Turkey plays Korea in a very evenly matched friendly.
Korea is coming off a successful Asian Cup to look back on. They made it to the semi-finals of the tournament and lost out to Japan on penalties. In their previous international game, they played Uzbekistan in the third place play-off at the Asian Cup and won 3-2. Koo Ja-Cheol was the top scorer of the tournament with five goals. He recently earned a transfer to VfL Wolfsburg in Germany for his efforts.

Turkey failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2010. Plenty was expected of Turkey following their wonderful run to the semi-finals of the European Championships in 2008. However, they have disappointed since. Their qualification campaign for Euro 2012 hasn’t exactly gone to plan. They are third in Group A behind Germany and Austria with six points to show from four games.

Turkey started with a bang with victories over Azerbaijan and Belgium. An expected loss came when they meet the Germans. However, the manner of the loss was quite surprising as they went down 3-0. Their weaknesses at the back were well and truly revealed. In their last competitive international fixture, they lost out to Azerbaijan, 1-0. Those three points are the only points Azerbaijan has to show for their efforts so far.

Turkey, however, have at their helm, a very successful manager in Guus Hiddink, currently. Guus Hiddink is known for working miracles with national sides and with the amount of talents the Turks boast, qualification for Euro 2012 and progress into the latter rounds of the tournament is a possibility. The Turks are ranked 31st in the FIFA Rankings, a spot above the Taeguk Warriors.


Here are the squads for the two teams:



Turkey:

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel, Onur Ricep Kivrak, Fehmi Mert Günok.

Defenders: Gökhan Gönül Serkan Balcı, Serdar Kesimal Servet Çetin, Emre Güngör, Hakan Balta, İsmail Köybaşı, Gökhan Süzen.

Midfielders: Selçuk İnan, Yiğit İncedemir, Mehmet Ekici, Nuri Şahin, Emre Belözoğlu,
Hamit Altıntop, Yekta Kurtuluş, Engin Baytar, Sabri Sarioglu.

Forwards: Tunay Torun, Umut Bulut, Burak Yılmaz, Colin Kazim-Richards.




Korea Republic:

Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-Ryong, Kim Jin-Hyeon.

Defenders: Cha Du-Ri Yun Suk-Young , Lee Sang-Duk Hwang Jae-Won, Choi Hyo-Jin, Hong Jeong-Ho, Hong Chul ), Lee Jung-Soo

Mifielders: Lee Chung-Yong, Kim Bo-Kyung Koo Ja-Cheol, Yoon Bit, Ki Sung-Yueng Lee Yong-Rae, Choi Sung-Kuk.

Forwards: Son Heung-Min, Ji Dong-Won, Park Chu-Young, Nam Tae-Hee, Kim Shin-Wook.

Korea lost two great national team players in Park Ji Sung and Lee Young-Pyo following the Asian Cup as they retired from international football. Korea’s defence was their Achilles heel at the Asian Cup. They conceded too many goals and as a result failed to progress to the final. The squad is filled with talent. Son Heung-Min is a player who might get a chance in this match. Son is a fantastic player and lights up the pitch whenever he plays in Germany for Hamburger SV. However, injuries have derailed the youngster’s progress in recent seasons.

Two of Turkey’s stars stick out from the experienced squad: Nuri Sahin and Mehmet Ekici. Sahin has easily been the Bundesliga’s best midfielder during this season and the fact that he chose to represent Turkey should give the Turks plenty of joy. Mehmet Ekici currently plies his trade for Nuremberg. He is on loan from Bayern Munich. The sheer talent of the forward can be seen whenever he plays. His set-pieces are excellent and will be worth watching if he plays.

This game should ideally allow Guus Hiddink to explore his options for the upcoming qualifiers. There is very little to choose in between the two and the game should be an evenly-matched entertaining affair with plenty of talent to show on the pitch. Turkey will be hoping to win as they are the home side.

Prediction: Turkey 2-2 Korea Republic.