Turkey's Altintop upbeat before semi-final despite injury and suspension worries - Sport - Evening Standard
       

Turkey's Altintop upbeat before semi-final despite injury and suspension worries


Turkey's Altintop upbeat before semi-final despite injury and suspension worries






Injury and suspensions may have wreaked havoc on Turkey's squad but they still have a 50-50 chance of beating Germany in Wednesday's semi-final in Basel, midfielder Hamit Altintop said on Sunday.    


'Germany are the favourites but we have a good team and if we continue as we started we have a lot of self-belief,' he told reporters at a training session.    

'We are not worried about the injuries and suspensions. We have other good players who will give their all and, let's be frank, when you are in the semi-final of course you want to play in the final. I think the chances are 50/50.'

The Turks' never-say-die attitude has brought some thrilling finales to their matches.

They beat Croatia on penalties in their quarter-final on Friday after equalising with the last kick in extra time following a late Croatian goal.

Confident: Turkey's Hamit Altintop has faith in his side

Confident: Turkey's Hamit Altintop has faith in his side

But coach Fatih Terim faces a tense few days as he waits to hear if an appeal against goalkeeper Volkan Demirel's suspension is successful and whether Emre Belozoglu will be fit to play.    

Striker Nihat Kahveci became Turkey's latest casualty when he pulled out of the tournament on Sunday due to a thigh injury.    

'In our team the players are flexible. I can play on the left or the right. We all speak the same language, that is the main thing,' Hamit said.    

'We would be delighted if Turkey could prove the second Greece,' he added, referring to the Greeks' shock triumph at Euro 2004.

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