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Turks rehearse with Kazakhs for Tuesday’s Belgium toughie
Two goals from deadballs by Galatasaray playmaker Arda Turan in the 24th and Bayern Munich right midfielder Hamit Altıntop in the 26th, and another in the second half by veteran striker Nihat Kahveci in the 76th meant the Turks began their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign on a winning note.
Arda opened the scoring in the 24th minute when he redirected an Ömer Erdoğan header from a free kick into the back of the net. Hamit doubled the score for the superior Turks two minute later with a cracker of a shot from a corner-kick deflection from just outside the Kazakh penalty area.
The Kazakhs had several half chances in the second half, but Nihat put the game beyond reach in the 76th minute, taking a long pass from Arda and slipping round 30-year-old Kazakhstan keeper Andrei Sidelnikov.
And this was Turkey's biggest away qualifying victory in a European Football Championship since the competition was launched 48 years ago -- in 1962, to be more precise.
Kazakhstan is the team Turkey loves to beat. The two countries first met in a 2006 World Cup qualifier on Oct. 9, 2004 in Turkey which the Turks won 4-0. They went on to win the away leg 6-0 on June 8, 2005. “We desperately needed a winning start and I can say we succeeded,” Hiddink said in his post-match news conference. “But the one thing I have to state categorically clearly is that we suffered from concentration lapses from time to time -- especially during the second half. This we have to guard against,” he added.
For reasons only Hiddink and his assistant Oğuz Çetin know, the Dutchman has stuck to the team of his predecessor Fatih Terim. Most soccer pundits had hoped for a complete overhaul of the side which failed to make South Africa 2010 this summer. That team was considered an absolute failure and Terim called it quits in the wake of it all.
One sparrow does not a summer make and so victory over straw-weight Kazakhstan, ranked 125th by FIFA, is not something to write home about. If Hiddink continues winning with Terim's team, then there will be no problem. But if his team slips or stumbles, then he will understand that Turkey is a country with 75 million coaches. Everyone is a coach, or at least thinks so.
Tuesday's match against the Belgians will be the first real test for the Dutchman.
Klose gives Germany victory
In Brussels, Miroslav Klose gave Germany an ideal start to their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory in Belgium. A defensive lapse by the hosts early in the second half allowed Thomas Mueller to find the unmarked Klose just inside the penalty area and he made no mistake. Germany was second best for much of the first half with Belgium twice forcing keeper Manuel Neuer into smart saves. However, the World Cup semifinalist dominated the Group A match after halftime.
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