Turkey was rocked by the news that national team coach Fatih Terim has ousted captain Hakan Sukur, whose name was synonymous with Turkish football success over almost the past decade. Sukur had finished as Turkey's top-scorer in the EURO 2008 qualifying campaign with 6 goals, yet that did not vouch for him to make the final cut. Turkey have always been Europe's "ugly duckling" and have always felt like outsiders, but have earned the respect of their opponents with a series of good showings and results both on the club and national levels. History Turkey's first EURO adventure was in 1996, but the team failed to leave a mark and left the tournament without winning a single match or scoring a single goal. Come the 21st Century their curve began to improve as they reached the quarter-finals of EURO 2000. Their best achievement was winning third place in the 2002 World Cup finals and repeating their feat a year later at the FIFA Confederations Cup. However, the Ottoman descendants barely missed out on reaching the EURO 2004 finals and 2006 World Cup. Their return to the European stage was highly anticipated as their teams and players have made a strong impact on club football over the past couple of years. Coach: Fatih Terim (Turkish) Terim first took over as coach of the Turkish national team in 1993 and led them to EURO 1996 FINALS, their first major tournament appearance since the 1954 World Cup. After the first round exit he moved to coaching on the club level and handed Turkey their first ever continental club title when he won the UEFA Cup in 2000 with an exemplary Galatasaray side that included players like Sukur, Umit Davala and the infamous Gheorghe Hagi.
Nihat Terim's success earned him a lot of praise and a contract to coach Italian outfit Fiorentina for one year, which was followed by an unsuccessful stint with giants AC Milan. He returned to Turkey and coached Galatasaray again for two seasons before taking time off in 2004. Terim returned to coach the national team in 2005 and barely missed out on reaching the 2006 World Cup finals after losing to Switzerland in a playoff game. But the man nicknamed 'The Emperor' by his people, vowed to take Turkey to the EURO 2008 finals, and he did! Tactics Coach Terim's main task will be to bring stability to the ranks of the national team which has suffered a bumpy qualifying campaign. Turkey have a lot of skilled and talented players who perform better as individuals than as a team. Perhaps their biggest drawback is their flaring temper. Terim had captain Rustu Recber as his first choice keeper but the Besiktas guardian surrendered his role to Volkan Demirel who is expected to be the first-choice in the finals, even though he got injured in the build up. In defense, Turkey could be without central defender Servet Çetin who is also nursing an injury, with Emre Asik being the probable replacement to team up with Gokhan Zan. Turkey are counting on their rising star and swift right-back Gokhan Gonul, who has been dubbed by Zico as the 'Turkish Cafu'. Terim is prone to deploy narrow 4-3-1-2, 4-1-3-2 and 4-1-2-1-2 formations which require industrial players in midfield like co-captain Emre Belozoglu and Mehmet Aurelio. Thanks to Gonul's strong form, Bayern Munich's Hamit Altintop will be able to reclaim his spot on the right side of midfield with Hakan Balta covering the other flank. Upfront, Terim will rely on the relatively small but quick Tuncay Sanli and Nihat Kahveci and possibly Halil Altintop as a replacement for the towering Sukur. Star Player- Nihat Kahveci
