England versus Turkey. Old world meets New. It depends on how you look at it. On one hand Turkey has never scored a goal against England before, being whipped as badly as 8-0 in the last several years.
On the other hand, Turkey came out third in the most recent FIFA World Cup, the only team to defeat both hosts, South Korea and Japan. Both England and Turkey were beaten by Brazil, the eventual winner, with respectable 1-goal margins (2-1s and a 1-0).
Turkey has played more convincingly than England in this current series, trouncing Liechtenstein 5-0 compared to England's paltry 2-0. It will field international players such as Emre Belozoglu (Inter Milan, lethal and very cute), Tugay Kerimoglu (Blackburn Rovers) and experienced goalkeep, Rüstü Reçber. Alpay Ozalan, better known for warming the bench at Aston Villa, now has a chance to prove himself, as he says, to England.
Playboy striker Ilhan Mansiz, the fiery Hasan Sas (still my favourite) and veteran Hakan Sükür may yet surprise us with another performance reminiscent of the World Cup, despite their relatively poor current form.
The Turkish team is now ranked 7th in the world while England is 9th. However, the betting odds are still in favour of an England win. Earlier this week, the under-21 teams played to a draw in Newcastle.
Turkey is already at the top of the table, and nothing much may happen to Turkish coach Senol Gunes if they lose or draw. But Sven Goran Eriksson's job is on the line if England don't win this match convincingly. They've already lost to the Aussies, traditionally more famous for cricket than soccer, and drawn 2-2 with Macedonia, which Turkey have beaten.
Security will be stepped up this evening at Sunderland. Previous Turkey-England clashes have resulted in violence.
Funny how soccer doesn't seem to be the only thing Turkey is fighting about.
Sadly so. But the Turks have my support for football. The match begins in two hours' time.
Argh, a 2-0 loss. But they have one more chance to play England, on home ground, and they've been more consistent against the other teams in the group.
It's tricky when two of your favourite teams play each other. But I still support Turkey. Those guys are more underrated than England, which until now has been underperforming.