Turkey coach Fatih Terim believes the side who have a hunger for success for a long time, could have a natural advantage in such big tournaments like Euro 2008. "If you have a good team, if players cover their lack of experience by playing with sacrifice and if you have missed to make a remarkable achievement for a long time, can give you a better advantage" Terim said in the press conference he held at Stade de Geneve today.
"We should add the contribution that coaches do on their teams. Coaches could be the deadlies weapons of their teams in terms of technique, tactics, system and team strategy. They can affect the course of the game even with a substitution" he added.
Focusing on the Portugal match, Terim said: "Since 1955 we can't manage to beat Portugal. However, we have the power to give an end to such records. We did in the past and we can do this in the future as well. Until today, we put so big targets that nobody could have even dreamt and we fulfiled those goals. During our first EURO experience in 1996, we couldn't collect any points but you should remember that we made it to the final although we were the last seeds in the qualification. This was a big dream come true. Now I don't think that playing the final in this tournament would not suit the nature of Turkey. We have 23 valuable and talented players. The most important thing is that our players are fully compatible with our playing system"
Losing against Portugal at tomorrow's match, would be the end of nothing. Some say that our win could be a surprise. I respect Portugal as they consist of talented players coming from leading European clubs. Either we lose or not, we are ready for the match." Terim said.
Finalizing his words, Terim asked Turkish spectators to enjoy the tournament and emphasized that to be in the final round of the competition was more important than winning or losing. "Fair-Play is the first priority" he concluded.