Warm welcome for Turkey in Marseille
Monday, June 6, 2016
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A bright, sunny day reflected the mood of optimism in the Turkey camp as Fatih Terim's new-look comeback kings arrived for UEFA EURO 2016 with some extra technical advisers.
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Some greats from the past accompanied a youthful Turkey squad as they arrived in Marseille on a bright, sunny day with high hopes for UEFA EURO 2016.
Fatih Terim's men landed at Marseille Provence airport on Monday afternoon with three members of the coach's UEFA EURO 2008 team brought along to give "technical support" to the current squad: Nihat Kahveci, Tümer Metin and Tuncay Şanlı. Meanwhile, Hakan Balta, Arda Turan and Mehmet Topal are the only veterans of 2008 still in Terim's selection, which is one of the youngest at the finals.
That 2008 side earned a reputation as comeback kings, turning defeat into victory in three games in Austria and Switzerland, and today's crop have embraced that tag too. "It's not over until we say it's over" reads the message emblazoned – in Turkish and English – on their team coach, Terim's latest vintage having defied the odds by qualifying after taking only one point from their first three fixtures.
A small crowd of fans greeted the squad at the airport along with local dignitaries and Feriba Duygu Hokkacı Esirgen, Turkey's consul general in Marseille, who joked with Terim that the weather had been specially prepared for his charges. Most of France had been soaking wet for days before drying up conveniently in time for Turkey's arrival.
From the airport, it was on to the team base, a golf resort at Saint-Cyr-Sur-Mer – the southernmost base camp at the finals.
