ANKARA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkey were jubilant following a shocking 2-0 victory over world champions France Saturday night at Konya Torku Arena in central Turkey, thus maintaining a perfect record in Euro 2020 qualifying tournament.
It's the first time in its history that the Turkish squad managed to beat France.
Turkey overturn France to top Group H with the maximum nine points from three matches, while France have two wins and a defeat on second with Iceland.
The Turkish press exulted over the win on Sunday.
"National Festival," said Yeni Safak daily, indicating that the Turkish team "destroyed" France in home game, giving the country a "well deserved national festival to celebrate".
"We crushed the world champions," heralded Hurriyet daily on its first page, insisting particularly that Turkey's coach Senol Gunes was instrumental in this "historic victory."
The 67-year-old former goalkeeper Gunes took the post of head coach in February. He took Turkey to the third place in the 2002 World Cup during his first spell in charge.
He replaced dismissed Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu, following a series of bad results as Turkey failed to qualify for last year's World Cup in Russia, frustrating an entire nation passionate about football.
"Coach Gunes instilled youth and hope to the Turkish team and this, I believe, is an achievement by itself. So Gunes, since he took the reigns of the squad has been successful," Istanbul-based football specialist Arda Alan Isik told Xinhua.
He pointed out that the new coach managed to form a "clean and sympathetic squad that has brought renewed interest for the national team, crippled by bad results in past few years."
However, Isik also cautioned on the follow-up to this victory, remarking that the rest of the path towards qualifications will be an arduous one.
The Turkish team would have to prove its credibility by presenting itself as "sustainable" and not merely content to rest on its laurels, he stressed.
In a packed stadium, the hosts were the better side throughout the game and Kaan Ayhan opened the scoring after 30 minutes when he headed home. Cengiz Under doubled their lead just before half-time with a fine finish from inside the area.
A solid performance by Turkish goalkeeper Mert Gunok also kept the world champions at bay.
France were poor for large periods and rarely threatened. In fact, it was the first time in 10 years that Les Bleus failed to have a shot on target, causing France coach Didier Deschamps to complain about his side's performance.
"When you play like that on a collective level there's nothing positive to take from the game," he told French broadcaster TF1. "We didn't play the way we should have against a team which played the way it likes to."
France will look to bounce back from this disappointing result in Andorra on Tuesday while Turkey will attempt to make it four when they face Iceland on the same day. Enditem
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)