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UEFA EURO 2016: Turkey team preview
Prior to booking their place in France this summer, Turkey had failed to qualify for a major tournament since Euro 2008. The last time they did, they finished third by default after losing to Germany 3–2 in the semifinals, knocked out in the last minute of the game courtesy of Philipp Lahm’s goal. Doing well at one tournament then enduring a spell where they fail to qualify seems to be a trend with Turkey, as they also finished third at the the World Cup in 2002, but then failed to qualify for the next three renewals of the tournament.
This time around they have made it to the finals of a major tournament, even if it was by the skin of their teeth. A last minute free kick in the final qualifier saw their name entered into the hat for the group stages of this competition as a result of finishing as the best third placed side in qualifying.
EURO 2016 Squad
Goalkeepers: Harun Tekin (Bursaspor), Onur Kıvrak (Trabzonspor), Volkan Babacan (İstanbul Başakşehir).
Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe), Şener Özbayraklı (Fenerbahçe), Ahmet Çalık (Gençlerbirliği), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Mehmet Topal (Fenerbahçe), Semih Kaya (Galatasaray), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahçe), İsmail Köybaşı (Beşiktaş).
Midfielders: Emre Mor (Nordsjælland), Volkan Şen (Fenerbahçe), Hakan Çalhanoğu (Bayer Leverkusen), Nuri Şahin (Borussia Dortmund), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ozan Tufan (Fenerbahçe), Selçuk İnan (Galatasaray), Arda Turan (Barcelona), Olcay Şahan (Beşiktaş)
Forwards: Burak Yılmaz (Beijing Guoan), Cenk Tosun (Beşiktaş), Yunus Mallı (Mainz).
Key Player: Selçuk İnan
All of the hype surrounding Turkey seems to have been about both Arda Turan and Hakan Calhanoglu, but it’s another player who could be the key to any success Turkey might enjoy at these finals. Selçuk İnan, 31, is a crucial defensive central midfielder for this team. As a player who’s known for both the accuracy of his passing and set pieces, Inan earned himself an average rating of 7.20 on Whoscored.com in the Champions League and Turkish Super Lig last season. And it was Inan himself who took that decisive free-kick in the dying moments of their qualifying campaign. That 89-minute winner against Iceland was the difference between making it straight to France and playing in a play-off tie.
Qualifying
Turkey qualified automatically after finishing third in Group A, leaving behind footballing giants Holland. Despite qualifying in third place they started the campaign very poorly. A 0-3 defeat to Iceland was followed by a 1-2 home defeat to Czech Republic and then a 1-1 draw against Latvia. Things have certainly brightened up since then, culminating in a 3-0 home win over Holland, which will surely be regarded as one of the country’s best matches during the last decade.
Group Matches
Turkey v Croatia – 12th June, 2016
Spain v Turkey – 17th June, 2016
Czech Republic v Turkey 21st June, 2016
Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule.
Verdict
Turkey seem to have made a habit of reaching the semi-finals whenever they qualify for a major tournament, so it would not be too far-fetched to expect a good showing from them here. Besides Inan, they also have highly talented players such as Arda Turan and Hakan Çalhanoğlu. Although considering they’ll face Spain and Croatia in this group, finishing first or second will be very tough, but they could still rely on another third-placed finish to see them through.
The bet that looks good regarding this team is ‘Turkey To Score Over 3.5 Group Goals’. They have plenty of attacking options, as well and one or two players who are capable of creating goals out of nothing.
Arda Turan hasn’t exactly been fully exerted for Barcelona over the past season, so he’s likely to be fresher than a number of other players in France. In terms of ability, and certainly creativity, Turan is likely to be the number one attacking threat for Turkey at these finals, and, at odds of 6/1, he looks to be a good bet as the team’s top-scorer.
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