Team Focus: Can the Likes of Calhanoglu, Tore & Tufan Take Turkey to New Heights?

Turkey have stumbled and stuttered ever since an unprecedented third-place finish at the 2002 World Cup and a semi-final finish at the 2008 European Championships. The Turkish national team have failed to make it to every subsequent international tournament culminating with a disastrous start to the Euro 2016 qualification process.

The Crescent-Stars go into their sixth Group A game in fourth – hardly the group of death - having picked up just five points out of a possible 15, losing against Iceland, Czech Republic and only managing a draw against Latvia.

Turkey’s latest encounter with the Netherlands did, however, give Fatih Terim’s boys a glimmer of hope. The Turkish side exceeded even the most die-hard fans’ expectations against the Oranje and were just four minutes away from a memorable away win.

The Turkish national side is now at a crossroads. Other than Arda Turan there have been no exceptional talents to burst onto the European footballing scene for a long time. Mehmet Topal had a brief stint at Valencia, Burak Yılmaz was linked with a big European move that did not materialise. In short Turkish football did not enter a golden age as was expected after 2008. The next generation does look more promising, though.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu

Hakan Çalhanoğlu is not only one of Turkish football’s biggest talents; the Bayer Leverkusen star is one of the brightest prospects in European football. The 21-year-old has gone through a meteoric rise over the past three seasons. Çalhanoğlu joined HSV from Karlshruher for £2.2 million in 2012, and two years later he joined Bayer for £13 million and it is going to take a substantially increased offer to prise him away from the Bundesliga outfit this summer.

The set-piece maestro has been going from strength to strength at Bayer. The 11 Freunde 2012/13 young Bundesliga player of the season has been lighting up the league and Champions League with his 7 goals and 5 assists. It is his free-kick and long range shooting ability, however, that has really put him on the map. Çalhanoğlu has scored at least 6 more goals from outside the box (11) than any other player in the Bundesliga in the last 2 seasons. Çalhanoğlu seems to have put his past altercation with Gökhan Töre behind him and recently returned to the national team fold where he scored another goal from outside the penalty area in his first start for Turkey.

Enes Ünal

Turkish football has had a striker drought since the Bull of the Bosporus – Hakan Şükür. There have been a few exceptions to the cause, most notably Nihat Kahveci and Burak Yılmaz but the latest teenage sensation to rock the country could end up surpassing all before him. Ünal entered the history books last season, becoming the youngest ever goalscorer in the Süper Lig at the age of just 16.

The Bursaspor wonderkid has one league goal in 164 minutes of first team football this season and has also provided two assists in the Turkish Cup. Ünal has an extraordinary international record, hitting the back of the net 24 times in 25 games for the U16’s and recently made his first appearance for the senior national team aged just 17.

Ozan Tufan

Ozan Tufan is currently one of the hottest properties in Turkish football. The 20-year-old has managed to establish himself as a first team regular in both Şenol Güneş’s Bursaspor side and the Turkish national team. The assiduous midfielder has the versatility to play in defensive and attacking midfield roles as he has done throughout the season. Tufan has averaged 2.7 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game but also possesses an attacking threat in the final third. He has three goals and five assists in 24 league appearances. The young midfielder is by no means the finished article just yet but that has not stopped the likes of Atletico Madrid and Liverpool reportedly showing interest.

Mehmet Ekici

Mehmet Ekici heralds from the prestigious Bayern Munich youth academy. The German giants loaned him out to 1 FC. Nuremberg in 2010 for a year and he was snapped up by Werder Bremen the following season. Ekici suffered a number of injury setbacks and failed to establish himself in the Bremen team but he has had a new lease of life since joining Trabzonspor in the summer.

Ekici has now scored five direct-free kick goals this season, making him the most dangerous set-piece specialist in Europe. The Turkish international has scored more goals from free-kicks than each of the 17 other Süper Lig teams. In total, the Turkish international has 9 goals and 9 assists and is the highest rated player (7.79) in the Süper Lig.

Gökhan Töre

Gökhan Töre is without question a controversial figure. The 23-year-old possesses genuine talent but whether he reaches his potential is really down to whether he learns to control himself. It is worth pointing out that he does finally seem to have calmed down following the infamous gun incident with Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Ömer Toprak.

The former Chelsea academy star offers the national team explosive pace, acceleration and is capable of beating most defenders. Töre on average completes the most successful dribbles in the Süper Lig (2.4 per game) and has 8 goals and 7 assists across the Super Lig and Europa League this season. The fiery winger does, however, need work on his final pass as he tends to over complicate things at times but it is little wonder that a number of high profile European clubs have been keeping close tabs on him.

Do you think this quintet can inspire Turkey to future success? Let us know in the comments below