Trabzonspor's dilemma: Paul Onuachu's uncertain future amidst Southampton's demands
Super Lig side Trabzonspor find themself in a conundrum over the fate of Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu, currently on loan from Southampton.
Turkey played their first international in 2002 in a 2-2 home draw with Romania in Istanbul. Zeki Rezi Sporel scored both goals for Turkey and is considered the first big star of the Turkish national team.
In 1948, Turkey reached the quarter-finals of the soccer tournament at the London Olympics.
Formation of Turkey's national football team prior to a match against Germany during the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland.
Turkey once again made the quarter-finals at the Olympic Games in Finland in 1952. In 1954, they participated in their first ever FIFA World Cup, suffering a group-stage exit. In 1956, Turkey beat a famously strong Hungary team 3-1 in a friendly.
In 1958, Israel qualified for the tournament in Sweden ahead of Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan after all three refused to participate in qualifying. Turkey protested after having been placed in the African/Asian zone rather than the European Zone, hence their withdrawal.
During this time, the team boasted big-name players such as Ridvan Dilmen, Oguz Cetin, Riza Calimbay, Feyyaz Ucar, and European Golden Boot winner Tanju Colak. At the time, Colak was on the books of Turkish giants Galatasaray, for whom he scored at a strike rate of roughly a goal per game for over the course of four years.
German coach Sepp Piontek took charge of the national team in 1990 and ushered in a new era of players, including Bulent Korkmaz, Alpay Ozalan, Sergen Yalcin, Rustu Recber, and Hakan Sukur, which would become the spine of the national team for years to come.
Turkey lost all of their matches at Euro 1996 without scoring. However, the Fair Play award was given to Alpay Ozalan. This was given due to him allowing Goran Vlaovic to run half the length of the field without fouling him as Croatia scored the only goal of the game via a counter-attack.
In the group stage of Euro 2000, they lost 2-1 to Italy, drew 0-0 with Sweden, and beat host nation Belgium 2-0, eliminating them from the tournament and qualifying for the quarter-finals. In the last eight, Turkey were beaten 2-0 to Portugal. Their cause was not helped by Arif Erdem failing to convert an opportunity from the penalty spot.
The first year of the new millennium was also the year in which Senol Gunes took over as manager of the Turkish national team.
Turkey finished second in their qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, qualifying via the play-offs thanks to a 6-0 aggregate victory over Austria.
After starting the World Cup finals with a 2-1 group stage defeat to Brazil, Turkey progressed to the next round with a 3-0 win over China PR and a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica.
After a 1-0 defeat, they had to settle for a third-placed play-off against South Korea. Turkey won 3-2 to clinch bronze - their best ever World Cup performance. Hakan Sukur scored Turkey's first goal at 10.8 seconds against South Korea, making it the fastest goal in World Cup history.
Rustu Recber, Alpay Ozalan and Hasan Sas made the All-Star Team for the tournament, while Recber was also voted as the best goalkeeper in the UEFA Team of the Year 2002. Senol Gunes was voted as the best manager.
Turkey made the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, their best ever performance at the European Championships. After losing 2-0 to Portugal in their opening group stage game, they rallied back to beat Switzerland 2-1 and the Czech Republic 3-2 to qualify for the quarter-finals, where they faced Croatia.
Control match between National football teams of Russia and Turkey at "VEB-Arena" staduim. Turkey football players Mehmet Topal (left) and Yunus Malli (right) during the match. June 05, 2018.
After forcing a penalty shootout against Croatia with a late equaliser from Semih Senturk, they won it and advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost 3-2 to Germany.
Turkey failed to qualify for the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cup tournaments. They made the group stage of Euro 2016 and managed to qualify for Euro 2020. Qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar got off to a bright start and there were hopes Turkey could do some damage at the delayed Euros.
However, defeats to Italy, Wales and Switzerland saw them bow out of the competition at the group stage.
Rustu Recber and Hakan Sukur are probably the two most influential players in Turkish history. Rustu is famous for wearing war paint during matches. This was copied by South African goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands in years to come.
Turkish fans are known for being passionate in defence of their teams, while violence has also been a problem in the past at Turkish club matches in particular.
Turkey's major rivalries are with Croatia and Greece. They controversially eliminated Croatia from Euro 2008 after scoring a late equaliser which opposition manager Slaven Bilic claimed had come after extra time had elapsed.
Super Lig side Trabzonspor find themself in a conundrum over the fate of Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu, currently on loan from Southampton.
Friday’s fixture list might not offer much in way of excitement, though we have managed to find four matches which may tickle your fancy.
Turkey boss Vincenzo Montella has warned Wales that his players are determined not to relinquish top spot in their Euro 2024 qualifying group.
Wales will play host to Turkey in a must-win Euro 2024 Qualifier at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday.
Croatia lock horns with Turkey in a game that should ultimately decide who takes first place in Group D of the Euro 2024 qualifiers (Thurs 1945).
Group leaders Turkey play host to Wales at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayis Stadyumu in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday evening.
Newcastle are still waiting for news of former midfielder Christian Atsu amid reports that he has been trapped in the earthquakes which hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.