Steindy (Wikimedia Commons)
Another friendly passes by and we all should have the same perspective: Turkey started positively, but ended up oh so negatively.
On a warm Istanbul night at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the Turkish Men’s National Team hosted Ghana in preparation for next month’s WC Qualifiers against Andorra (home) and Romania (away).
The home side came and fired out throughout the first half as they scored two goals through Burak Yilmaz and Umut Bulut and missed many chances as well. Ghana were outplayed and outclassed to be frank.
In the second half, the visitors made a few substitutions with Asamoah Gyan being one of them and scored a brace to earn a well-deserved draw. The African nation hustled, fought for every loose ball, connected nicely on their passes and did what they did not in the first 45: they took their chances.
The Turks looked like a World Cup caliber team in the first half as they covered every blade of grass but were only able to score twice. If they were able to capitalize through Yilmaz’s plethora of looks on goal, they could have perhaps taken a three or even four goal lead at half time. Their problem was playing too much defense in the second half against a team that has more technically gifted as well as quicker players than they do.
If Turkey played hard for one half, then horribly in the other, they cannot defeat high-quality teams and yesterday’s friendly was a very true example of what can happen in the near future.
Honestly, they should be able to defeat Andorra at home, but winning in Romania will not be easy by any means, but it can definitely be accomplished. However, hard work will have to be put into their practices and a good game plan will have to be executed come early September.
