In the round of 16 match against Austria, Turkey will be missing two suspended regular players, captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu and defender Samet Akaydin. Ten other professionals will also be playing the match with yellow cards, which many are hyping up as revenge for the bitter 1:6 defeat in the friendly match three and a half months ago.
The memories of the historic debacle in Vienna – it was the biggest defeat against Austria ever – are still very present in the Turkish team: “We have not forgotten it. To be honest, there is a wound in me,” explained Salih Özcan, who plays for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Juventus Turin striker Kenan Yildiz spoke of a “heavy defeat” that gave the team additional motivation before their next encounter on Tuesday (July 2, 2024) at 9 p.m. in Leipzig (in the audio stream and live ticker).
Türkiye with little game control and thin nerves
An additional boost that the Turks, who always work with great passion, don’t really need – and which can sometimes have a counterproductive effect. The victories against the Czech Republic (2:1) and Georgia (3:1) made it clear that coach Vincenzo Montella’s team has problems playing results home calmly and cautiously.
Again and again, professionals with a lot of experience like captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu lost their focus and control of the game. Despite having a numerical advantage, Turkey conceded an equaliser against the Czechs and only scored the winning goal through Cenk Tosun in injury time, as well as the redeeming 3:1 against Georgia through Kerem Aktürkoğlu.
Few fouls, but many yellow cards
The match against the Czech Republic serves as a blueprint for the difficulties that the Turks are causing for themselves. Even a draw would have been enough for second place, but when the winning goal was scored, all the dams broke: Instead of being happy about their place in the round of 16, the Turkish players allowed themselves to be provoked by their frustrated opponents: There were brawls, and referee Istvan Kovac handed out two yellow cards (including one to the Turk Arda Güler).
The match resulted in a total of 16 yellow cards, one yellow-red card and one red card – a European Championship record. The Turks alone received eleven of the 16 cards – another record for a team in one match. The game was not particularly hard or unfair, however – the Turks only committed eight fouls, for example. Much of the unrest came from the substitutes’ benches: five of the 16 cards were given to players who were not even on the field at the time of the warning.
Türkiye threatens to set negative European Championship record
The result: Çalhanoğlu and central defender Samet Akaydin will miss the round of 16 match against Austria due to a yellow card suspension. Akaydin is one of his team’s strongest tacklers, winning 65 percent of his duels. In his three appearances (always from the start) he only committed three fouls, although these resulted in two yellow cards.
Ten other Turks are heading into the round of 16 with a bad record: goalkeeper Mert Günok, his substitute Uğurcan Çakır and field players Kaan Ayhan, Zeki Çelik, Güler, Orkan Kökçü, Mert Müldür, Özcan, Yildiz and İsmail Yüksek. If Turkey receives three more yellow cards, it would be another negative record at a European Championship. This record is currently shared by Italy (2016), Greece (2004) and the Czech Republic (1996) with 18 yellow cards in the tournament – with more games played: Italy was only eliminated in the quarter-finals, Greece and the Czech Republic reached the final.
Turkish fans create a home game atmosphere
Turkey will therefore have to act more cautiously against Austria than they did recently, which is no easy task. Especially since the fans make a big contribution to the passionate style of play of the Turks, who can therefore feel like “co-hosts”. The two preliminary round victories were wildly celebrated on German streets, and even after the 0:3 defeat against Portugal there were honking concerts and car convoys.
There’s no doubt about it: the Turkish fans are contenders for the title of “European champions of atmosphere”. Striker Tosun sent a thank you message to the fans after the Czech Republic match in Hamburg: “They really make every match feel like a home game for us. We will continue to give everything for them.” And try to keep a cool head.
