Turkey's Nihat Kahveci scores his side's decisive third goal during the group A match between Turkey and Czech Republic in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, at the Euro 2008 European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. - AP Photo

VIENNA, Austria (AP):

Turkey joined the growing list of quarter-finalists at the European Championship, capping an incredible comeback with two late goals from Nihat Kahveci to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 and claim second place in Group A.

Nihat equalised for the Turks in the 87th minute and then added another in the 89th to send the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists into the knockout rounds. Turkey, which also rallied to beat Switzerland, will face Group B winner Croatia in the quarter-finals on Friday in Vienna.

Portugal, which had already assured itself of first place in Group A, lost to already-eliminated Switzerland 0-2 in Basel. Hakan Yakin scored both goals in the second half for the co-hosts against a second-string Portuguese line-up.

Today, pre-tournament favourite Germany try to join Croatia in the quarter-finals when they face co-hosts Austria in Vienna. The Croats will face Poland in Klagenfurt. The Netherlands and Spain have also already clinched quarter-final spots, with three more places still to be decided.

Banging shot

Arda Turan started the Turkish comeback with a goal in the 75th minute, taking a pass from Hamit Altintop and banging his shot in off the post.

Nihat then took advantage of an unlikely blunder from goalkeeper Petr Cech, who fumbled a simple cross and allowed the Villarreal forward to shoot the ball into an empty net. With the match looking like it would be decided on penalties, Nihat scored another with a shot that bounced off the post.

"At that moment, I just thought of shooting to where I saw," Nihat said. "It went well and it got in, thank God."

Turkey then held on to the lead despite losing goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who got a red card for knocking down Jan Koller and will miss the quarter-finals. Midfielder Tuncay Sanli replaced Demirel in goal for the final seconds.

The Czechs had taken the lead in the 34th when Zdenek Grygera sent a cross from the right to the towering Koller.

Scoring a pass

Jaroslav Plasil then slid into a cross from teammate Libor Sionko ahead of Turkey defender Sabri Sarioglu and put his shot in the net in the 62nd. Demirel again got a piece of it but couldn't keep it out of the net.

The win was Switzerland's first in three European Championship appearances. The Swiss failed to win a match at the 1996 tournament in England and also in Portugal four years ago, earning just one draw in each.

Also, referee Howard Webb insisted his decision to give a penalty against Poland in their 1-1 draw with Austria on Thursday was the right one, even though it resulted in Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying he wanted to "kill" the English match official.

"I gave the decision that I saw was right at the time. I hope that people later look back and see it was the right decision," Webb said. "Referees have to stand up and be counted."