Turkey could not have got their Euro 2016 campaign off to a worse start losing against both Croatia and Spain.
It was not so much the defeat but the manner of defeat that infuriated Turkish fans the most. The players looked unmotivated, showed no fight, no desire, no passion. Turkish sides of the past were renowned for their never say never attitude but that has been missing so far.
Turkey must win their last game against the Czech Republic to stand any chance of booking a place in the next round. Likewise the Czech’s must also win to qualify so we have what should be an entertaining game on our hands.
There have been a few ugly rumours that the reason behind the players lack of effort is due to complaints over the distribution of player bonuses. The likes of Germany, Italy and Spain do not even have a bonus system for their players so the obscene amounts being quoted for Turkish players – in excess of €500,000 each – have not gone down well with the fans.
Fatih Terim is expected to shake up his side following the awful performance against Spain and is reported to be on the verge of dropping the players making an issue out of bonuses quite frankly nobody in the team deserves.
Burak Yilmaz is very likely to be the first name dropped and will be replaced by Cenk Tosun. Emre Mor or Volkan Sen – perhaps even both – are likely to feature on the wing as Turkey need an injection of pace. We could also see Yunus Malli and Nuri Sahin at some stage.
The good news is Turkey beat this same side away from home 2-0 back in October. The Crescent Stars also recorded a memorable victory over the Czech’s in Euro 2008 – with Fatih Terim in charge.
The Czech Republic will also be without star midfielder Tomas Rosicky which could be a huge miss considering the influence he wielded over the game in the 2-2 draw against Croatia.
Turkey were awful in their first two games but when it comes to pulling off miracles they have become experts. In Euro 2008 they pull off a miracle to make it past the group stages and that was against the Czech Republic. Getting to Euro 2016 in itself was a miracle. Now they need another miracle and if Terim is capable of getting a rise from his players they are capable of doing so.
Prediction: Turkey Win / Over 2.5 goals
