Winning Over Latvia And Qualifying For Germany, Turkey Returns To Competing In The European Cup

Turkish players celebrate their win over Latvia in the Euro 2024 qualifying match. (Twitter @EURO2040)

JAKARTA - Turkey is back in the European Cup. A 4-0 victory over Latvia in the Euro 2024 qualifying group match at the Konya Buyuksehir Stadium, Monday, October 16 in the morning WIB, passed Turkey to Germany.

Turkey's important victory in qualifying matches. Especially after Turkey beat Croatia 1-0 in the previous match. Their success in winning victory at home to Croatia became a turning point for Turkey.

How not, Turkey became the first team to break Croatia's unbeaten record in home matches during qualifying. The result also led The Crescent Stars to the top of the standings.

Turkey also only needed one more win to ensure qualify for the finals. The target was achieved after Turkey beat Latvia. This is the third time Turkey has competed in a row in the European Cup.

However, Turkey has never qualified again at the World Cup since the last time it was at the 2002 World Cup when they took third place.

The victory confirmed Turkey's position in the top position with 16 points. Although there is one more match left, Turkey has secured a ticket to Germany.

Turkey's success cannot be separated from the performance of the new coach Vincenzo Montella. The former Italian national team striker immediately took Turkey to Germany for only two matches.

Not only that, but Montella actually has a very short preparation time, which is three weeks with the quality of the player's material not special. However, Montella has actually succeeded in improving Turkey's performance.

With Turkey's success in Germany, one more ticket was contested by Wales and Croatia. Wales moved up to second place after beating Croatia 2-1. Both teams collected point 10, but Wales were ahead on goal difference.

In the duel against Latvia at home, Turkey did not play like when they beat Croatia. The burden of having to win makes them unable to play loose, especially in the first half.

Moreover, Latvia defended more and more which made it more difficult for Turkey to score goals. There was no breakthrough from Turkey so the game was a little boring throughout the first half.

Attacks from the hosts always fail. Because there is no chance that can be converted into goals, the match score remains 0-0 when the first half ends.

The match changed completely in the second half. Turkey played more aggressively suppressing the opponent. They began to be able to dismantle the Latvian defense.

In addition, Latvian players began to lose focus. It is proven that Turkey was finally able to break into their goal in the 58th minute. The home goal was produced by Yunus Akgun who completed the assist from Cek Ozkacar.

Winning 1-0 made Turkey even more excited. They locked up the visitors' defense. But Turkey still has to wait for the negligence of the opposing players.

In the second half of the half, Turkey could only add goals. This time, it was Cenk Tosun's turn to take the team 2-0 up in the 84th minute.

After that goal, the hosts seemed to have no trouble increasing their lead because the Latvian defense had weakened. In 88 minutes, Kerem Akturkoglu welcomed Yusuf Sari's assist to break into the opponent's goal.

Furthermore, Tosun, who solidified Turkey's victory in injury time. The score changed to 4-0 and then the referee blew the final sign of the match.