Another Disappointing Result for Turkiye

Another Disappointing Result for Turkiye

By Nathan L. Redd

With Fatih Terim's squad in a must-win situation today, Turkiye comes home from Malta with only one point following a 2-2 draw in the Maltese capital. Malta's Brian Said got the scoring off in the 41st minute to put the home team up 1-0. Only four minutes later, Turkiye's Halil Altintop found the back of the net right before the break to send the teams into the locker rooms knotted up at one apiece.

Malta's Andre Schembri put the hosts up 2-1 in the 76th minute, but former Fenerbahce star Servet Cetin tied the game up only two minutes later. Turkiye had five shots, three on goal, while Malta had six shots with two of them on goal. Turkiye had a wealth of opportunities on corner kicks, with ten compared to Malta's three. Turkiye also dominated the time of possession, controlling the ball 57% of the time compared to Malta's 43%. Ayhan Akman and Ibrahim Toraman picked up yellow cards for Turkiye.

Fenerbahce's Deniz Baris checked in as a substitute for former Fener star Tuncay Sanli in the 66th minute. Baris was the only Fenerbahce play who appeared in the game.

Turkiye now finds themselves four points behind leaders Greece who were off today. In other Group C action, Hungary pulled out a 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Norway picked up three points with a 1-0 win over Moldova. After Turkiye's big victory over Greece, it seemed that Terim's squad would have no problems finishing in the top two and advancing. It's been nothing but disappointment since then however, and now Turkiye is just trying to stay alive in Group C. They'll have another opportunity to pick up crucial points on Wednesday when they host Hungary. More to come on today's match as well as the upcoming match versus Hungary soon.

(Photos courtesy of the Turkish Futbol Federation)