Ottoman ovation...

Cynic that I am all I can think of is that Germany have just been handed a place in the final: in my opinion the ref denied Croatia the win that was theirs...just. He should have blown the whistle for full time long before the 122 minute but hey, that's football; the Turks did their bit and deserved a chance which they took and won penalty shoot-out with aplomb [Reuters] there wasn't even any need to get to the 4th Turkish penalty as Modric and Rakitic for Croatia missed 2 and Rustu saved from Petric...unbelievable...maybe the Turkish team can pull off another...it would be the 4th (!!!) come back...but no, it's against Germany in the semi-final and with half their team suspended on 2 yellow cards I really can't see them getting a look-in...I predict 4 - 0 Germany; how annoying.

Update: Phil McNulty of the BBC puts it so much better than me...

And, with grim inevitability, I believe the real winners when the dust settles will be Germany.

...and who can't agree with his final comment:

Whatever the outcome, and I will not sit on the fence at this stage, Turkey have contributed hugely to the excitement and colour of what is turning into a classic Euro 2008.