Turkey to play Germany in Euro 2008 semifinal
25/6/2008 17:40
Turkish national football team will play against Germany in the Euro 2008
semifinals on June 25, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported
yesterday.
Massimo Busacca of Switzerland will referee the match in the St
Jakob Park in the German town of Basel, according to the report.
After losing
their opening game 2-0 to Portugal on June 7, Turkey, in group A matches,
revived their hopes by defeating Switzerland 2-1 on June 11 and the Czech
Republic 3-2 on June 15. Turkey knocked out Croatia 3-1 on penalties in the Euro
2008 quarter final on June 20th.
Three-time European champion Germany began
their campaign in Group B by defeating Poland 2-0 on June 8th, but they then
suffered a hiccup when losing 2-1 to Croatia on June 12th. They qualified to the
quarter-finals after beating Austria 1-0 on June 16th. Germany played against
Portugal in the quarter-final on June 19th and won the match 3-2.
Turkey and
Germany have played against each other for 17 times so far. Germany took 11 of
them while Turkey won three matches against the Germans. Germany kicked 40 goals
in those matches while it conceded 10 goals from Turks.
This will be the
second semi-final appearance for Turkey in a major tournament, the first having
come at the 2002 World Cup when Senol Gunes' team lost 1-0 to Brazil in
Saitama.
Only 14 members of the 23-man Turkish team are available for the
time being. Nine players set to miss the semifinal match to injury or
suspension.
Turkey will be without goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, defender Emre
Asik and midfielders Tuncay Sanli and Arda Turan, who are banned.
Defenders
Emre Gungor and Servet Cetin, central striker Nihat Kahveci and midfielders
Tumer Metin and Emre Belozoglu will not be able to play in the match because of
injuries.
The winners in Basel will be the designated home team when they
face the winners of June 26's semifinal between Russia and Spain in the final of
UEFA EURO 2008 in Vienna on Sunday June 29.
Xinhua
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