THE comedown was swift. On Saturday night, Turkey sat proudly atop Euro 2020 qualifying group H having beaten France 2-0 – and not just beaten the world champions, but having absolutely hammered them; their victory was far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests.
If they could just get through Tuesday’s game away to Iceland, then they would be roaring favourites to qualify for next summer’s finals. They could not. Two goals in the space of 11 first-half minutes set Iceland on the way to a 2-1 win and the picture at the top of the group in complicated.
France, Turkey and Iceland all have nine points with the dangerous Albania three back. France, surely, will have enough – although if they play with the same laboured air of lethargy they did in Konya there are no guarantees they won’t lose in Iceland and Albania as well – which then leaves, probably, a scrap between Iceland and Turkey for the second automatic qualifying slot. Iceland, perhaps, will feel that having already had their away game in France – lost 4-0 – they are in marginally the stronger position, but Turkey’s performance on Saturday was one of great promise.
30': Turkey 1-0 France
40': Turkey 2-0 FranceThe world champions are being taken to school in Konya. pic.twitter.com/vDeb5XJS9I
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) June 8, 2019
The return of Senol Gunes to the national manager’s chair 15 years after he vacated it, has brought a new lease of life after the dismissal of Mircea Lucescu in February. Under the 73 year old, Turkey had failed to qualify for the World Cup and had been relegated to Nations League Group C. Perhaps most alarming, though, was the sense of drift, of a team that had lost faith in its coach and itself.
Against France, that belief could almost be seen returning. It’s one thing to beat Albania and Moldova at home, quite another to play like this against the world champions. There was a spell in which Turkey seemed unable quite to grasp just how much better than France they were, as though they were wary of taking the lead against Didier Deschamps’s side in case that woke them from their dream. Once Kaan Ayhan and Cengiz Under had put Turkey 2-0 up before half-time, there was then a reserve: they were happy to hold it at 2-0 when if they’d really gone for it, they could really have embarrassed France.
Which is completely understandable. Nobody could have foreseen quite how poor France would be, and a 2-0 win was a result anybody involved with Turkey would happily have taken before kick-off. But poor as France were, it’s also the case that Turkey made them look poor.
They looked remarkably well-organised for a national side still feeling their way under a new coach, sitting deep and drawing France onto them, frustrating a side that looked very frustratable by denying them space, and then springing forward at pace using Under and Karaman down the flanks. Karaman’s role was vital, dropping very deep out of possession, leaving Benjamin Pavard free but helping deal with the threat of Kylian Mbappe. Under is 21 and wining his 19th cap; Karaman 25 and winning his sixth.
@CengizUnder in gol in #TURFRA 2-0 pic.twitter.com/L0r3L295c6
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) June 8, 2019
Senol has brought a pace and youth to a team that had become a little stale. What was really striking was how rapid the Turkey press was on the occasions they chose to use it, how unsettled France became by their aggression. That is a positive not just in terms of beating big sides, but also suggests a way Turkey can impose themselves on opponents against whom they dominate the ball.
Even with Burak Yilmaz, now 33 and back at Besiktas, leading the line, a willing lone front man, putting himself about and annoying defenders, this is still a side with an average age of just over 25.
Both of the more advanced central midfielders, Dorukhan Tokoz and Irfan Kahveci, are 23. Between them they’ve now won nine caps. Zeki Celik, the right-back, is 22. The two central defenders Kaan Ayhan and Merih Demiral, are 24 and 21 respectively.
Turkey may qualify for the Euros or they may not. But even if they don’t, even after Tuesday’s slip-up, Senol has already had a positive impact. This feels likes a nation looking forward to the future again.
That future may not be seen in Euro 2020, but the foundations are being laid for the 2022 World Cup and perhaps even beyond. Turkey, in the space of four months, have become a young side playing bright modern football.
