Big Test For Turkey

Gokhan Onal

The Turkish National Team and their coach Fatih Terim are about to face a big test against Norway in Oslo in Euro 2008 Qualifying Round Group C on Saturday.

Turkey have 18 points from 10 games, and are third in the table, whereas Norway have 20 points from 10 games, and lie second. Turkey will play against Bosnia-Herz at home, and Norway will play against Malta in away match on Wednesday, so Saturday’s fixture is vital for both teams.

Turkish fans still remember coming third in the World Cup 2002, chiefly due to their so called “brilliant generation” many of whom were involved in the last great Turkish European success at club level, Galatasaray’s UEFA Cup triumph in 2000. Players such as Hakan Sukur, Tugay Kerimoglu, Hasan Sas, Bulent Korkmaz, and Ergun Pembe are still around, but times have been difficult lately. They failed to qualify for Euro 2004 after being eliminated by Estonia (1-0, 2-2) surprisingly in the last round, and then they failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup too, being eliminated by Switzerland (2-0, 4-2) in two matches fraught with high-tension. If they fail again against Norway on Saturday, it will be their third time in a row, and that could be disastrous for them.

At the beginning of their latest adventure, things weren’t bad for them actually. Despite their suspension from those controversial Switzerland games (they played in Germany and without spectators in their first three home games), they collected 13 points in the first 5 games, and were top team of the table. In this period, they also trounced current European Champions Greece 4-1 in their own backyard, Athens.

But in the following matches, they failed to continue their strong performances and the defence was particularly at fault.(conceded 7 goals in 5 games); lost against Bosnia-Herz and Greece (3-2 and 1-0), lost 4 points against Malta and Moldova (2-2 and 1-1), and could collect only 5 points from 5 games. Despite these disappointing results, the points they collected in the early qualifiers has given them a last chance against Norway. Now they have to win against Norway and Bosnia-Herz, or get a draw against Norway and win against Bosnia-Herz and hope for Norway to fail against Malta on Wednesday.

If we look at the games they played so far, we can see that the sub-divisions of Turkish football family (such as media, fans, players, coach, federation) all failed to unite. Some controversies among this family have even rumbled on for a few months. For example, Terim has been blamed for using “his” own players (players he used to coach at club level) such as Emre Belozoglu rather than using “in-form” players. Terim and Emre finally snapped when certain sections of the press claimed Emre had been cosy with Terim’s daughter. After the game against Hungary Emre answered them in the form of a middle finger salute directed at the press box. Relations between the coach and media have been even more strained since.

In Turkey’s qualification journey so far, Terim has used 34 different players due to injuries and suspensions etc, in just 10 games. Emre Belozoglu was suspended for the first 4 games, Yildiray Basturk, Rustu Recber and Nihat Kahveci have dealt with major long-term injuries and Tuncay Sanli is out-of-form ever since his transfer to Middlesbrough where failing to secure a starting place has not helped. Thus Terim has had to blood players with little international experience. But 34 is still a big number, and it has shown in the team’s performances. Terim just couldn’t get that ideal group of 10-15 players together on a regular basis and allow them time to gel as a team.

This has shown particularly in defence where Turkey has had problems. While star-goalkeeper Rustu was injured, Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahce) and Hakan Arikan (Besiktas) played, but both goalkeepers didn’t impress and found themselves at the sharp end of press criticism. Servet Cetin, Gokhan Zan, İbrahim Toraman, İbrahim Uzulmez made mistakes at crucial times and also came under fire from angry supporters and press. The team scored 22 goals in 10 games, but their defence never looked strong, and this may make their job even harder against Norway since they are going to Oslo to win.

Apart from 34 players, Terim has called up 4 more different players for the games against Norway & Bosnia-Herz: Semih Senturk, Gokhan Gonul, İbrahim Kas and Sedat Bayrak. Semih and Gokhan have been having a successful season with Fenerbahce; Semih scored important goals while Kezman was out due to injury, and Gokhan plays as a right-back, with his an abundance of energy for both attacking and defensive duties. Ibrahim and Sedat are young defenders from Besiktas and Sivasspor respectively, but they have less international experience and are not expected to play in such a vital match.

The Norway game is very important for Terim’s career as well as the immediate future of the national side. A former Galatasaray coach (where he won the UEFA Cup) he then moved to Fiorentina and had a successful season there. Next stop was giants AC Milan, where he enjoyed a brief spell in charge before returning to Turkey. Coming back to the scene of his greatest triumphs as a coach, Galatasaray, Terim failed to win the Turkish title, and even to qualify for the Champions League first group stage in 2003/04. He’s been with Turkish National Team since 2005, and in his first qualification campaign, Turkey failed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany. If Terim cannot guide Turkey to Euro 2008 he will face some very big questions, questions he may not be allowed to answer.