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No Uefa reprieve for Turkey
By Matt Lawless
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Out: Nihat Kavechi is one of eight outfielders
unavailable
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Turkey's hopes of reaching the final of Euro 2008 have
suffered a heavy blow ahead of their semi-final with Germany after Uefa
announced they will not allow coach Fatih Terim to call up any replacements
to his injury and suspension ridden squad.
Terim faces the prospect of having only 13 outfield players
available for Wednesday's decisive clash in Basle, after Villarreal striker
Nihat Kahveci was ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury, sustained
during the quarter final, 3-1 penalty shootout victory over Croatia.
Nihat heads a lengthy injury list for Turkey, joining Emre Belozoglu (hamstring),
Emre Gungor (calf), Servet Cetin (hip and knee) and Tumer Metin (groin)
on the sidelines, while Middlesbrough striker Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan
and Emre Asik are all suspended after each picking up yellow cards against
Croatia.
Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel also has one game to serve on his suspension
after his dismissal in the closing stages against the Czech Republic for
violent conduct, although Turkey have lodged an appeal.
However, Uefa spokesman William Gaillard confirmed that Europe's ruling
body will not change their rules to help Turkey's cause. He explained:
"You cannot replace any players after the first game has been played."
"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match,
then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and
we would find it a bit difficult changing now.
"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule
of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules."
While Turkey can look forward to the return of defensive midfielder Mehmet
Aurelio after a one-match ban, Terim is even considering fielding third-choice
goalkeeper Tolgan Zengin as an outside player, given the desperate circumstances.
He said: "He [Tolgan] could come on towards the end as a sub as a
last man in defence or a centre forward."
Telegraph.co.uk,
23/06/2008
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