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World Soccer: Q & A with Turkey coach Gunes
Posted: Wednesday April 24, 2002 10:21 AM
Updated: Saturday April 27, 2002 10:05 AM
What
do you think of the draw?
I wanted to take on the favorites -- Brazil, Argentina and France
-- so that if we qualified, nobody could say that Turkey were from
the weakest group. Now we are pitted against Brazil, Costa Rica
and China. On paper, it looks like an easy group for us to qualify
with Brazil. But we must be very careful against China. Their coach,
Bora Milutinovic, is the master of the unexpected. Costa Rica are
a small country but could be a surprise package. I have great faith
in my team and we aim to reach the quarter-finals.
Who
are your key players?
Parma's Hakan Sukur is the most accomplished Turkish player of all
time and led the team in qualification with six goals. Fenerbahce
goalkeeper Rustu Recber played in all 12 qualifiers. Aston Villa
defender Alpay Ozalan single-handedly carried Turkey against Macedonia,
hitting a hat trick. Those who appear in the first 11 are my key
players.
Who
will be the surprises?
Spain and Portugal.
How
will the conditions affect you?
They will affect us all, but we will take precautions to minimize
it.
Who
will win the World Cup?
Argentina, France or Brazil.
What
is your preferred formation?
It depends, 4-4-2 or 3-5-2.
How
are your overseas-based players getting on?
Tugay Kerimoglu and Hakan Unsal are doing well at Blackburn. I'm
especially pleased with Hakan Unsal, who was unsettled at Galatasaray.
In Spain, Tayfun Korkut and Nihat Kahveci of Real Sociedad are our
noted players. In Germany, Yildiray Basturk is doing fine with Leverkusen.
In Italy, Okan Buruk, Emre Belozoglu of Inter and Umit Davala of
Milan remain second choices with their teams. From time to time
they are sidelined through injuries and I'm never too sure about
their fitness. We recently recalled Mustafa Izzet of Leicester,
who had recovered from his injuries. They are our noted players,
and we need them very much.
Have
injuries affected your ideal formation?
Injuries to top players are the nightmare of any manager. Sergen
Yalcin's knee injury has ruled him out of the World Cup, and Alpay
is struggling to make it. I heard he had blamed his lay-off on poor
medical treatment, and he vowed to return to Turkey for another
operation on his ankle. I was without a number of first-choice players
for our friendly against Ecuador in Breda. I couldn't afford to
risk them.
Will
it be tough choosing a final 23?
We will call up a large squad to have a look at as many players
as possible. But I may have some problems announcing the final 23
because there are some 35-40 players who could make the squad. Everybody
has to show their qualities in the friendly games.
Since
1996, Turkey have struggled to win friendlies. Why?
They have never taken them seriously. -- but now it is time to change
this attitude. They should also learn to concentrate. In those friendlies
the priority was to try out many players and to see if they fitted
into our system. This caused a lack of motivation, and so we didn't
get the results we expected.
From World Soccer magazine.
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