Tom Lappin - Irresistible Turks sure to flex the Teutonic muscle

Published on Sunday 22 June 2008 23:11

HERE'S a team that refuses to give up, throwing bodies forward in the final seconds to bundle in match-altering goals, then slotting away their penalties with cool precision.

Before engaging Turkey in Wednesday's Euro 2008 semi-final, perhaps the Germans should consider suing them for copyright infringement.

The Turks' breathtaking brinkmanship is impossible to resent, even if they have eliminated substantially more talented teams in the Czech Republic and Croatia. The Turks' indomitable fighting spirit, the positive corollary of the same belligerence that earns them so many yellow cards, has been almost as spectacular an ingredient of this engrossing tournament as the Spanish short-passing, the Dutch athletic counter-attacks, the Russians' mesmerising fluidity.

If it is possible, their stubbornness will be augmented by the knowledge that nobody gives them a prayer against the Germans, for several reasons. Firstly, they are up against the Germans who, the last World Cup excepted, tend to enjoy semi-finals. Secondly, the Turks have not played well enough over the course of the competition to be credible contenders. Thirdly, indiscipline has left them heavily depleted for Wednesday's game. Suspensions have ruled out the excellent goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, along with Tuncay Sanli, Emre Asik and the adventurous forward Arda Turan. But the most serious omission will be captain and effervescent forward Nihat Kahveci who has a thigh injury and is out of the tournament.

If ever a team was more than the sum of its parts though the Turks merit the description. Four years ago they looked on in depressed disbelief as their hated rivals Greece, a nation with a comparatively shallow football culture, and a one-dimensional team, became European champions. The Turkish dream of emulating that achievement is now two games away. Unfortunately it is a dream that is on a collision course with the tough reality of Germany, a team proficient at shooing away underdogs.

If there has been a flaw with the tournament, it has been in the draw, which has played as intrusive a part as in any five-furlong handicap over uneven going. Most of the talent has been arrayed in the bottom half of the draw, with Russia, Holland, Italy, Spain and the hapless France taking chunks out of each other. Germany's half of the draw has looked a piece of Sacher Torte by comparison, with only the Portuguese and the unlucky Croatians as meaningful obstacles. Offered the prospect of playing a depleted Turkish team for a place in the final, Germans could be forgiven a grateful smile.

If Croatia exposed German weaknesses, the encounter with Portugal showed their strengths, substantially if not entirely physical. The prelude to the winning goal, Michael Ballack's nonchalant shove on Paulo Ferreira, was a cameo of the way the Germans swept aside the delicate Portuguese with artfully applied Teutonic muscle. Two goals came from set-pieces, while the first goal saw Bastian Schweinsteiger power away from Ferreira to stab in at the near post. It was impossible to feel any sympathy for the Portuguese. Blaming Chelsea for unsettling the squad was a weak excuse. It might have been more credible to blame Cristiano Ronaldo for thinking more about tormenting Sir Alex Ferguson than tormenting German defenders.

The Germans are far from the most talented team at this tournament, but they seem to have acquired a formidable sense of entitlement. It's a team with no shortage of forceful personalities. It wasn't only Ferreira whom Ballack was shoving out of his way. At the team meeting after the defeat by Croatia, Ballack took it upon himself to lead the inquest, excluding the coach. It's wise to be wary of bandying about the description "arrogant" in a German context, but with Ballack it is unavoidable.

Ballack and Joachim Lw have complementary skills. The coach has the cool and calculating tactical brain, Ballack the charisma and on-field swagger. Lw wanted Ballack to be a more attacking presence against Portugal, Ballack wanted defensive cover. The plan happily allowed the demotion of the hapless Mario Gomez to be explained by tactical necessity.

The Turks, ill-equipped and disinclined to play adventurously, may opt for that most unpromising of gambits, playing for penalties against Germany. The Germans should prevail, but if they go into the last five minutes with only a single goal lead, don't look away.