A proud moment for the under-achievers
CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTDOWN: No 12 Turkey
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Your support makes all the difference.By any criteria, Turkey are the great under-achievers of European football. With a population of 55 million, they ought to get a decent side together every once in a while just by the law of averages.
Their glory days, and we are clutching at trifles here, came in the 1950s when they twice qualified for the finals of the World Cup. In 1950, however, they did not go to Brazil because they could not afford the air fare and four years later in Switzerland, they failed to advance from their initial group. As for the European Championship, don't ask.
So it is not difficult to see why Turkish supporters load Fatih Terim with extravagant praise for actually getting the team to England for the finals.
It is not hard to see why the 42-year-old is known as the "soccer magician". Terim, who made 51 international appearances as a centre-back and sweeper, inherited a squad in July 1993 that had won only one of eight World Cup qualifying games (against San Marino) under the Dane, Sepp Piontek. Galatasaray, Turkey's leading club side, may have been causing embarrassment in Manchester, but the national side were a mess.
Terim's response was to drop 12 players from his squad for his first match, changing from a fragile 3-5-2 formation into a more robust 3-3- 2-2 system. In the past the Turks would charge forward, but were more reluctant to get back; now they are harder to break down.
The results have changed and so has the attitude. "I want a team who fight as if their lives depend on it," Terim said. "I want them to battle every time they go out to play."
The players have obviously listened because they have suffered only one competitive defeat since and qualified ahead of Sweden in their group. Only Switzerland beat them in that campaign, a reverse that was avenged in Berne last year.
Terim's team is drawn exclusively from four clubs - Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Trabzonspor - with the German-born Oguz Cetin the playmaker. At 33 his stamina is suspect, but if he can endure then Hakan Sukur, who has 13 goals in 23 international appearances, is likely to profit.
Turkey are unlikely to progress beyond their initial group, but for them the taking part is truly an achievement in itself. As the followers of Manchester United and Aston Villa could testify, Turkish football is improving quickly.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers
Rustu Recber Fenerbahce
Sanver Goymen Altay
Adnan Erkan Ankaragucu
Defenders
Alpay Ozalan Besiktas
Recep Cetin Besiktas
Bulent Korkmaz Galatasaray
Ogun Temizkanoglu Trabzonspor
Rahim Zafer Genclerbirligi
Midfielders
Tayfun Korkut Fenerbahce
Oguz Cetin Fenerbahce
Sergen Yalcin Besiktas
Tolunay Kafkas Trabzonspor
Abdullah Ercan Trabzonspor
Tugay Kerimoglu Galatasaray
Vedat Inceefe Karabukspor
Forwards
Ertugrul Saglam Besiktas
Hami Mandirali Trabzonspor
Orhan Cikirikci Trabzonspor
Hakan Sukur Galatasaray
Arif Erdem Galatasaray
Saffet Sancakli Kocaelispor
Faruk Yigit Kocaelispor
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