it can be said that Modric's transformation from hero to sinner was in an instant.

Luka Modric, who was the first to take the penalty spot, chose to go in the same direction as the first game in the group and scored the Austrian penalty, but this time the ball went wide of the goal, and although Srna scored the second penalty, Rakitic and Petrich followed Modric's bad luck and missed the penalty, and the Croatians could only watch the Turks complete the comeback.

Modric looked very disappointed when he walked off the field, and his eyes were full of tears before accepting the reporter's question: "When the opponent equalized, we had fallen to the bottom, and the moment I stood at the penalty spot, my mind was blank, I didn't know why I chose that angle, I didn't know how to take the penalty, and even when I lost the game, I woke up from my stiffness, I couldn't remember everything I had done before, that's how I felt about this game, it seems that the first 117 minutes have been forgotten. Just remember what happened in the last two minutes. ”

The rest of the Croatian squad felt almost the same thing as Modric, taking the penalty spot in the mud and losing the spot.

To sum it up in a quote from coach Bilic's post-match press conference: "After 120 minutes, I can already see that the players are going to lose!" ”

However, Modric's performance throughout the European Championship was remarkable, with the best of the match in both group stage games, and the game also planned almost half of the team's attacks and clever passes, and was only 12 yards away from the "stunner" and the "final four".

The regretful fall to the penalty shoot-out left many Croatians in tears of sadness and how brutal the elimination was for this talented team.

A defeat could not overshadow Croatia's overall improvement, and after finishing third in the world in '98, Croatia finally returned to the ranks of the world's top teams after 10 years of dormancy.

Olich, Modric, and Srna, who are known as the new "three musketeers" in the team, are similar to Prosineski, Boban, and Suker, and the future Croatia still has unlimited possibilities.

The Turks won, and the last time they met Croatia was at Euro 96, when the Stars and Moons lost 1-0, and Rustu is now the only player in the Turkish national team to have played in that game.

Demirel was banned and Volkan gave Rustu the chance to make his debut at this tournament, and 12 years later, Turkey No. 1 came to a dramatic "Old Prince's Revenge".

The 2002 World Cup was the pinnacle of Rustu, and the Turkish goalkeeper was known for his resemblance to the movie "Braveheart". Wallace's image as a fighter conquered fans around the world, leading Turkey to a third-place finish and eventually being named to FIFA's All-Star team.

The trip to Barcelona in the 03/04 season was a turning point in Rustu's career, and he was in the ascendancy, but he was given a cold reception due to injuries and non-European quota restrictions, and he had to return home to join Fenerbach in the summer of '04.

The La Liga experience has caused Rustu to lose his vitality, and after failing to help Turkey qualify for the 06 World Cup finals, Rustu gradually lost his absolute main position. In the qualifying stage, Demirel and Volkan rotated, and although they came to the European Championship, Rustu only became an iron bench.

However, Demirel was suspended, Volkan was red-carded for Rustu, and Turkey's No.1 continued to set a new record for national team appearances.

This is the first time Rustu has played in a major tournament as a substitute goalkeeper since Euro 96, and he is clearly ready to do so.

Turkey were able to hold out until extra time, and on 50 minutes Gokhan made a mistake with a header, and the fast-moving Rustu grabbed in front of Olich's header, touched the ball with his fist, and four minutes later saved a low shot from inside the Kranica box. In the 82nd minute, Srna's free-kick was deflected into the far corner guarded by Rustu, and the Turk reflexively leaped to lift the ball off the line even though he had already mismoved his centre of gravity. On 89 minutes, Rustu saved a tackle from Olic in the six-yard box and two minutes later he slotted Srna's direct free-kick under him.

The pressure of the ensuing penalty shoot-out was suffocating, but it was nothing for Rusto, who had been through so many big scenes, as Modric and Rakitic were on the right side of the spot, and both Croatian youngsters were deflected wide under the intense pressure he exerted.

Petrić was clearly no match for Rustu either, with the Turk keeping out Croatia's fourth penalty with a perfect side-by-side save. The moment he took off, no one could tell that this was a 35-year-old veteran.

In the semi-finals, Turkey made history, and after the victory, Rustu wanted to shake hands with referee Rossetti, but seconds later, he was surrounded by his teammates like heroes.

Turkey's next opponent will be the winner of Germany and Belgium, with Demirel coming out of suspension but Rustu will certainly continue to start thanks to a strong performance in this match.

In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Turkey was blocked by Brazil in the final, Rustu missed the opportunity to reach the top of the world, and now he and his Turkish team are at the door of the final, as long as they cross the semi-finals, the veteran goalkeeper will have the opportunity to challenge the Delaunay Cup, for the veteran who is about to retire from the national team after the European Championship, the only synonym for miracles is the championship!

The Turks are not short of grit, but equally, they face a difficult situation, with only 17 players available in the quarter-finals against Croatia due to injury and suspension. After playing the match against Croatia, the Turkish team that qualified had a few more unlucky eggs. In the semi-finals, the Turkish team will face an even more difficult shortage dilemma.

Before the start of this game, Turkey was already full of injuries, defender Setin almost scrapped his knee, and his whole body was injured, and it was already difficult to play in the next game. Emre's muscles were torn, and there was nothing to count on. Metin has a groin problem, and everyone knows that this is not an injury that can be recovered from in a short period of time. With Gankel, who was taken off the pitch in the group stage, and the players who were suspended for the red line, the Turkish team had only one goalkeeper and 16 players in other positions before the quarter-finals.

And that's not even the worst thing, as eight of Turkey's starters in the quarter-finals against Croatia came out with a yellow card.

In fact, Trim has no choice, and it is obviously unrealistic to think further into the semi-finals, and it seems more practical to step past Croatia first.

As a result, in the game, Tunchay, Turan and Asik received yellow cards one after another, and they were destined to miss the semi-finals. In the final moments of the game, Nihart was also substituted due to injury. Combined with the accumulation of yellow cards and suspensions of the three players, there are no more than 15 people in the Turkish team who can still be physically supported to start the semi-finals.

Perhaps the first thing Trim did when he returned to the hotel was to pray to Allah that his wounded would recover quickly. Against Croatia, Trim was still able to stick to his usual style of play.

In the current situation, I am afraid that if the Turks want to reproduce the magic, it will be difficult to continue from the tactical arrangement of the players on the field.

Turkey may not be the eventual winner of this tournament, but at least the memory of the Turkic Riders in this tournament is comparable to that of the champions.

Four times in adversity, not so much Allah is helping the Turks, but it is the help of the self-helpers, and the tenacious Turks have completed the task of the top four perfectly despite the extreme lack of personnel. When it comes to semi-finals, whether against Germany or Belgium, the Turks on the pitch are enough to deserve the applause of the fans anyway.

Since the defeat to Belgium in the first round of the group stage, Turkey has faced a life-and-death situation, and the physical and energy consumption of the players is huge.

The bloody Turkish players are sometimes too aggressive, and they often suffer from red and yellow card suspensions when they can't control their emotions.

It is no exaggeration to describe the current Turkish army as tired and tired, and all three lines of the Star and Moon Army have suffered serious injuries. Rustu was enough to replace Demirel as the first-choice goalkeeper, but the absence of Ashike, Settin and Gankel has stretched the team's defence.

Emre's injury has left a big hole in Turkey's midfield position, and his substitute Metin is also out with a groin injury, and Trim has had to pull both right-back Altentop and forward Tuncaj into the midfield position in order for the team to function properly. Thankfully, defender Aurelio will be back against Germany after being suspended for two yellow cards, with him and Topal forming a central midfield pairing, while Altentop will return to the more familiar right-back position.

The midfield and backfield have managed to put together a group of people, but on the attacking line, Trim has reached the point of exhaustion. Nihart's injury has left Semih the only man available up front, with the Turkish Super League's top scorer not even having a replacement. Tunchay's breakthrough and Turan's point-grabbing are important attacking tactics for Turkey, but the next two will be suspended, and "Lalang matching" has now become Triem's main business, and perhaps the reputation of "tinkerer" may soon be snatched away from Ranieri by Triem.

No matter who the opponent is in the semi-finals, judging from the current personnel mix and injury situation in Turkey, Turkey obviously cannot be compared with the powerful Germany and Belgium with Digan, but compared to morale, the Star and Moon Army, which has created miracles in four consecutive games, is by no means inferior to anyone.

Altentop's words best represent the Turkish player's feelings: "It's hard to describe my feelings, if we can keep going so confidently, then anything can happen. ”

Now that both Danish fairy tales and Greek myths can be staged, the Turks are certainly entitled to continue dreaming of the miracle of Allah on the field of the European Championship, leaving them with only two battles to conquer on the track of making history.

After the big game between Turkey and Croatia, it will be time for Belgium to make his appearance the next day, and Digan will make his European Championship debut.

"I can't wait to play now, I don't care who the opponent is, in my opinion, there is only one difference between any opponent, those who have been beaten and those who are ready to beat, people are talking about the German team, thinking that they will get back into form after the group breakout and go all the way, but what I have to do is to tell everyone that even if the Germans play 100 per cent in this game, the only thing they can accept in front of the European Red Devils is the fate of defeat!"