Turkey
Turkey is a
team that shows their best in the big competitions. Two semi-finals and a
quarter-final since 96 is a record that some other teams with big names cannot
say they have.
After some years of absence they are back with
a new bunch of players with impossible-to-pronounce names and a bigger will
than most rivals. Ready to show that they can repeat the past glories of their
heroes.
How they qualified
It was a
very irregular qualification stage for Turkey that ended up being saved by the disastrous
Holland. With just one point after three games, the Turkish were in trouble but
they turned it around and, thanks to the balance of the group, they ended up as
the best 3rd and qualifying directly to France
Squad
Goalkeepers:
Volkan Babacan (Medipol Basaksehir), Onur Recep Kivrak (Trabzonspor), Harun
Tekin (Bursaspor).
Defenders:
Gokhan Gonul (Fenerbahce), Ahmet Calik (Genclerbirligi), Sener Ozbayrakli
(Fenerbahce), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Mehmet Topal (Fenerbahce), Semih Kaya
(Galatasaray), Ismail Koybasi (Besiktas), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce).
Midfielders:
Emre Mor (FC Nordsjaelland), Volkan Sen (Fenerbahce), Hakan Calhanoglu
(Leverkusen), Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund), Oguzhan Ozyakup (Besiktas), Ozan
Tufan (Fenerbahce), Selcuk Inan (Galatasaray), Arda Turan (Barcelona), Olcay
Sahan (Besiktas).
Forwards:
Burak Yilmaz (Beijing Guoan), Cenk Tosun (Besiktas), Yunus Malli (FSV Mainz
05).
Arda
Turan
Club : Barcelona (SPA)
Age : 29 years
Is the
captain, the most experienced and honored player of the team. Arda Turan is an
attacking midfielder that does extremely well in the wings, and after great
seasons at Galatasaray was transferred to Atl. Madrid becoming the most expensive
Turkish player and helping the colchoneros
reaching the title and Champions League Final.
Arrived at Barcelona in the middle of the
Catalan side’s suspension for registering players, but did a good 2nd
half of season and will be completely ready to lead his national team.
Hakan
Çalhanoğlu
Club : Leverkusen (GER)
Age
: 22 years
He’s not
unknown, especially due to his quality in set pieces, free kicks in particular.
But Çalhanoglu is much more than that, is a player that can play as an
attacking midfielder or as a shadow striker, with a game vision and a style
similar to Mesut Ozil.
Çalhanoglu will have the Euro as a great
opportunity to show all his football, and when he does, the big teams will pay
even more attention to him.
Fatih Terim
The best turkey manager ever, started his
career by qualifying the national side to Euro 1996, the first time in their
history. Collected titles at Galatasaray but was unsuccessful in Italy, going
back home to his two loves.
He was the manager that led the team to the
semifinals in 2008 and will want to repeat the feat.
What to expect from them?
Fatih Terim is likely to keep his 4-2-3-1 that
brought success to Turkey in the last year. The Turks were invincible for 13
games until the defeat at Manchester against England, with a positive football,
always trying to play out of defense. Their intensity and technical ability
makes them a very dangerous team, but they lack speed in the back and that
might cost them.
They have a great matchup in the group, as it’s
balanced and where the extra heart put in a tackle might be the difference
maker and the Turkish should be one team to give us exciting games
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| FIL's Starting XI prediction |
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