Turkey torment haunts Czech Republic

A famous UEFA EURO 2008 meeting will be on the minds of both sides as the Czech Republic take on Turkey in their final UEFA EURO 2016 Group D game.

Previous meetings
• The Czech Republic have encountered Turkey nine times since independence with the record W5 D1 L3 (W1 L2 in competitive games).

• Czechoslovakia had the better of their nine meetings with Turkey, which ended W6 D2 L1.

• The countries qualified for UEFA EURO 2016 from Group A, the Czech Republic taking top spot and Turkey going through as the best third-placed team. Each beat the other away from home, the Czechs prevailing 2-1 in Istanbul thanks to Bořek Dočkal's winner. Turkey turned the tables with a 2-0 triumph in Prague through a Selçuk İnan penalty and a Hakan Çalhanoğlu finish.

• Their only other competitive meeting was a five-goal thriller at UEFA EURO 2008, Fatih Terim's Turkey coming from two down to win 3-2 in Geneva. Two late Nihat Kahveci goals pushed them into the quarter-finals while eliminating their opponents.

• The teams for that game on 15 June 2008 were:
Turkey: Volkan Demirel, Servet Çetin, Hakan Balta, Mehmet Topal (Colin Kazım Richards 57), Mehmet Aurélio, Nihat Kahveci, Semih Şentürk (Sabri Sarıoğlu 46), Emre Güngör (Emre Aşık 63), Arda Turan, Tuncay Şanlı, Hamit Altıntop.

Czech Republic: Čech, Grygera, Polák, Galásek, Jankulovski, Sionko (Vlček 84), Koller, Matĕjovský (Jarolím 39), Plašil (Kadlec 80), Ujfaluši, Rozenhal.

EURO facts – Czech Republic
• The Czech Republic have qualified for every final tournament since Czechoslovakia split in 1993.

• They won the competition as part of Czechoslovakia in 1976 and reached the final in their first appearance as the Czech Republic in 1996, losing to Germany.

• The only Czech side to have previously played a UEFA game in Lens is Slavia Praha, who beat Lens 1-0 in a UEFA Cup third round game in December 1995.

EURO facts – Turkey
• Turkey reached the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2000 and the last four of UEFA EURO 2008 but missed out on the 2004 and 2012 tournaments. Thus, they have advanced to the knockout phase in their last two appearances.

• That 2008 semi-final against Germany in Basel, Switzerland, matched Turkey's greatest international achievement, Şenol Güneş's side having received bronze medals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup after defeating co-hosts South Korea in the third-place play-off.

• The only Turkish side to have previously played a UEFA fixture in Lens is Gaziantepspor, who beat the hosts 3-1 at what was then the Stade Félix-Bollaert in a November 2003 UEFA Cup game.

Coach and player links
• Play together:
Michal Kadlec (Czech Republic) & Caner Erkin, Gökhan Gönül, Şener Özbayraklı, Volkan Şen, Mehmet Topal and Ozan Tufan (Turkey) – Fenerbahçe

Tomáš Necid and Tomáš Sivok (Czech Republic) & Harun Tekin (Turkey) – Bursaspor

• Have played together:
Tomáš Sivok (Czech Republic) and İsmail Köybaşı (Turkey) – Beşiktaş, 2009–15

Tomáš Sivok (Czech Republic) and Cenk Tosun (Turkey) – Beşiktaş, 2014–15

Tomáš Sivok (Czech Republic) and Olcay Şahan (Turkey) – Beşiktaş, 2012–15

• Sivok represented Beşiktaş from 2008–15, making him the longest-serving foreign player in the club's history.

• David Pavelka (Czech Republic) joined Turkish side Kasımpaşa in January.

• Bořek Dočkal (Konyaspor, 2010) has also played in Turkey.

• Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba led Plzeň against Beşiktaş (2010/11, third qualifying round) and Fenerbahçe (2012/13, round of 16) in the UEFA Europa League, but failed to earn a win in four games (D2 L2) against the Turkish clubs.