Sports

Euro 2008 Preview: Portugal v Turkey


Portugal and Turkey have met each other on six previous occasions with Portugal winning five times and Turkey once. '
By Citizen Correspondent Sir Stephen
Date Posted: 06/06/08
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UEFA EURO 2008 - GROUP A
Date: Sat 7th June
Kick-off: 1945 BST
Venue: Stade de Geneve, Geneva

Portugal's Jose Bosingwa, who joined Chelsea from Porto last month, is expected to be fit for selection after recovering from a muscle strain and Cristiano Ronaldo should also start having recovered from a knock which saw him train with ice strapped to his ankle earlier in the week.

Turkey's Hamit Altintop is a doubt for the Group A clash. The midfielder is confident of playing, but his club Bayern Munich said he is struggling with a muscle strain.

BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads

Portugal and Turkey have met each other on six previous occasions with Portugal winning five times and Turkey once.

Portugal have won all four competitive fixtures between the two countries. This will be their third meeting at a European Championship - Portugal won a group phase match 1-0 in 1996 and a quarter-final match 2-0 in 2000.

Team facts - Portugal

Reached at least the quarter-finals on all four previous appearances at a European Championship.

Never been awarded a penalty at the European Championship.

Unbeaten in their last 11 competitive matches since losing 2-1 to Poland in October 2006.

Team facts - Turkey

Head coach Fatih Terim returns having been in charge of Turkey at Euro 96.

Most experienced coaches in European Championships

Player facts - Portugal

Nuno Gomes will become the fourth Portuguese player to appear in three European Championships following Fernando Couto, Luis Figo and Rui Costa.

Nuno Gomes can become the first player at Euro 2008 to join Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Vladimir Smicer (Czech) as players who have scored in three different European Championships. Thierry Henry (France) and Henrik Larsson (Sweden) can also achieve this at Euro 2008.

Fernando Meira will win his 50th cap if he plays. He made his debut in a World Cup qualification match in the Netherlands in October 2000.


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