Spain v Turkey coming up

Spain will play Turkey twice in back-to-back World Cup qualifying matches over the next few days. The matches certainly captured my attention because these are 2 teams who produce the sort of football I enjoy watching - attacking, short-passing football.

Spain host Turkey in Madrid on 28/3/09, & the return match will be in Istanbul on 1/4/09. The Spaniards would be favourites, & rightly so. After all, they are the European champions, having won Euro 2008 in such fine style. That tournament was where Spain put an end to years of underachievement. And since Euro 2008, Spain have continued to impress, winning all their World Cup qualifying matches so far & beating England in last month's exhibition match. On current form, many say that Spain are the best national team in the world. I would not disagree. Turkey, on the other hand, are more inconsistent & very unpredictable. Best remembered for their semi-final exploits of World Cup 2002 in Korea & Japan, the Turkish team are capable of producing the mundane one moment & scintillating the next. You just never know which Turkey would turn up against Spain. Will it be the one which hammered Greece in Athens in March 2007 & reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008? Or will it be the one who could only managed draws against the likes of Malta & Moldova?

It is difficult to see Turkey winning in Madrid; their best bet for success would be the matchin Istanbul. I would expect Spain to win in Madrid & get a draw in Istanbul. But whatever the results, I hope both sides produce their top form & serve their share of entertaining football.