Disaster, disappointment! Turkey, instead of being the black horse of the tournament, dropped out with zero in the points column

Big things were expected from Turkey before the European Championships. Names such as Burak Yilmaz, Caglar Syoncu and Hakan Calhanoglu wanted to reach at least the eighth round, but the tournament was over after less than two weeks.

“Turkey can trouble the Italians!” or “Wales and the Swiss will duke it out for third place in the group.” Such headlines appeared in the newspapers of most European countries before the Euros.

Simply put, the Turks were considered one of the dark horses of the tournament. What’s more, they were able to show off their skills in the opening game of the tournament, which regularly has a large following.

And they did, but in a negative way. They held a goalless draw in the first half, but after changing sides they scored three times and deservedly lost. Their game didn’t change even at 2:0. And the Turks finished the game with zero shots on target.

The second match was played with a slightly changed line-up, but it looked very similar on the field. Wales were better for most of the match and won 2: 0. And then they gave away a penalty and a great chance.

It was a disaster in Turkey. It wasn’t just the media there that considered Wales the biggest underdog in the group and the Turks tore it up, what’s more, they didn’t even score a goal. Burak Yilmaz was not to be seen again, nor did Hakan Calhanoglu get many chances.

The last chance the Turks had was on Sunday when they had to beat the Swiss by at least three goals. Even they were not in an ideal mood, they only got a point from the first two games.

But against Turkey, they made up for it. They scored three times, conceded only once and moved up from third place. On the other hand, their counterparts from the east ended the tournament for good, scoring only one goal and not getting a point.

More was expected from Yilmaz or Calhanoglu, while Mehdi Demiral and Cengiz Ünder also played below average. But the main problem wasn’t with individual players, the Turks didn’t work as a team, there were reports of a bad atmosphere in the cabin. For an unbiased fan, it is a pity that such a sound selection ends already in the group.

Source