The excitement continues at EURO 2024, where national teams will also be taking part. With the final group stage matches underway, the teams that will advance to the next round are beginning to be decided.
In Group F we faced Portugal, Georgia and the Czech Republic and our national team started with three points.
The national team faced Georgia in their first match, beating them 3-1 with goals from Mert Myrdur, Arda Güler and Kerem Aktırkol.
Crescent Stars came into the second match against Portugal with great enthusiasm but ended the match without the expected result.
Defeat brought on by criticism
Our national team received a lot of criticism on social media after losing 0-3 to a strong opponent. Our red and white team is coached by Vincenzo Montella, who received critical comments about his team’s defence, the Italian coach’s player selection and his performance against Portugal.
Representative of Hakan Calhanojur
National team captain Hakan Calhanoglu responded to the criticism at a press conference.
The day after the match against Portugal, coach Chalhanoglu said, “After yesterday’s match, everything is getting harder, but this is not the end of the world. We had the goal from the beginning to get out of the group. We still have a chance.” Yesterday we did not get the result we wanted, but nothing is over yet. We have one more match to go. There were some things in the match that we did not want, some things happened in football. The important thing is our team. We believe that we will move forward, we have to move forward, we are generally emotional people, we must not forget that Portugal is a strong team and they are favorites just like Germany and Spain. When you are losing 1-0, there are things that Altai have to improve. It is often the case that you speak and are not listened to. The important thing is to cheer them up. There is nothing like me here. We are together, win and lose. We are not at the end of the road. We will continue. “It will be a long match, but we believe and that is why we will continue,” he said.
Is that reaction justified?
So are the criticisms levelled after the national team’s first two matches justified? Let’s take a look at how the Crescent Stars have performed in past European Championships…
We left our first experience badly
Our national team took part in our first ever European Championship at EURO 1996. Led by coach Fatih Terim, the red and white team were paired with Portugal, Croatia and Denmark in Group D for their first European Championship experience.
Crescent Star. They lost 0-3 to Denmark, 0-1 to Portugal and Croatia, finishing last in their group with a goal difference of -5 and saying goodbye to the tournament.
4 points from the first two games of EURO 2000
Our national team, under coach Mustafa Denizli, qualified for EURO 2000 and performed so well that they reached the quarter-finals.
In Group B they faced Italy, Belgium and Sweden, beating Belgium 2-0 in their first match.
The Crescent Stars started the group with three points, drawing 1-1 with Sweden in the second match to increase their points to four. The Red and Whites, who lost 2-1 to Italy in their last match, finished second in the group and successfully qualified for the quarterfinals.
The team faced Portugal in the quarter-finals, but lost 0-2 and said goodbye to the tournament.
One point wasn’t enough at EURO 2008
It was in 2008 that our red and white team took part in the European Championships for the third time in its history. Portugal was in Group A, which also included the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
In the first match of the tournament, our national team faced Portugal and was unable to prevent goals from Pepe and Raul Meireles, leaving the field with a 0-2 defeat.
In the second match, our national team came from 1-0 down to defeat Switzerland 2-1 with goals from Semih Şentürk and Arda Turan, earning three points.
Our Crescent Star team and their opponents in the final match against Czech Republic had the same points and average. In case of a draw, a penalty shootout will take place to decide who will advance to the next round.
The national team found themselves trailing 2-0 after goals from Jan Koller in the 34th minute and Jaroslav Plašil in the 62nd minute. Arda Turan put them up 3-2 in the 75th minute, and Nihat Kahveci found the net in the 87th and 89th minutes.
With no further goals scored in the remaining time, our national team increased their lead to six and finished second in the group, progressing to the next round.
They lost their first two games at EURO 2016
Under the direction of coach Fatih Terim, Spain’s national team qualified for EURO 2016. They were placed in Group D with Croatia and the Czech Republic.
In their first match of the tournament against Croatia, the Red and Whites were unable to prevent Luka Modric’s goal in the 41st minute and left the field with a 1-0 defeat.
In the second match against Spain, the national team suffered an unexpected result, leaving the field with a 0-3 defeat.
After finishing the first two games without scoring a goal and with a goal difference of -4, our Red and White team faced the Czech Republic in the final game. With goals from Burak Yilmaz and Ozan Tufan, the Crescent and Stars beat their opponents 2-0, but unfortunately could not finish in the top three and said goodbye to the tournament.
EURO 2020 wasn’t what we expected
Our national team finished second in the EURO 2020 qualifiers, two points behind France, and came to the tournament with high hopes on their shoulders, but they were unable to perform as expected.
At EURO 2020, the national team was drawn in Group A alongside Italy, Wales and Switzerland, and was the team that played in the opening match. The national team, led by coach Şenol Günes, shared the ticket with the host nation Italy. Merih Demiral (kk) was unable to prevent goals from Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne, and left the field with a 0-3 defeat.
In the second match, the national team lost 0–2 to Wales with goals from Aaron Ramsey and Connor Richard John Roberts. As a result, the national team, who were still scoreless at the end of the second match, are bottom of the table with a goal difference of -5.
In our last match against Switzerland, our national team was unable to prevent goals from Haris Seferovic and Xherdan Shaqiri and left the field with a 3-1 defeat, with Irfan Can Kahveci scoring the only goal for our national team in this tournament.
