EURO friendly report card: Turkey
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Article summary
Turkey won both of their games but did not put in flawless performances in either, though fans back at home will not mind if they continue to stumble to success in France.
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Results
Thursday: Turkey 2-1 Sweden (Cenk Tosun 32 81; Granqvist 74)
Volkan Babacan; Gökhan Gönül, Mehmet Topal, Hakan Balta (Ahmet Çalık 39), Caner Erkin; Ozan Tufan (Çağlar Söyüncü 90+4), Selçuk İnan; Arda Turan (Olcay Şahan 90+2), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Alper Potuk 63), Volkan Şen (Frei 65); Cenk Tosun (Yunus Mallı 82)
The first international match at the Antalya Stadium ended in success for the Crescent-Stars. The combination of some fine Volkan Babacan saves and Cenk Tosun's close-range strike left Turkey 1-0 up at the break, but Andreas Granqvist levelled following a set piece, with the home midfield flagging as the game went on. Cenk, however, popped up to head the winner from Selçuk İnan's free-kick.
Tuesday: Austria 1-2 Turkey (Junuzović 22; Çalhanoğlu 43, Arda 56)
Volkan Babacan; Gökhan Gönül (Şener Özbayraklı 46), Ahmet Çalık, Mehmet Topal, Caner Erkin (İsmail Köybaşı 69); Ozan Tufan, Selçuk İnan, Oğuzhan Özyakup (Volkan Şen 46, Yasin Öztekin 80); Arda Turan, Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Yunus Mallı 73); Cenk Tosun (Nuri Şahin 86)
Both teams showed attacking intent, but it was Marcel Koller's Austria who carved out the bulk of the chances. Zlatko Junuzović finished midway through the first half and Austria looked set to extend their advantage. Instead, however, Hakan Çalhanoğlu scored with a dream free-kick on the half-time whistle and then Arda Turan pounced on a blunder by home goalkeeper Ramazan Özcan to put Turkey ahead.
What we learned
1) Defensive midfielder Mehmet Topal proved once again that he is a very effective centre-back too.
2) Beşiktaş striker Cenk Tosun looks to be first choice when it comes to covering for forward Burak Yılmaz.
3) Turkey can get results even when things go wrong; the team are showing confidence and do not lose their discipline after conceding.
Questions remain
• With a lack of consistent Turkish strikers in the Süper Lig, how can coach Fatih Terim vary his attacking options?
• Winger Gökhan Töre is serving a two-match suspension: will that rule him out of the UEFA EURO 2016 squad?
• Attacking midfielder Oğuzhan Özyakup is having a good campaign with Beşiktaş but can he support the forwards for the national team too?
Room for improvement
There was positive attacking news as Hakan Çalhanoğlu emerged as a second potential free-kick taker along with Selçuk İnan, but a more pressing concern is how Turkey handle set pieces at the other end. Dealing with free-kicks and corners has been a long-standing problem for the national team, and defence may be the most troublesome line in Terim's side.
EURO certainties (if fit)
Goalkeepers: Volkan Babacan (İstanbul BB)
Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe), Caner Erkin (Fenerbahçe), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray)
Midfielders: Arda Turan (Barcelona), Selçuk İnan (Galatasaray), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Leverkusen), Ozan Tufan (Fenerbahçe)
Forwards: Burak Yılmaz (Beijing Guoan)
Media view
Mehmet Demirkol, Fanatik columnist
"Turkey's midfield should have more possession. Why don't they? Because Selçuk İnan is so isolated in front of the defence. This damages the formation. When Mehmet Topal doesn't play as an anchorman, Selçuk will need a defensive midfield partner and Ozan Tufan can do that. This can help players like Oğuzhan Özyakup, Arda Turan and Hakan Çalhanoğlu to be closer to the third zone."