Champions Spain strive to tame Turkey
Friday, January 1, 2016
Article summary
Spain have not lost to Turkey since March 1954, but they will have to have their wits about them in Group D against a team which boasts plenty of Liga experience.
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Article body
Spain will look to maintain a 52-year unbeaten run against Turkey as the sides meet for the first time at a major tournament in UEFA EURO 2016 Group D.
Previous meetings
• Spain's ten meetings with Turkey have ended W5 D4 L1 (W4 D2 L1 in competitive games).
• The countries were drawn together in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Vicente del Bosque's Spain won both games against Fatih Terim's Turkey, Gerard Piqué's first international goal giving the Reds a 1-0 win in Madrid and Albert Riera's added-time strike sealing a 2-1 victory in Istanbul.
• Turkey qualified for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland by the drawing of lots after their play-off tie against Spain in Rome ended 2-2.
• Turkey's lone win against Spain was a 1-0 success in World Cup qualifying on 14 March 1954.
EURO facts – Spain
• This is Spain's sixth consecutive EURO. They are bidding to triumph for the third time in succession, having become the first side to win two in a row at UEFA EURO 2012.
• Spain and Germany/West Germany are the most successful EURO sides having won three editions each.
• Real Madrid (1960), Barcelona (1973) and Espanyol (1976) have lost away to Nice in UEFA competition. Madrid won there in the quarter-finals of the 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup.
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.
• Turkey qualified as the best third-placed team in the nine UEFA EURO 2016 groups, gaining 18 points with the record W5 D3 L2.
• Fenerbahçe are the only Turkish club to have played a competitive game in Nice – they lost 2-1 to Nice in the 1959/60 European Champion Clubs' Cup and 4-0 in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup second round.
Coach and player links
• Play together:
Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué (Spain) & Arda Turan (Turkey) – Barcelona
• Have played together:
Jordi Alba (Spain) and Mehmet Topal (Turkey) – Valencia, 2010–12
Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos (Spain) & Nuri Şahin (Turkey) – Real Madrid, 2011–12
Juanfran and Koke (Spain) & Arda Turan (Turkey) – Atlético Madrid, 2011–15
• Spain coach Del Bosque was in charge of Beşiktaş in the 2004/05 campaign.
• Turkey's Selçuk İnan and Burak Yılmaz met Spain's Juanfran and Koke when Galatasaray lost 2-0 home and away against Atlético Madrid in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage.
