Turkey's youngsters were the shining stars late Monday, managing to remain leader in their group at the European qualifiers after drawing 1-1 with
Turkey’s youngsters were the shining stars late Monday, managing to remain leader in their group at the European qualifiers after drawing 1-1 with France.
At the showdown at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the latest World Cup champions France dominated the goalless first half at home.
The first goal in the match came rather late, with Olivier Giroud sending the ball to the nets in the 76th minute. The main reason why such a top-tier squad like France failed to score a goal for so long was that Turkey had an outstanding stopper such as Merih Demiral.
Sporting the number 3 jersey, Demiral truly shined as a future-proof asset of the Turkish team, stopping countless French attacks on his own.
Another youngster, Kaan Ayhan clinched the equalizer for the White-Reds only six minutes after Griezmann.
Mert Günok proved to be a lifesaver, stopping French shots and headers one after the other.
The Turkish players celebrated by making a soldier’s salute and dedicated their goal to the Turkish soldiers who are currently in Syria’s north for Operation Peace Spring. The celebration was not televised by French TV direction.
The top two teams in each group will qualify directly for UEFA EURO 2020.
Both Turkey and France have big chances to reach the EURO finals.
On Friday, Turkey beat Albania 1-0 in the UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers to top Group H.
Meanwhile France won against Iceland 1-0 in Friday’s away game to chase Turkey perseveringly in the group standings.
Turkey has won six games out of eight group matches to score 19 points. Sitting in the second spot, France has also earned 19 points in eight matches. Iceland are in third with 15 points.
In June, Turkey defeated France for the first time ever in its history, 2-0, to lead Group H.