By: Gabby Zhou

European Cup
The finalists of the 2024 Euro Cups are the following: Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, England, Denmark, Slovenia, Austria, France, Netherlands, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Portugal, Turkey, and Georgia. Everyone is cheering for their favorite team as the rounds begin. One game that caught people’s eyes was the match between Czechia] and Turkey. To advance to the next round of the game, the Czech Republic needed to win only one game while Turkey only needed to avoid defeat. The game ended with Turkey winning 2-1; however, it is known as the dirtiest soccer game in European history, with the most cards ever given in a match.

Cards
A record was made that day- 18 cards were given by the referee during the match: 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards, a record for the amount of cards given in a game. “The action started in the 11th minute when Antonin Barak was handed a yellow card for a pull on Ferdi Kadioglu.” (The New York Times [The Athletic], 2024) Under 10 minutes later, he received another one. After Ozcan was booked in the 31st minute, the next card went to Czech striker Patrik Schick, who was not even on the pitch Muldur, Vitezslav Jaros, Lukas Cerv and backup goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, including many others, all received cards during the game. Lastly, the Czechia’s 2nd red card was shown to “Viktoria Plzen striker Tomas Chory, who had become involved in a physical tussle with Mert Gunok, Turkey’s No 1 goalkeeper.” (The New York Times [The Athletic], 2024)

History
This match was probably of little consequence from the Football (Soccer) perspective. But today, it holds a special place in European history. Sadly, Czechia did not qualify for the next rounds of the Euro Cup, but that day was probably one of the most memorable for its players.