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EURO place a must Turkey's Selçuk İnan

"Being successful and winning trophies is not enough," Galatasaray's Selçuk İnan told UEFA.com with his Turkey team-mates desperate to reach UEFA EURO 2016.

A EURO finals place tops Selçuk İnan's footballing bucket list
A EURO finals place tops Selçuk İnan's footballing bucket list ©AFP/Getty Images

A superb home result against the Netherlands has resurrected Turkey's UEFA EURO 2016 campaign, and Galatasaray midfielder Selçuk İnan, 30, is determined not to miss out on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance of final tournament football.

UEFA.com: The 3-0 win against the Netherlands in September was something special; what was it like to play in?

Selçuk İnan: We are very emotional individuals. We are always very disappointed after a defeat and very happy after a victory. That is who we are and we cannot change it. After the Netherlands game, we were as happy as we were sad after the Latvia match [a 1-1 draw three days before]. To beat the Netherlands 3-0 and get back into the race to qualify for EURO 2016 was very important. My team-mates and I were so happy that I didn't manage to sleep at all that night.

Now everything is in our hands. If we win our last two games, we will get the opportunity to compete at EURO 2016, [and competing in major tournaments] is something that has been missing for this team. I am very excited about that prospect.

UEFA.com: Turkey have a strange habit of dropping points against smaller sides; how can you explain that?

Selçuk: Sometimes, if you do not respect your opponents enough – regardless of how weak they are or how strong you are – you will not get the result you want. Maybe that has been a factor in some of our results, although you cannot say we were not prepared or focused for those games.

Sometimes things just don't go your way on the pitch, and we as Turks are aware of that. Sometimes we get carried away when we concede a goal and it takes some time to get over it.

We've lost a lot of games and conceded a lot of goals in the last few minutes of matches – so many that I'm not even sure it is possible for that to happen again. Back in EURO 2008 it was the exact opposite – we managed to be successful by scoring goals in the last few minutes. It seems we might have used all our last-minute goal credits over there!

UEFA.com: Do you think tiredness undermines Turkey in the closing stages of games?

Selçuk İnan: I wouldn't say tiredness exactly, but maybe the desire not to concede subconsciously makes us pull back and defend more. That is something you often see in the Turkish league. Regardless of the opposition's strength, the winning team often defends when they are ahead. I think we might need to work on that.

Highlights: Turkey 3-0 Netherlands

UEFA.com: What are your thoughts on the upcoming games away to the Czech Republic and at home to Iceland?

Selçuk İnan: Group games are always difficult and these two teams are still competing for first place. It is going to be very difficult but we are feeling confident. We've made it this far, and between ourselves as players we've agreed that this kind of opportunity does not come for many teams. We are confident we can get the results we need.

UEFA.com: How important is it for this generation to make it to UEFA EURO 2016?

Selçuk İnan: This is possibly the most important thing for me right now, because playing in the Turkish league, being successful and winning trophies is not enough. The national team is always very important for a player, and of course this is a missing piece for us – not to have made it to a major tournament. A lot of my team-mates see it the same way, which is why we really want to get to the 2016 European Championship.