Heading into the European Championships, many viewed Turkey as an outside chance to win it all.
With a host of promising players and a decent group, there was a path to victory if they were to live up to expectations.
Their opening game against Italy saw disaster ensue, a 3-0 battering to the new dark horse in the competition asked plenty of questions of the Turkish national team.
Burak Yilmaz had just won the Ligue 1 title with Lille, as they fought off French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain. Alongside Yilmaz, Calhanoglu a recent signing for Inter Milan from rivals AC Milan gave the Turks plenty of confidence.
It was not meant to be, losing all three games, and only managing to score one goal against Switzerland, in another demolition to end their hopes at European glory.
The biggest surprise was their 2-0 defeat to Wales and while the scoreline was unappealing, it was not as if Turkey did not have any chances. In fact, they had 18 shots on goal with six on target and they controlled 64% of possession.
Their matchup with Italy was humbling, however, only managing three shots on goal and 0 on target to Italy’s 24 and 8. It was the only game they did not control.
Turkey’s game against Switzerland saw 19 shots on goal and six on target with almost equal possession with the Swiss.
Turkey bow out of #EURO2020 with no points and only one goal scored 😥#TUR pic.twitter.com/WokDP8imbh
— GOAL (@goal) June 20, 2021
While head coach Senol Gunes expressed his disappointment with the team, he also accepted responsibility for the performances.
“I am responsible for this,” he said.
“Such a performance at this tournament is unacceptable.”
Before losing to Italy, was undefeated in 2021, a 4-2 over the Netherlands, a 3-0 demolition of Norway mixed in with steady results gave a glimmer of hope to the Turks.
Again, it wasn’t meant to be and they now turn their attention towards World Cup qualification, starting with Montenegro in Istanbul.
