Turkey to take a breath from politics with Portugal game

Turkey see Euro 2008 as a come-back after missing two major tournaments since the glory days of reaching the semi-final of the 2002 World Cup.

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Turkey coach Fatih Terim has been saying all along that he wants a good performance at the European competition to put Turkey back on the map in world football.

 

"We have not attended any tournament since 2002," he said. "We are going to Switzerland to make the world remember us."

 

Turkey moved up five spots in the latest FIFA rankings, reaching 20th place. In its three warm-up matches before the Euro 2008, it beat Slovakia 1-0, lost to Uruguay 3-2 and defeated Finland 2-0.

 

"Losing wouldn't be the end of the world," Terim added on Friday. "What happens in the first match doesn't necessarily dictate what happens later on." But he added: "If we win tomorrow we'll definitely go on to the group stage."

 

Turkey is in the European tournament for the third time and has a 1-1-5 record. Its best outing was when it lost to the Portuguese squad in the 2000 quarterfinals.

 

Turkey will play a 4-3-3 formation. The starting line-up would be: 23. Volkan Demirel - 22. Hamit Altintop, 2. Servet Cetin, 4. Gokhan Zan, 3. Hakan Balta - 18. Kazim Kazim, 7. Mehmet Aurelio, 5. Emre Belozoglu - 17. Tuncay Sanli, 8. Nihat Kahveci, 21. Mevlut Erdinc.

 

 

PORTUGESE SIDE

While Turkey are looking to show its back in form at the tournament, Portugal is hoping to repeat its successful campaigns from Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

 

Portugal beat Turkey two times in the European tournament, first in the group stage in 1996 and then in the quarterfinals four years later.

 

It will be Portugal's first major competition since Luis Figo and veteran striker Pauleta - the nation’s all-time leading scorer - retired from the national team.

 

The Portuguese are playing in the final phase of the European competition for the fifth time. It has a 10-4-5 record, and appearance in the previous championship match marked its best performance so far.

 

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was in bullish mood on the eve of his side's opening match. “I know we are good enough to win this tournament, but right now we have to focus on the first match.

 

"We lost our first game against Greece four years ago and put a great deal of pressure on ourselves. A victory would be the perfect start to get us in the winning mood," he said, adding, he shows a lot of respect to the Turkish team.

 

Portugal are expected to play a 4-3-3 formation with Petit sitting in front of a defense of Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Paulo Ferreira, allowing João Moutinho and Deco the freedom to push forward from midfield to support their attack.

 

The major talking point in the Portuguese press concerns which of their wing quartet will provide the ammunition for lone striker Nuno Gomes. Scolari has toyed with the idea of using Ricardo Quaresma on the left but the smart money is on Simao to start there with Cristiano Ronaldo weaving his magic down the right.

 

Group A rivals Switzerland, the tournament co-hosts, and Czech Republic meet earlier on Saturday in the opening game of the finals.

 

Photo: AFP