Photo courtesy of Galatasaray’s official Facebook page
Ladies and gentlemen, if we think back to the year 2006, we remember that Turkey was coached by Fatih Terim and was in a very similar situation that they are in right now: on the ropes clinging onto their WC lives.
Back then, Ukraine won a group that contained the likes of Turkey, Greece and Denmark. Luckily for the Turks, they managed to finish in second before losing on aggregate to the Swiss in the 2006 WC play-offs.
To this very day, the memory is still sour.
Now, Turkey is fighting for yet another playoff spot against the likes of Romania and Hungary while Holland are all but guaranteed to win the qualifying group.
Coming off of a 5-0 thrashing at home over Andorra, Turkey now travels to Romania to face the nation that wiped them 1-0 in Istanbul last October. That was a game that was played very sloppily defensively and too slowly yet desperately offensive.
By playing like that, whether it be at home or on the road, winning is not likely at all.
Now, Turkey plays a Romania side that played arguably their best game against decent opposition on Hungary at home in a 3-0 clean sheet. The hosts are strong on their own soil and will look to do the same against the Turks.
Can Turkey put together a decent starting lineup and somehow outscore the hosts to keep their WC hopes alive?
With this line-up, they certainly have a chance:
Goal keeper: Volkan Demirel
Defense: Gokhan Gonul, Semih Kaya, Omer Toprak, Caner Erkin
Midfield: Gokhan Tore, Nuri Sahin, Alper Potuk, Arda Turan
Strikers: Umut Bulut, Burak Yilmaz
These 11 guys can definitely get the job done if — and only if — they play correctly and timely throughout the 90-plus minutes.
Bulut is coming off of a hat trick against a mainly amateur side, which basically means nothing. If he can at least get one or two goals tomorrow night, he can prove his value even more to his nation.
Yilmaz has been quiet and only scored off of a basic tap-in the other day. He is not showing respect to his opponents and is not hustling. He needs top hold the ball, make extra runs and take a chance at dribbling once in a while.
The midfield will be led by Turan, who has the best ball control and can make things happen creatively. Sahin is the holding player who distributes and directs traffic. Tore rules the right flank with his speed and skill and he is coming off of three assists to all of Bulut’s strikes. If Potuk plays, he will be responsible for pressuring the opposition to win the back right away and can even hold possession if need be.
The center backs Kaya and Toprak have to win the ball in the air and stop the Romanian attack who will be coming right at them when they can. Gonul will run up and down the right while Erkin will do the same on the left. These four guys have it all to do tomorrow.
