Turkey will be hoping for a better run at this summer's European championship as the Crescent-Stars get their tournament underway on Tuesday against debutants Georgia. Although they made a very impressive run all the way to the semi-finals in 2008, Turkey's last few Euro appearances have been quite poor, to say the least, with group stage exits in the last two iterations of this competition.
Currently under the guidance of Italian tactician Vincenzo Montella, Turkey had a strong run during qualifiers for this competition and actually beat Croatia to secure top spot in their group. However, since then, the Crescent-Stars have not been impressive and come into this competition having failed to win their last five matches. That includes three defeats, namely a recent 2-1 reversal to Poland in a friendly shortly before heading to Germany to take part in their sixth Euro championship.
Meanwhile, this summer's event will be unchartered territory for Georgia, who are making their debut. They secured their ticket thanks to a penalty shoot-out win over Greece during the play-offs, and recently earned a 3-1 win over Montenegro in a pre-tournament friendly. The team will be spearheaded by Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has a very impressive goal-scoring record for his national side, with 15 goals in just 30 appearances, and his country will be hoping that he can be one of the shining lights as they aim to try to make some waves on the international stage this summer.
Georgia are no strangers to Turkey, and Tuesday's game will be the sixth such meeting between the two sides. To date, the debutants have won just one of their last five clashes against the Crescent-Stars (D1 L3) but given Turkey's poor showings as of late, will be hopeful of getting at least something out of this game.
Team news: Turkey vs Georgia
Turkey: Enes Unal, Caglar Soyuncu and Ozan Kabak were all ruled out due to injuries before this competition and thus could not be called up for Turkey.
Georgia: Both Solomon Kvirkvelia and Otar Kiteishvili are doubts for this match due to recent injuries.
Match facts: Turkey vs Georgia
- This will be the sixth meeting between Turkey and Georgia
- So far, Turkey have won three of their last five meetings against Georgia (D1 L1)
- Turkey are featuring at their sixth-ever EURO tournament (third in a row)...
- ...while Georgia are involved in this competition for the first time in national history
Broadcast info: Turkey vs Georgia
Here are your live streaming and TV broadcast info to watch Turkey vs Georgia live from wherever you are based:
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