Turkish delight

No, I'm not talking about the tasty, soft, sweet, red-pink confection/dessert that originated from Turkey centuries ago. I am referring to Turkey's national football team, specifically reflecting on their semi-final exploits of World Cup 2002 in Korea/Japan. The football displayed by the Turkish team at that tournament was a delight to watch & they really impressed me with their passing, enterprising football. Turkey's performances were certainly more impressive than France, England, Sweden, Germany & Italy at WC2002.

Unfortunately, Turkey have narrowly failed to qualify for the next 2 major international tournaments (Euro2004, WC2006). Failure to make it to WC2006 in Germany was widely seen as a major missed opportunity, given that Germany has a large number of expatriate Turks - which would have given Turkey a huge amount of support had Turkey made it to the WC.

I guess Turkey's recent 1-0 defeat to Georgia showed how things have gone a little sour for the team - it's a far cry from WC2002, when Turkey's only losses were narrow defeats against eventual champions Brazil (2-1 in group stage, 1-0 in semis). OK, so it's only a friendly match & maybe the coach may have used it as an experimental exercise - but Georgia, while no slouches, are certainly no Brazil by anybody's stretch of the imagination. Turkish fans would have certainly expected their team to beat Georgia.

Right now, if I hear correctly, Turkish football is plagued with problems. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) faces all sorts of squabbles & corruption allegations. TFF president Haluk Ulusoy is at loggerheads with the Turkish government over the various corruption & match-fixing allegations. Specifically, Turkey's Sports Minister, Mehmet Ali Sahin, have implored Ulusoy & the TFF to respond to these allegations. Not only that, the TFF are apparently also having fights with the chairmen of various Turkish clubs (especially top club Fenerbahce), the Turkish press & prominent figureheads within the Turkish football fraternity.

Hopefully, all these off-field dramas will not affect the football (at club & national team level), as Turkey tries to regain the "lost magic" of WC2002. They certainly cannot be accused of lacking quality players, as the coach Fatih Terim can call on the talents of the twins Hamit & Halil Altintop, Emre Belozoglu, Tuncay Sanli, Sabri Sanoglu, Nihat Kahveci & rising young stars Nuri Sahin & Arda Turan. All of these players are either midfielders or forwards; Turkey's defence is not their strongest point....

So far, Turkey are doing well in the Euro2008 qualifiers, but they have played only moderate opposition. Their next match in March 07 will be a tough one......a blockbuster Euro2008 qualifier against bitter rival Greece! (match will be played in Athens). Greece may be European champions thanks to their fairytale exploits in Euro2004, but if Turkey play reasonably well, I would expect them to at least draw against the Greeks. If they can do well against Greece & keep the momentum going during the rest of the Euro2008 qualifiers, the chants of "Turkiye! Turkiye!" will again be heard loudly, as they were in WC2002.