WALES will be hoping to grow on their opening game draw with Switzerland at Euro 2020 when they take on Turkey this evening in Baku.
The Dragons drew 1-1 with the Swiss while Turkey lost their first game of the tournament 3-0 to Italy.
- Start time: 2pm GMT
- TV/Live stream: BBC One/iPlayer/S4
- Turkey XI: Cakir; Celik, Ayhan, Soyuncu, Meras; Yokuslu; Under, Karaman, Tufan, Calhanoglu; Yilmaz
- Wales XI: Ward; C. Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, B. Davies; Allen, Morrell; Bale, Ramsey, James; Moore
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TURKEY 0-0 WALES
6. Really, really positive start by Wales.
TURKEY 0-0 WALES
5. SAVE!
Bale skips away from Celik and spots the run of Ramsey in behind Turkey’s backline – he’s onside.
Ramsey shapes up to shoot, but cuts the ball back and manages to lose his marker.
The Juventus midfielder sends a shot towards the near post but Cakir saves!
Has to score there.
TURKEY 0-0 WALES
4. Soyuncu tussles with Moore on the halfway line and the Leicester City defender is penalised.
Good start from Wales, who are making good progress up the pitch.
TURKEY 0-0 WALES
3. Roberts manages to knock the ball away from Karaman down the right-hand side.
The Turkey No9 catches Roberts on the follow-through and Wales have a free-kick in a good position.
Dan James whips the free-kick towards the penalty spot.
The ball ricochets off a Wales shirt and goes behind the goal for a Turkey free-kick.
TURKEY 0-0 WALES
2. Ramsey receives the ball on the halfway line and he tries to dribble through two Turkish players.
He manages to break through, but he is tripped by Calhanoglu and Wales have a free-kick.
TURKEY 0-0 WALES
1. Wales get us underway and they will be shooting from right to left!
Turkey is in all red and they have a large Turkish following inside the ground.
Wales are in yellow and green.
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
WE’RE UNDERWAY IN BAKU!
HERE WE GO!
HERE COME THE TEAMS
Both sets of players are making their way out onto the pitch ahead of kick-off!
French league winner Yilmaz leads out his Turkey team in front of a large Turkish following in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Serial winner Bale captains Wales, and his team know that a win secures a place in the knockout stages.
However, if Wales lose, they’ll have to pull off a shock win against Italy in Rome.
Cue the national anthems……. Wales to go first!
NOT LONG TO GO
We’re ten minutes away from kick-off!
CREATOR IN CHIEF
33% of Wales’ nine shots in their opening game against Switzerland were taken by Kieffer Moore, while 33% of them were created by Joe Morrell – with the Dragons’ leveller being scored by Moore from a Morrell assist.
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‘WE WERE HARD-WORKING’
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the game, Wales boss Rob Page praised his team for their performance against Switzerland, describing them as ‘hard working’.
He said: “I think we set our foundations. We were hard-working, we showed we can come back from difficult situations against a really good team.
“I said to them after the game that was the foundation. Of course, there are areas we can improve on, and when you look at the team on paper we’ve got some gifted footballers on that teamsheet.
“We’ll be looking for a little bit of improvement when we get on the ball and create more chances, create more shots at goal.
“That will be the benchmark for us tonight.
“Turkey will have looked at this game as a game they must win. We’re expecting an extremely tough game and we’ve got to be prepared for that.”
Credit: GETTY IMAGES Credit: GETTY IMAGES TABLE CHECK
Here’s how the Group A table looks ahead of kick-off!
Italy take on Switzerland later on tonight at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, with the game due to get underway at 8pm.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Against Italy, Turkey kept up their record of losing their opening match at a major tournament (EUROs and World Cup), losing all seven such matches.
However, they have progressed from their group the last three times they have avoided defeat in their second group stage match (EURO 2000, World Cup 2002 and EURO 2008).
Turkey, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Italy on MD1, haven’t lost consecutive matches in all competitions since November 2018 under Mircea Lucescu.
They haven’t lost back-to-back games under Şenol Gunes since April 2003, with this their 42nd match under Güneş across two spells since then.
Turkey had just three shots in their first match against Italy, their fewest ever in a European Championship match, while they failed to attempt a single shot on target for a second time in their last three matches in the tournament (also 0 vs Spain in 2016).
GUNES’ THOUGHTS
Turkey boss Gunes had this to say in the build-up before the match: “We need to look ahead.
“We want to get six points against Wales and Switzerland. Wales are a good team defensively.
“They attack fast, and they are also good at set-pieces. This game is like a decider for us, but the Switzerland match will be another decider.
“Every game is so important and we will do our utmost to win both.”
Every game is so important and we will do our utmost to win both.
Senol Gunes
PAGE’S THOUGHTS
Wales boss Robert Page believes that his team ‘don’t fear anybody’.
He said: “To get off to a positive start was important for us. We go into every game for the win.
“If four points is enough [to qualify], brilliant. If not we’ll keep going.
“We respect the teams that are in this group and competition, but we don’t fear anybody.”
Credit: GETTY IMAGES TURKEY BENCH
1 Gunok, 3 Demiral, 8 Tokoz, 11 Yazici, 12 Bayindir, 14 Antalyali, 15 Kabak, 19 Kokcu, 21 Kahveci, 24 Akturkoglu, 25 Mulder, 26 Dervisoglu.
TURKEY XI
23 Cakir; 2 Celik, 22 Ayhan, 4 Soyuncu, 13 Meras; 5 Yokuslu; 9 Karaman, 10 Calhanoglu, 6 Tufan, 7 Under; 17 Yilmaz (c).
TURKEY’S TEAMSHEET IS IN!
WALES’ BENCH
1 Hennessey, 2 Gunter, 21 A.Davies, 3 N.Williams, 5 Lockyer, 15 Ampadu, 17 Norrington-Davies, 18 J.Williams, 10 Brooks, 23 Levitt, 9 T.Roberts, 8 Wilson.
WALES XI
Boss Page names an unchanged side.
12 Ward; 14 C.Roberts, 22 Mepham, 6 Rodon, 4 B.Davies; 7 Allen; 11 Bale (c), 16 Morrell, 10 Ramsey, 20 James; 13 Moore.
WALES’ TEAMSHEET IS IN!
DANGER MAN
Four of Kieffer Moore’s six goals in all competitions for Wales have been headers, including his equaliser on MD1 against Switzerland.
He’s netted in each of his last two starts for the Dragons, and five of his six international goals overall have come in competitive fixtures.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES WALES TEAM GUIDE
Wales’ best performance in the European Championships came five years ago in France.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This will be the first match between Turkey and Wales at a major tournament.
Their last encounter dates back to August 1997 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier – it produced 10 goals, with Turkey winning 6-4 in Istanbul.
Four of Turkey’s goals were netted by Hakan Şükür, while current Wales manager Rob Page played for Wales that day.
Wales last beat Turkey 40 years ago, in March 1981, courtesy of a goal from Carl Harris in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in Ankara (0-1).
Current Turkey head coach Senol Günes was in goal that day for the home side.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
