Turkey
Thursday, 05 Jun 2008 00:00
Group A dark horses Turkey aiming to go one better than Euro 2000 quarter-finals
Turkey scraped through to Euro 2008 as group C runners-up after a loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina and a draw in Malta threatened to derail their qualification hopes.
Group A fixtures
Portugal v
Turkey
Geneva, June 7th 19:45 BST
Live on ITV1
Switzerland v
Turkey
Basle, June 11th 19:45 BST
Live on BBC2
Turkey v Czech Republic
Geneva, June 15th 19:45 BST
Live on ITV1
European Championship history
Turkey exited Euro 96 with three losses and no goals to their names, tempering their joy at taking part in a major tournament for the first time in more than 50 years.
They returned four years later in the Low Countries to reach the quarter-finals, where a Portugal side featuring Luis Figo and Rui Costa knocked them out.
The man in charge
While not a household name in the UK, Fatih Terim is one of the most widely-respected managers in Europe.
In his second spell as Turkey manager, Terim admitted he would have walked away had his team failed to qualify for Austria-Switzerland after missing out on the World Cup in Germany.
Galatasaray's most-successful manager of all-time after four straight titles in 1996-2000; Terim has experience at the top level after coaching Fiorentina and AC Milan.
The 54-year-old former international's teams are characterised by the aggressive, attacking football they play and earlier this season was linked with replacing then Chelsea manager Avram Grant.
Team forte
Pace and flair in attack abound for Turkey in the shape of Middlesbrough striker Tuncay Sanli and Villarreal's Nihat Kahveci.
Achilles heel
Goals from midfield are hard to come by from the Turks, who are suffering from a lack of confidence in creative spark Emre, whose career in England with Newcastle United is coming to an end.
Player to watch
Volkan Demirel has excelled since replacing legendary Turkish goalkeeper Rüstü Reçber and has proven his abilities as a natural shot stopper after saving three penalties as his side Fenerbahce progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Sevilla.
Chances of victory
Portugal and the Czech Republic are clear favourites to progress from group A, while co-hosts Switzerland will be desperate to progress.
This makes Turkey the least fancied team of the group, but the underdog status could play into Terim's team's hands.
The golden generation of Turkish players that reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup may have passed, but Fenerbahce's unexpected success in the Champions League proves there is a new batch of players waiting to make their own names on the big stage.
If Turkey can upset the Swiss in Basle and get a result against one of Portugal or the Czech Republic they could find themselves reaching the knockout stages for the second time in their history.
Squad
Goalkeepers
1 Rüstü Reçber
12 Tolga Zengin
23 Volkan Demirel
Defenders
2 Servet Çetin
4 Gökhan Zan
13 Emre Güngör
15 Emre Asik
20 Sabri Sarioglu
22 Hamit Altintop
Midfielders
3 Hakan Balta
5 Emre Belözoglu
6 Mehmet Topal
7 Mehmet Aurélio
10 Karadeniz Gökdeniz
11 Tümer Metin
14 Arda Turan
16 Ugur Boral
17 Tuncay Sanli
19 Ayhan Akman
Forwards
8 Nihat Kahveci
9 Semih Sentürk
18 Kazim Kazim
21 Mevlüt Erdinç