Group 7: High stakes in Slovakia

By Simon Hart

"The match of the year for us." Those were the words of František Laurinec, president of the Slovak Football Association, ahead of his country's home UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifier against Turkey.

Trailing top two
A victory on Saturday would keep alive Slovakia's hopes of qualifying from Group 7 where, after four matches played, they trail Turkey by three points and leaders England by four. With England to come in Middlesbrough next Wednesday, a positive result is vital for a side beaten 3-0 in Istanbul last September.

Günes aims high
However, Turkey are looking to get back on track after the 2-0 defeat by England and their coach, Senol Günes, said: "Our target is to win all our remaining matches and finish first in the group."

'A strong team
Günes added that he would be "relieved" to win in Bratislava as Slovakia "are a strong team". Turkey - who play in the FIFA Confederations Cup in France later this month - lost their most recent match just across the border, a 4-0 friendly defeat by the Czech Republic, but Günes argued his players lacked motivation that night.

Karhan warning
He will be without the injured Sergen Yalçin and Fatih Tekke and there are suggestions he might try Hakan Sükür and Nihat Kahveci together in attack. Nihat was one player singled out by Slovakia captain Miroslav Karhan, who had a spell in Turkey with Besiktas JK.

Kožlej called up
Now playing for VfL Wolfsburg in Germany, Karhan also cited Yildiray Bastürk, Emre Belözoglu, and Okan Buruk as players to watch out for, but added: "Turkey's good run from the [FIFA] World Cup cannot last forever." Slovakia are missing FK Viktoria Zizkov forward Tomáš Oravec and his place has gone to Jozef Kožlej of Omonia Nicosia FC.

Popov injury
Saturday's other match pits F.Y.R. Macedonia against Liechtenstein. Macedonia's preparations have not been helped by injuries to a number of players. Midfield player Robert Popov became the latest casualty when he suffered a knee injury in training, joining a casualty list that includes Brazilian-born striker Aguinaldo de Jesus Braga and defender Boban Grncarov.

No complacency
Coach Nikola Ilievski has drafted in FK Sloga Jugomagnat youngster Vladimir Sekulovski as cover along with forwards Dragan Dimitrovski and Arben Nuhiji. F.Y.R. Macedonia, fourth in the group with two points, visit Turkey four days after the Liechtenstein match but Ilievski warned nothing could be taken for granted in either match.

Loose talks
"There aren't big differences any more between big and small national teams," he said. Ilievski may have had in mind the 1-1 draw in Vaduz when these sides last met. His Liechtenstein counterpart, Ralf Loose, said: "Macedonia will want to make up for that but we are not thinking about it. The most important thing is that we assemble a squad and develop our tactics."

New faces
It is a much younger Liechtenstein squad this time round. Loose has named six new players for the match in Skopje, promoting Franz-Josef Vogt, Claudio Alabor, Sandro Maierhofer and Raphael Rohrer from the Under-18 squad, together with Chur 97's Remo Eberle and USV Eschen/Mauren's Roger Beck. However, Martin Stocklasa and Thomas Beck are suspended, while Harry Zech has a foot injury.

Additional reporting by Stanislav Hlaváček, Türker Tozar and Igor Panevski