FanHouse

If you were looking for an accurate striker in today's EURO 2008 semifinal between Germany and Turkey, you were better off looking to the skies.

Lightning reportedly knocked out the worldwide TV feed coming from Basle, Switzerland, three times, causing fans all over the planet to miss large chunks of the second half -- including Miroslav Klose's goal in the 79th minute that put Germany ahead, 2-1. Try to imagine for a moment the sheer number of pub fights sparked across the planet by these technical difficulties, all of which stopped the moment the picture came back on.

Of course, when the picture came back the second time, Germans got to see Jens Lehmann botch another save attempt in the 86th minute. He got down on his knees in front of his own net to field a cross, only to watch Semih Senturk sneak in front of him and poke it into goal. The only thing more heroic than Senturk's equalizer was the efforts of the TV crews in Basle to get the signal back up in time to show it to us. How much more improbable could Turkey's run get?

Alas, their luck finally ran out three minutes later.

Germany pushed forward after Senturk's goal, as they only seemed to do whenever Turkey scored in this match, and left back Philip Lahm finished it off by putting the ball in the top left corner of the net. That pinpoint strike appeared to give Germany a pass to the finals -- except they were playing Turkey, and anything could happen.

Alas, what happened was yet another lightning strike, so nobody outside of St. Jakob Park or the designated fan zones in Basle got to witness stoppage time. We can only go by what we're told, which is that Turkey's final push fell short.

It was a shame for the Turks, who had the better run of play throughout the game. They dominated the first half with a nothing-to-lose attack, but in the end, the Germans exposed the holes in their back line. Suspensions and injuries finally caught up to them, putting an end to their valiant efforts.

Of course, the Germans have their own defensive hole, and his name is Jens Lehmann. Both Turkish goals were a result of Lehmann's blunderiffic performance. Artur Boruc might be getting a call from Arsene Wenger any minute now.

Germany awaits the winner of tomorrow's Spain v. Russia semifinal. Let's hope the weather in Vienna is just a little more cooperative for that one.