Germany’s Philipp Lahm, the consummate attacking full-back, capped his fifth outing at UEFA EURO 2008™ with the last-minute winning goal that secured his country’s place in their record sixth UEFA European Championship final.
Worthy opponent
However, his direct opponent, Turkey’s adventurous right-back Sabrı Sarıoğlu, produced an equally deserving display on the night. In the end, Germany’s extra power and quality made the difference in an encounter of fine margins. But injury and suspension-stricken Turkey, and Sabri in particular, certainly proved worthy semi-finalists in what was, for the most part, a blow-for-blow match.
Wing play
Sabri’s lukewarm 63 per cent pass completion rate told only a fraction of the story of his impact on the match. Turkey’s opening goal, on 22 minutes, emanated from some cavalier forward play by the Galatasaray AS right-back when he crossed to Kazım Kazım, whose strike hit the crossbar before Uğur Boral forced the rebound past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Later, when Turkey levelled the match at 2-2 with just four minutes remaining, it was another Sabri delivery that set up goalscorer Semih Şentürk. On both occasions the surging Turkey right-back — who covered 9.88km in the match — got the better of Lahm, deployed on the left for Germany with Arne Friedrich on the opposite side of the defence.
Magnificent Lahm
However, the diminutive FC Bayern München player reaped his revenge when in attacking mode himself, and was a threat every time he crossed the halfway line. Only covering marginally less ground than Sabri, 9.56km in total, Lahm’s economy in possession was impressive. Only centre-back Per Mertesacker played more passes than Lahm, who registered a 76 per cent success rate, well above average for his side. Furthermore, the 24-year-old full-back delivered more balls to lone striker Miroslav Klose than any other Germany player, with three in all, including the enticing cross from the left wing that resulted in Klose heading his side 2-1 up eleven minutes from time.
Finishing touch
But it was Lahm’s final contribution to his team’s cause that mattered most. In the 90th minute, with the match poised to go to extra time and, perhaps, a penalty shoot-out, it was another Lahm foray — peeling off the touchline to weave his way into the Turkey box, play a one-two with Thomas Hitzlsperger and subtly lift the ball into the net — that sealed the fate of Sabri and his colleagues, and booked Germany’s place in Sunday’s final.
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