Take a moment to look at this picture. The five men in white play for Turkey and are meant to be defending the goal guarded by the man in green. The sole man in red, who plays for Austria, has just headed the ball goalward. The men in white look shocked. The keeper seems to have put in a valiant dive, full stretch, but the ball's going past him... right? Surely, that's a goal if you've ever seen one, eh?
This is Euro 2024 and we have actually seen this before: a match saving header in the last second of added on time past the ninety. If Luka Jovic's stunner against Slovenia kept Serbia alive till the last day of the group stages, this from Christoph Baumgartner would keep Austria in the competition, force extra time against Turkey in the pre-quarters. 93:59 and it was about to be Austria 2-2 Turkey.
It's easy to look at that pic and assume we're here to celebrate the lateness of the goal, the clutchness of the goalscorer. Especially when you consider the set-up, which is just excellent, really -- one of those epics that football writers dream of going on and on about.
Turkey had taken the lead in the 57th second of the game through Merih Demiral and had then doubled it through the same player in the 59th minute. Big Michael Gregoritsch had come on and pulled one back in the 66th. The last hour had seen Austria pour forward, throwing numbers recklessly forward, Turkey sit back, absorb all that pressure and defend valiantly. The rain had been pelting down, adding a cinematic flourish to proceedings. The crowd had been going wild, the vast numbers in Turkish red praying silently and hollering support in turn. It had been the match of the knockouts so far, arguably of the tournament itself, and it was about to get a Euro 2024 special: that last second goal.
Except no one told the man in green.
Mert Gunok is 35 years old and not one of the headliners in this Turkish squad brimming with youthful talent and excitement. He'd debuted 12 years ago and had collected just 31 national caps along the way. A basketball player turned footballer, he is a great shot stopper but not as useful with the ball at his feet -- such a prerequisite for the modern goalkeeper. In goal, he was a late bloomer too. Third choice for most of his time at Fenerbahce (25 appearances in 6 years at the club), demoted to second choice at next club Bursapor after being signed as the main keeper, it wasn't till his second season at Istanbul Basaksehir that he got regular first-team football, aged 30. That year he was named the Turkish goalkeeper of the season. Now Besiktas' main man, Gunok was used in rotation with Manchester United's Altay Bayindir and Trabzonspor's Ugurcan Cakir by Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella, but few had expected him to start the tournament as Montella's #1. Outside Turkey, he was barely a known name. Yet here he was.
As Baumgartner leapt in the air, peeling away from Ferdi Kadioglu to work himself into space, timing his jump perfectly to meet Alexander Prass' whipped cross, Gunok was to show exactly why Montella trusted him so.
Baumgartner's header was textbook: the connection clean, the direction going across (in the direction the cross came from), and it was thumped into the ground so that the slippery surface could add a measure of jeopardy on the bounce. If an attacking coach were to see it, they'd stand up and applaud. Which is what made what came next all the more unbelievable...
Arresting his movement to his left (to cover the near post as any good goalkeeper would), Gunok flew -- there really is no other word for it -- to his right, going fully parallel with the ground, stretched out his enormous hands and gloved it away to safety. Not only did he get to the ball in time, but he also managed to claw it away in a manner that it went behind goal for a corner, and not back into the six-yard box where Marko Arnautovic was lurking for the tap-in. It would be the last meaningful action in the match, and Turkey would win 2-1, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Now, even if you take out the context, the scoreline, the time on the clock, Gunok's save is sensational. Add all of it back in, and it's one of the greatest in European Championship history. And we're here to celebrate it.
What you see in the picture at the top is actually the scene immediately post-save. The ball's been pushed out by Gunok and he's looking back at it, willing it to go past his far post. The expressions on the Turkish defenders' faces is shock, but it's for this display of logic-defying brilliance from their keeper. A save that will be immortalised in Turkish football history.
For laughing at physics and pulling off one of the great saves to lift Turkey into the next round, Mert Gunok takes our Moment of the Day for day 17 of Euro 2024.