EURO 2008 INFO

Having been just two minutes from reaching the semifinals at the European Championship, Croatia is going home with a sinking feeling that things could have been a whole lot different.

One of the pre-tournament dark horses, the Croats led Turkey 1-0 in the quarterfinals after scoring in the second last minute of extra time Friday at Ernst Happel Stadium in Austria. But the Turks equalized a minute later to level at 1-1 and then won the penalty shootout 3-1.

It was the third time at Euro 2008 that Turkey had rallied to win, whereas Croatia won all three group games for the first time at a European Championship.

"This certainly isn't easy to forget, this isn't simply a match you play every week," Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said. "But on the other hand, we have to move on, we have a young team."

Croatia's hopes of playing its first semifinal match at the Euros — which would have been its greatest football achievement after its semifinal appearance at the 1998 World Cup in France — were crushed in dramatic fashion.

After a scoreless 90 minutes on Friday, Ivan Klasnic gave Croatia the lead with a header in the 119th minute, triggering wild celebrations by jubilant Croatian fans. But the Turks again didn't give up, scoring almost immediately on a volley by Semih Senturk to send the game into a shootout.

"The penalties are a lottery," Bilic said. "What is hard to bear is that we did not lose a match at the championships, but we are still out."

Bilic said Croatia didn't deserve such a fate. His team had beaten co-host Austria 1-0 in its lackluster opening match, three-time champion Germany 2-1 in a dominant fashion, and then Poland 1-0 with his second-choice players.

"We had said that the quarterfinals are a success for us," Bilic said Saturday. "But we had expected much more. We had seen ourselves in the final, that's why we are so disappointed and sad.

"What we missed was a bit of luck."

The Croatian team now faces a generational change, with some senior players announcing their retirement. Brothers Robert and Niko Kovac, Dario Simic and Josip Simunic could all quit the team.

"Yes, some of the players are thinking of retirement," Bilic said. "We all feel the same after what has happened to us, but life goes on. The whole nation is in a state of shock, and this is not the time for crucial decisions."

Talented youngsters Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar, Ivan Rakitic, Vedran Corluka and Danijel Pranjic are not going anywhere.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and let's hope this makes us stronger," Simunic said.

The stunning comeback of Klasnic has been one of the bright spots in the tournament for Croatia. Klasnic is the first player to appear at the Euros after needing a kidney replacement. He had one donated by his father, and returned to play in the Bundesliga before joining the national team.

And then there is Eduardo da Silva, Croatia's Brazilian-born striker who missed the tournament through injury. The team never adequately compensated for the loss of Eduardo, its highest scorer in qualifying with 10 goals in 12 games.

"Realistically speaking, we missed Eduardo's scoring skills," Bilic said. "We were a bit weak up front.

"The World Cup qualifiers are imminent, tomorrow is a new day, the sun will rise. We will probably weep for a few more days, but such is life, things like this have happened before."