Turkey’s Turan must sparkle against Spain

NICE — Turkey need captain Arda Turan (picture) to spring into action if they are to have a realistic chance of upsetting holders Spain in their Euro 2016 Group D match on Friday (Saturday morning, Singapore time).

Turan, off the pace and substituted after 65 minutes, was one of the most heavily-criticised players when Turkey lost their opening match 1-0 to Croatia on Sunday, going down with barely a whimper.

The Barcelona player produced very little in attack, and not much in the way of tracking back either as Croatia overran the Turkish midfield. He later apologised to the Turkish public, acknowledging that he had played badly.

Coach Fatih Terim was equally disappointed in Turan and team-mate Hakan Calhanoglu.

“These are important players,” he said. “We rely on their performances but they couldn’t deliver enough. We need them but these things happen.”

At his best, Turan, who first captained Turkey as a 21-year-old and helped them to reach the semi-finals at Euro 2008, has excellent technique and vision and Turkey are a different side when he is on form.

Terim had said before the match that Turan’s lack of playing time at Barcelona would not be a problem, and that he remained an important player even when not fully fit.

However, the bearded 29-year-old has clearly suffered as a result of last July’s move from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona which seemed to be of questionable wisdom at the time.

Turan had flourished at Atletico under the inspirational leadership of coach Diego Simeone, becoming the first Turkish-born player to win La Liga when they upset all the odds by winning the title in 2014.

However, he had always dreamed of playing for Barcelona and agreed to join them despite knowing that, with the Catalans serving a transfer ban, he would have to wait six months for his competitive debut.

Once he was allowed to play in January, he had a lot of catching up to do and Turan struggled to adapt to a Barcelona team whose slick passing style is a world away from combative, never-say-die Atletico.

He started only nine league matches, and made a further nine appearances as substitute, several of them for only a few minutes.

Spain have a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic under their belts and it is hard to imagine any other scenario than the defending champions dominating possession and Turkey trying to snatch a goal on the break.

“Spain want to keep the ball, that’s the idea,” said Spain defender Jordi Alba.

“Teams play defensively against us but we are used to that. The scoring chances will be there. We had many in the first game and scored in the end. Hopefully against Turkey we will be able to win again.”

The Spanish had 67 per cent of ball possession against the Czechs in Toulouse, the most of any team at Euro 2016 until then. They exchanged 694 passes with an effectiveness of 91 per cent. They had 17 attempts and did not score more goals only because of a combination of poor finishing and a great performance by Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech.

“There are several ways of playing the game and they are all valid,” said Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara. “Turkey could play like (the Czech Republic) or by pressuring more up front. We have our own style and will use it to try to win the games.”

Terim said his team will attack Spain as it tries to rebound from the opening loss to Croatia.

“I have never been the kind of coach who tells my players to sit back and try to clear as many balls as possible,” Terim said.

“You cannot just go and play Spain without actually trying to play. If you just try to defend and try to close the goal, they will eventually open it up. Of course we will defend, but we will try to play our game as well.” AGENCIES

TV LISTING

SPAIN v TURKEY

Singtel TV Ch142 & StarHub TV Ch220, tomorrow, 3am