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Turkey boss: If we qualify, we’ll go far

GROUP D

CZECH REPUBLIC 0

TURKEY 2

(Burak Yilmaz 10, Ozan Tufan 65)

Triumphant Turkey coach Fatih Terim says his side can go far in the tournament if they manage to qualify for the Euro 2016 knockout stages as one of the four best third-placed teams.

After limp defeats by Croatia and Spain, the Turks delivered a stunning performance full of fire and passion to defeat the Czech Republic 2-0 yesterday morning (Singapore time) and finish third in Group D on three points.

They now face a wait until the other groups are concluded to see if they qualify.

Turkey have a better record than Albania, also on three points, but need one more team from the remaining two groups to finish third with an inferior record.

If they do make it, Terim says they could repeat their performance at the 2008 tournament, where they made it to the semi-finals only to lose to a last-minute goal as Germany won a thriller 3-2.

CONFIDENCE

He said: "If we advance, we can do what we did in Euro 2008, because our confidence is growing.

"We still have some problems, but now it's easier to find solutions.

"We have a good side and now we have our team spirit back.

"If we advance, I think we will go a long way."

Goals from Burak Yilmaz and Ozan Tufan gave the Turks a victory few had predicted beforehand, with Yilmaz winning the Man-of-the- Match award for his tireless display.

"I'm very happy, I scored an important goal in a very decisive game, and everything worked very well," he said. "It's been a good night, a good goal for me."

Czech coach Pavel Vrba was disappointed with his side's exit but said the young players in his squad had learned some valuable lessons.

He said: "I'm not going to say that our performance here was any good... (But) this has been a great lesson for our young players, and I hope they will use it in the next qualifiers."

- Reuters.

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