Confident Turks shake off guarded optimism

Turkey players have hailed their World Cup performance as a triumph of will over adversity and pledged that there was still more to come aft...

Turkey players have hailed their World Cup performance as a triumph of will over adversity and pledged that there was still more to come after their semi-final against Brazil on Wednesday.

“The camps, the training, the changing weather, the news of criticism from Turkey…all these caused us problems, but we are a team for hard times,” defender Alpay Ozalan wrote on his website. “Not one of us gave up. We kept on working, and reached the semi-finals.” Ilhan Mansiz, scorer of the clinical golden goal that ended Senegal’s World Cup run and gave Turkey their chance to avenge a 2-1 first-round defeat by Brazil, said his side were driven by deep belief in spite of criticism back at home. “Believe me that even though our aim and goal was very clear, when we sit down and look at what happened we can’t believe it,” Ilhan said on his website. Turkey have only appeared at one World Cup before, in 1954 when the were knocked out in the group phase.

“Please do not misunderstand me,” Ilhan said. “If we had stated our aims openly when coming here, they would have called us charlatans. Those who would have called us charlatans then will now slam us if we return without the Cup.” Bitter newspaper criticism of their early games has now shifted to confidence and pride in Turkey, but the wounds still linger with the team and helped forge a strong sense of purpose among the players. “My wish from you is that you do not pay attention to those people,” Alpay said. “The quality and strength of everyone on this team is there to see.

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“We have to prepare very well for the Brazil game. We have great morale and with that morale I think the time is ripe for us to beat Brazil and add a new golden page to our history,” Alpay said.

Ilhan too seemed full of confidence.

“It’s not over yet,” he wrote. “You have more history to witness. This team will open a new page and a new era. History will talk about this team. We are ready for it. We will return to Turkey with our arms full.”

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