Terim expects tight contest

Semi-final memories
Turkey were semi-finalists in Korea/Japan four years ago, but missed out on UEFA EURO 2004™ in a play-off against Latvia, and had to recover from a shaky start to pip Denmark and Greece to second place in Group 2. The Swiss, meanwhile, emerged from a Group 4 featuring France unbeaten and stage the first leg before travelling to Istanbul four days later.

'Every game important'
Turkey coach Fatih Terim said: "On the road to the World Cup every game is important. We took every match seriously. Switzerland are a good team who had no defeats in their group. They must not be underestimated. Underestimating a side is the biggest mistake."

Swiss-based support
Terim is not displeased with the draw, however. "The first leg in Switzerland cannot be considered an away fixture as we have a huge fan base there. We have complete confidence we can advance from the play-off and go to the World Cup thanks to their strong support."

'Strong reputation'
Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn said: "I would have accepted any of the opponents as we knew all of them would be tough. Turkey have a strong reputation. I have seen some of their games on television but we didn't go into detail before this draw. It's good to know that Turkey also show nerves at times and don't always win comfortably at home.

Istanbul atmosphere
"It doesn't matter to me that we play at home first," he added. "I'm confident my players will do well in the hot-blooded atmosphere of Istanbul. They are used to it from their leagues and recently proved it in Dublin."

Previous encounters
The countries have met 12 times, with Turkey having six wins to Switzerland's three. However, the Swiss have not lost to next month's rivals since a EURO '96™ qualifier, and Kuhn insisted: "Since our last loss, a lot has changed - that was more than ten years ago and doesn't count at all."

Beckenbauer's verdict
Beckenbauer, head of the World Cup local organising committee, is aware of the strength of both teams, not least as Germany lost in Turkey last Saturday. "It's a 50-50 match-up," he said. "The Swiss could have won on Wednesday against the Republic of Ireland and qualified directly. They have a strong side but people have to watch out for this Turkish team. The last team to realise this were my Germany."