Turkey strive to escape early exit

Ali Dere has told Turkey to forget their Belgium disappointment as they put their UEFA European Under-19 Championship hopes on the line against Spain.

The Konyaspor forward looked to have secured three much-needed points when he struck in the 77th minute on Matchday 2 to give Turkey a precious advantage, yet the ten men of Belgium refused to fold and struck back through Jonas Vervaeke in the 90th minute. With both teams on one point in Group B, two adrift of second-placed Serbia, there is all to play for on the section's final day, although Ali Dere acknowledges his side are up against it.

"We're really upset but winning our last game against Spain will be like accomplishing a mission for us," the striker told UEFA.com. "We have to forget the Belgium match and should be even more motivated for Spain, but we need a miracle to qualify now. We had an intense desire to win the second game, everybody was aware of its importance, but it didn't happen. Belgium really fought hard as the game was important for them too. It never felt like we were playing against ten men."

Despite their intense disappointment at the denouement of the Belgium contest, the Turkey goalscorer felt there were reasons for optimism in his side's improved performance. "In terms of motivation and style, we made progress compared to the Serbia match," said Ali Dere, whose side were beaten 2-0 in their first outing. "We played well, tried long shots and had a lot of chances, but couldn't convert more than one. When we did get the goal, we panicked because of the high value of the scoreline and that resulted in their equaliser. We've never felt like that before."

Now Turkey must win their last game to have any hope of staying in the competition, although that could be easier said than done against a Spain team who have scored eight goals in winning both their games, and the group. "We'll do our utmost," said Ömer Ali Şahiner. "Now they have already guaranteed their semi-final place, Spain will be relaxed and could rest some key players. We have the power to beat them; they are not an invincible team."

Even that might not be enough, however, with Serbia certain to join Spain in the knockout stages should they beat Belgium, although Ömer Ali believes Turkey should only worry about what they can affect. "We'll have an ear on Serbia-Belgium and that could be distracting," he added. "We don't want this tournament to end prematurely for us because we eliminated a team as strong as Germany in the elite round. We don't want to get knocked out early when we think we are capable of winning the tournament."