Austria aim to turn the tables on Turkey
Thursday, July 28, 2011
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After five successive defeats against Turkey, most recently in Istanbul in March, Austria will be hoping for better when they welcome their Group A rivals to Vienna.
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Austria will look to put an end to a miserable sequence of results against Turkey when the teams meet for a second time in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group A.
• Turkey ended a run of two straight Group A defeats without scoring as Arda Turan and Gökhan Gönül sent Austria home with a 2-0 defeat on 29 March.
• Austria's record in their 13 games against Austria reads W7 D0 L6 (W4 D0 L2 at home).
• The balance of power has shifted significantly since the nations first met in a friendly in Istanbul on 30 May 1948, which Austria won 1-0.
• Austria won their first six meetings, home and away, without conceding a goal until Turkey ended that run on 16 November 1983, prevailing 3-1 at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.
• Austria were 3-2 victors in the sides' next encounter – a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 2 November 1988 – but have lost all five of their subsequent matches against Turkey.
• Austria boasts a substantial Turkish community, with a number of Austrian internationals past and present being of Turkish origin: Muhammad Akagündüz, Cem Atan, Ekrem Dağ, Volkan Kahraman, Veli Kavlak, Ümit Korkmaz, Ramazan Özcan, Yasin Pehlivan and Yüksel Sariyar.
• Austrian-born Turkish players are also making their name in Turkey, with Viennese forward Turgay Bahadır now a Turkish international.
