Turkey earned their first few points of the European Championship and a potential place in the knockout round after defeating Czech Republic 3-0 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis today.
Pavel Vrba and needed his team to win to ensure a spot in the Round of 16 and went with an attack-minded line-up with the likes of Tomas Necid, Vladimir Darida and Ladislav Krejci all getting the nod to start up front. On the other hand, Fatih Terim would need a win and also to rely on the fate of the other teams in order to advance to the next round of the tournament. The ex-Galatasaray manager started a similar eleven that went against Spain last week.
The Czech Republic team had covered more ground (56.3%), taken more shots (12), attempted more passes (402) and created more opportunities to score but they were inefficient in taking their chances. The Turkish men managed only 8 shots during the game, as 2 of them only hit the target and eventually lead to the ball going at the back of the net.
Beijing Guoan striker Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring on the tenth minute of the game when new Borussia Dortmund signing Emre Mor crossed the ball for him to slot it past Petr Cech. The Czechs then regained control of the game and attempted a string of shots at the Turkey goal, but it was Ozan Tufan who blasted an effort to the back of the net on the 65th minute.
Turkey have three points and must hope for Iceland, Portugal and Sweden not to win in the last group group stage game in order to boost their chances of qualifying to the next round.
Here are the three players that impressed the most:
Ozan Tufan
The young defensive midfielder was fantastic in the middle of the park for his country as he combined well with Selcuk Inan to break every Czech Republic attack. He also managed to win five aerial duels, made two tackles and dispossessed his opponents twice during the game. The Fernebahce player put the icing on the cake when he scored the second goal.
Mehmet Topal
The Fernebahce defender was on song alongside Hakan Balta in the heart of the central of defence for Turkey as they managed to deny their opponents from scoring a goal past Volkan Babacan. He read the game well and put up a warrior-like display throughout the entire 90 minutes, before playing provider for Ozan Tufan to score the second goal of the night.
Emre Mor
The 18 year-old winger became the third-youngest player to assist a goal in the European Championship when he found Burak Yilmaz He was inspiring for his country and attempted a number of dribbles and shots and was also given a standing ovation when he was subbed off.
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