FATIH TERIM: WE AREN'T THINKING ABOUT THE PENALTY KICKS"

Fatih Terim says his side have not practised taking penalties even though Sunday night's winner-takes-all clash against the Czech Republic could be decided by a historic shoot-out.

Both Turkey and the Czechs have identical records in Group A and should the scores be locked after 90 minutes here, the match will be decided by penalties with no extra-time played.

Even though this is both side's final pool game, the knock-out phase has arrived early and while the winners will go onto a quarter-final berth, the losers pack up and go home.

“We have not practised for penalty kicks,” was the surprise answer given by the Turkish coach when asked if his side have taken precautions.

“We want to have done enough to win this game over 90 minutes, but if the occasion arises, my players will do what they have to do.”

Having come from behind to beat co-hosts Switzerland 2-1 last Wednesday in Basel, after the first-half was blighted by torrential rain, Terim said he is hoping for drier conditions.

“The one thing I would like to change from the last match is the rain, I hope we won't have the same conditions as it gets very hard when it rains so heavily,” he said.

“Our team is perhaps not very experienced in these kind of championships, but a hunger to do well is also important.

“We had to beat Switzerland and we did that, now we must do the same.

“We are used to playing under pressure.”

Terim said he was disappointed with the Turkish media in the build-up to the game, who, he says, have falsely reported a row between him and Turkish Football Federation president Hasan Gogan last week.

And Terim said some reports claiming the squad are on a special bonus were also false.

“We see some false reports, there are some reports which make me feel sad and in fact there are more of these reports going on now,” he said.

“It is hard to understand why there is so much criticism going on in Turkey.

“There are reports that I had a fight with the president of the Turkish Football Federation, but that is false and he put a statement on the website saying so.

“Now there are stories saying we will get special bonuses, but nobody has ever said anything about this from our squad.

“Why are we talking about these things less than 24 hours before such an important match?

“I am not happy about this and it is something we will look at when we get back to Istanbul.”

History of fixtures between the two sides favours the Czechs, who have won three of the four meetings between the sides with one draw, but Terim says records are made to be broken.

“I have checked the statistics and generally the Czechs have always been more successful than us in meetings.

“We know the Czechs are very good on penalties, but perhaps the time has come for their luck to change.”

FATIH TERIM: "ARDA COULD BE BETTER!"

TURKKEY'S NEW "WONDERKID"......ARDA TURAN.........




Fatih Terim has hailed the new "Wonderboy of Turkey" Arda Turan as a potential world-beater after the midfielder's stoppage time winner ended Switzerland's involvement in UEFA EURO 2008.

The Galatasaray star capped a man-of-the-match display with a dramatic late strike to seal Wednesday night's 2-1 win at St Jakob-Park and Fatih revealed afterwards that he had long anticipated that the 21-year-old would thrive on football's biggest stages.

"I know him from my time at Galatasaray. He's one of my old students if I can put it like that," Fatih said.

"If anything I had expected him to progress more than he has done. He is very talented but he needs to continue to improve his stamina. If he can do that, I think he can be one of the most important players in Europe."

TERIM also paid tribute to Semih Senturk, whose introduction as part of a double substitution at half-time paid off when he headed in to cancel out Hakan Yakin's opener for the Swiss.

"The substitutions were successful. Semih is a goalscorer, that's what we expect him to do and he did not let us down. You know when he comes on he will make something happen."

Just as it seemed the co-hosts had done enough to stay alive in the competition, Arda broke clear on the left, cut inside and beat goalkeeper Diego Benaglio from the edge of the area with the help of a deflection off the boot of centreback Patrick Muller.

It was cruel for the Swiss, who were left to count the cost of failing to take the chances they had to kill off the Turks long before the dramatic denouement of a match that came close to being abandoned after a torrential downpour left the players slithering about dangerously in the first half.

"It is a wonderful feeling," Terim admitted. "The players needed this for their confidence and I congratulate them on their incredible effort."

TURKEY'S LAST MATCH COULD GO TO PENALTIES!

Turkey's soccer team poses together on the pitch before their Group A Euro 2008 soccer match against Switzerland at St Jakob Park in Basel, June 11, 2008. Back row from L-R: Emre Asik, Mehmet Aurelio, Hakan Baltai, Servet Cetin and Volkan Demirel. Front row, from L-R: Hamit Altintop,Arda Turan, Nihat Kahveci, Tuncay Sanli, Tumer Metin and Gokdeniz Karadeniz. (REUTERS)

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel may have an important job to do on Sunday.....

If Turkey and the Czech Republic draw their final Group A match in Geneva on Sunday, second place and a quarter-final berth will be decided on penalties.

The Czech Republic lost 3-1 to Portugal on Wednesday evening and then Turkey beat Switzerland 2-1 – both after added-time goals. That leaves the Czech Republic and Turkey level on points, goal difference and goals scored, and according to Article 7.08 in the official 2008 UEFA European Championship regulations, in that instance, if the two equal teams are playing in the last game, their match is decided by spot-kicks after 90 minutes should it finish level.


WHAT UEFA REGULATIONS SAY?...

Article 7.08 reads: "If two teams which have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark, provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches." The full regulations can be read by clicking here. Whoever finishes second in Group A will play the winners of Group B in Vienna on 20 June. Portugal, as Group A winners, face the Group B runners-up in Basel the night before.

Galatasaray signs German coach Skibbe

Galatasaray had signed with the former Bayer Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe, the club said on its website late Wednesday. Skibbe, who signed a one-year contract with an option for another year, became the 51st coach of the club.


The 42-year-old new coach will replace his veteran compatriot Karl-Heinz Feldkamp, who resigned in April citing disagreements with the management. The Skibbe-led Bayer Leverkusen eliminated Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup in 2008.

Born in 1942, Skibbe played for SG Wattenscheid 09 in his youth, and then switched to the professional team of Schalke 04. From 1984 to 1986, he appeared in 14 Bundesliga-games, but then he tore his cruciate ligament three times that forced him to end his playing career.

At the age of 22, he started his career as coach with Schalke 04 youth team. In 1989, he became the youth coach for Borussia Dortmund, where he became head coach in 1998, thus becoming the youngest head coach in the Bundesliga of all time at the age of 32.

He gave up this post after being offered the position as director of the German national team. In 2000, he became its head coach. And in 2005, he signed with Bayer Leverkusen which finished 7th in the German Bundesliga 2007-2008.

THRILL OF VICTORY!.....TURKEY KNOCK SWISS

Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel(L) catches the ball on the water-logged pitch during their Euro 2008 Championships Group A football match vs Switzerland in Basel, Switzerland. Turkey won 2-1


This is the football(soccer), that a lot of Turkish Fans were waiting from our National team.

Well, I tell you watching the match on ESPN2 , second half was delightfull!......

Arda Turan's last minute goal was thrill of victory!...

Turkey beat Swiss team 2-1 and stayed live at this tournament....

The Work is not done just yet!....

We have to beat Check Repuplic on Sunday!...

This was a proud day for Turkish Soccer(Football) around the world!...

Kudos to Fatih Terim and his Boys!.....

And Special Kudos to Keeper Volkan Demirel....he save the day on a brake away before Arda's goal....He is my player of the match....

Turkey scored a stoppage time goal to beat Switzerland 2-1 on Wednesday and knock the co-hosts out of Euro 2008.

Turkey scored with a strike from Arda Turan deep into four minutes of time added on to end Switzerland's hopes in a match hampered by severe weather conditions.

Torrential rain reduced the pitch to a quagmire and the match was already something of a farce when Hakan Yakin put the Swiss ahead in the 32nd minute after the ball stopped dead in a puddle in the Turkish goalmouth.

Turkey came back and grabbed an equaliser through Semih Senturk in the 57th minute.

Portugal lead Group A with six points from Czech Republic and Turkey on three with the Swiss bottom with no points.

TURKEY'S STARTING ELEVEN AGAINTS SWISS

Turkey ' s head coach Fatih Terim sits on the bench during a training session for the Euro 2008 soccer tournament at St. Jakob-Park stadium in Basel …


The starting line-up; Volkan, Hamit-Servet-Emre Asik-Hakan, Gokdeniz-Aurelio-Tumer-Arda, Tuncay-Nihat

TURKEY MATCH ON ESPN2

Switzerland v Turkey Match will be broadcast Live in the United States and Canada on ESPN2 TV .....YOU COULD ALSO WATCH THE MATCH LIVE ON ESPN360 ON LINE FREE IF YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER OFFERS THE SERVICE....

Switzerland v Turkey....Live Gamecast....