PHOTO: Turkey: By God`s Willing, Croatia Will Win

Because of the injured and banned players, most of the Turks don`t think that it is likely Turkey will beat Croatia.

Amazing comebacks in Swiss and Czech matches give a significant morale strenght to the Turkish people and the national team. The victory against Czech was celebrated cheerfully in all Turkey and now Turks are hopeful against Croats, too. Normally, it was not like that a week ago, when Turkey had been beaten by Portugal after a very bad play.

Actually what we fight against is not our opponents, Croats, but ourselves. Just after the Czech match, Turkish manager Fatih Terim chose to take to opportunity to mock the Turkish press, instead of telling about the victory in football terms. "Miracles take time here," he said, jokingly, and he added: "If we could have lost this match, you were ready to hang us all. Sorry for spoiling your plans."

This hostile post-match talk by Terim has polarized the Turkish public once again. It is rare to see a Turkish sports journalist who supports Fatih Terim from his/her very heart. Several decisions by Terim about the team would be regarded as mistakes in any country. He didn't draft superior players like Yildiray Basturk, Halil Altintop and Umit Karan, because of his personal feelings against them. On the other hand, he included players like Emre Belozoglu, Tumer Metin and Sabri Sarioglu, who can't even play regularly in their own teams, but have close relations with Terim. Moreover, Terim made a right-back out of Hamit Altintop (the Bayern Munchen winger) and a target striker from Nihat Kahveci (who is actually a supportive forward). He didn't use a wonderkid like Arda Turan in the Portugal match.

The press had actually been pointing out these grave mistakes and we have seen that these critics were right. Portugal match was a disaster. Then comes the similar first half of Swiss match. Then, in the second half of this match, Terim stepped back to apply what the media had been telling for weeks for good. After the tactical change, "the miracle" has come, just like what would happen in the next match against Czech.

However, Terim has reacted like these victories are the results of his "genius" tactics and against all odds, he has succeeded. The press, which was critizicing him for good, turned out to be hostile as well. With very weak assistants, there is no one around to make Terim bridge the gap between the press and the team, instead of polarizing the situations even further. This hateful approach by both sides has resulted with new confrontations. Now the bonus awards that would be given by Turkish FA to the footballers are also being discussed (200.000 Euro for each player, for now). Turkish public is being alienated from its national team before the match against Croatia.

Moreover, today there was an interesting article by Hincal Uluc, a leading columnist in Turkey. "Inshallah (by God's willing) we will be eliminated by Croatia," he wrote. He said it to prevent more sorrows in case of a victory against Croatia. After the Czech match, joyful Turks in all cities went out to streets and celebrated the victory by firing pistols in the air. Many people were injured, including a 12-years old girl whose situation is critical.

With such polarization, as well as the injured and banned players, most of the Turks don't think that it is likely to beat Croatia. Actually this quarter final sounds like enough success for everyone for this tournament, but there are also people who suggest that you can't stop Turks after they break free from their leashes. Like all Turkish people, it seems like the character of this team as well. Turkish team has succeeded with bursts of excitement during two previous matches, while Croatia showed that it is a system team. If another miracleous burst may come during the match, Turkey can win. But we have a saying in Turkey: "The grasshopper can only jump for two times in a row."

Take a look at Turkey celebrating in the PHOTOGALLERY.