Coach: Fatih Terim
Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, and Turkey



The Bar Is Set High

Turkey are back in a final tournament after missing out on both Euro 2004 and the World Cup in 2006. However, the disappointment in failing to make either tournament has been acted upon by the Turkish FA, and the reward of investing in youth has been handsome for the national side as they qualified for the a major tournament for the first time in six years.

After surprising the world at the World Cup in 2002 when they reached the semi-finals of the tournament, many anticipated a golden era in Turkish football. However, although several of that squad moved abroad the momentum wasn’t built on and Turkey have failed to impress.

Action was taken in 2006 as the Turks insisted that every team should only play a maximum of six foreign players, with a further two allowed on the bench at kick-off. This has promoted the growth of Turkish youngsters, many of whom have since been called into the squad named recently by experienced coach Faith Terim.

Coach

Fatih Terim - Looking Back Over His Shoulder

In coach Faith Terim they have an experienced campaigner who is in his third spell at the helm. He has also had managerial spells in club football at AC Milan and Galatasary, helping the latter to Turkey’s sole triumph in European competition when they won the UEFA Cup in 2000.

That, though, has been a high-watermark of his achievements so far. Taking over the national team once more in 2005, he couldn't quite steer the side towards the World Cup of 2006. Despite a fine, unbeaten run towards the end of qualifying, the Turks lost out in a play-off with Switzerland on away goals and thus stayed at home.

Their 2002 involvement in the Far East now a distant memory, the coach will look to end his tenure on a high note: he will step down after the tournament.

A Look At The Squad

Goalkeepers

In goal first choice will be Volkan Demirel. The Fenebahce keeper is capable of combing the brilliant with the awful, often in the same game as illustrated by his performance in the round of 16 match in Sevilla. After a shaky 10 minutes in which his blunders directly contributed to Sevilla's 2-0 lead, he followed that up with an excellent 110 minutes and saved three penalties in the resulting shoot-out.

His back-up with be the experienced Rustu Receber, one of the few players still to be involved with the national team from the 2002 generation, and Trabzonspor’s Tolga Zenin.

Defence

With 11 goals conceded in qualifying - one of the highest of any of the teams involved, and a record bettered by several teams not taking part - defence has to be the area that Turkey work on.

The defence may well be marshalled by Gatatasary’s Servet Cetin. The 27 year old has been tracked by several Premiership clubs including Portsmouth and a strong tournament could see him moving on in the summer.

Other defensive options include Cetin’s team-mate Emre Asik, although the most likely partner is Besiktas Gokhan Zan. Meanwhile the promising Ibrahim Kas has just left Besiktas to join Getafe for the 2008/09 season and can operate either centrally or on either flank.

In the fullback positions either Galatasary’s Hakan Balta or Fenerbahce’s Ugur Boral will play on the left, whilst on the right Fenerbahce’s Gokhan Gonul will be competing with Galatasary’s Sabri Sarriolgu for the spot.

Midfield

The naturalised Brazilian Mehmet Aurelio will most likely perform holding duties in the midfield engine room for Turkey. The Fenerbahce player has been called up into the squad after accepting Turkish nationality. The former Flamengo player was one of the stand-out performers for Fenerbahce during their excellent run in Europe this season and Turkish fans will be hoping he can continue his fine form for his new country.

Other more attacking midfield options include Newcastle’s Emre, who is still yet to convince fans of the Magpies that he is the real deal, despite his generally excellent performances for his country, he has been able to rekindle that in the Premiership. Bayern Munich’s Hamit Altintop would have been a certain starter but a foot injury picked up whilst playing for Turkey in a friendly may restrict his playing time.

His twin brother Halil Altintop may be ideally placed to take his place. Although slightly more attacking in his style of play the Schalke player, who played with his brother until last summer, could easily replace Hamit, the older of the pair by 10 minutes. Halil has struggled for form this season with Schalke, but is a capable passer of the ball who contributes equally to defence as attack.

VfB Stuttgart’s Yildiary Basturk is another, like Nihat, who has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, although he has been relatively injury free this season. It’s been many seasons since he showed his best form for either club or country, yet the former Hertha Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen, on his day is one of the most talented midfielders Turkey have ever produced.

Another exciting prospect is Galatasary’s Arda Turan who can play as an attacking winger on either flank. He managed to weigh in with 6 League goals over the course of the season helping is team to become champions of Turkey for the second time in three seasons. Along with Ugur Boral, who can also play further forward on the left as well as in defence, they could provide some excellent service for Turkey’s forwards from the flanks operating either side of a two man central midfield.

Lesser known but also a strong player is Gokdeniz Karadeniz. Plying his trade in the Russian league with Rubin Kazan, following a transfer in the region of over $8 million after a strong 9 years spell with Trabzonspor, he has hit 4 goals in just 7 games for his new club. He prefers a deep lying position in midfield and his modest goal scoring record at international level suggests he will play in midfield for Turkey. If Turkey go narrow in midfield he may be used to provide the link between midfield and attack.

Attack

The most obvious candidate to score the goals for Turkey will be Nihat. The Villarreal based forward has had a brilliant season in Spain and could be the striker to take over the mantle of Hakan Sukur. If Nihat can get some service from the like of Boral and Turan then Turkey could well be on course to spring a surprise.

Nihat tends to play best when partnered with a target man and those duties will probably be fulfilled by Middlesbrough’s Tuncay. The former Fenerbahce star has struggled for goals in England with only 8 in 34 games after enjoying a strike ratio of about 1 in 3 whilst playing in Turkey. However, his record at international level is still respectable and if can win enough balls in the air for Nihat then the pair could form an excellent partnership.

Other out and out striking options include Fenerbahce’s Semih Senturk. Seldom seem during Fenerbahce’s run in the Champions League, Senturk enjoys an excellent record in the Turkish game and hit 17 goals in just 33 games this season, to finish his side’s top scorer in the league this season.

Sochaux’s Mevlut Erdinc is a name that won’t be familiar to many Turkish fans as he has played his entire career in France. However, after breaking through at the mid-table Ligue 1 side this season he finished as Sochaux’s top scorer with 11 goals this season.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel, Rüştü Reçber, Tolga Zengin

Defenders: Emre Güngör, Hakan Balta, Sabri Sarıoğlu, Servet Çetin, Uğur Boral, Gökhan Zan, Emre Aşık

Midfielders: Emre Belözoğlu, Kazım Kazım, Hamit Altıntop, Ayhan Akman, Tuncay Şanlı, Arda Turan, Mehmet Topal, Mehmet Aurelio, Tümer Metin, Gökdeniz Karadeniz

Attackers: Nihat Kahveci, Semih Şentürk, Mevlüt Erdinç.

Key Players

Nihat Kahveci: After the retirement of Hakan Suker from international football, for so long the focus of a nation’s hopes, a new hero could emerge at Euro 2008: Nihat Kahveci. The Villarreal striker has enjoyed an excellent season in Spain and comes into the tournament in fine form. If he can find the back of the net with a degree of regularity over the course of the tournament, Turkey could be one of the surprises of Euro 2008. At only 5'9" Nihat isn’t going to win too many balls in the air but despite his relatively stocky frame he has a deceptively quick turn of pace, similar in many respects to Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez. His clever movement and intelligent positioning make him a dangerous customer to mark for opposition defences and his ability to strike up partnerships with most strikers also makes him an ideal player to have in the squad.

Ugor Boral: Although not well known outside Turkey, Fenerbahce winger Ugor Boral who has been called into the Turkish squad for Euro 2008, could develop into one of the stars of the tournament. Capable of playing at either left back or left wing, Boral gets up and down the flank well and can cover in defence if the full-back gets ahead of him. At 26 Boral definitely has his best years ahead of him and he could be a star not only of this tournament but in the future as well.

Mehmet Aurelio: With the occasionally erratic Demirel in goal, especially on crosses into the box, stopping service from wide areas, against their opponents has to be made a priority. An onus will therefore fall onto Mehmet Aurelio’s shoulders in midfield to keep the teams shape and organise the defence so that Turkey can make it hard for opponents to play through them.

Prediction

In what is destined to be a tight Group A, Turkey similarly must keep it tight at the back if they're to progress to the same extent that they did back in 2006.