Preview: Portugal – Turkey

In the second match of the 2008 European Championships, 2004 runners-up Portugal will be testing themselves against Turkey.

Portugal will have recovered from their shock defeat by Greece in the final four years ago, and more motivated than ever to take the trophy this time.

The Turks on the other hand, missed out on the 2004 tournament and the 2006 World Cup, and will aim to show Europe that they’re back at the highest level.

Portugal were handed a scare earlier this week when absolute star player Cristiano Ronaldo injured his ankle on Tuesday.

But the Manchester United attacker was fit a day later and should be able to make an appearance against Turkey.

The Turkish preparation for this tournament didn’t go by without troubles. Yildiray Bastürk wasn’t selected and said to stay away from the national team as long as coach Fatih Terim had the reigns.

And Bayern Munich’s Hamit Altintop suffered a muscular injury last Friday and became a real doubt for his side’s opener. However, it is now expected that he is fit in time for the clash with Portugal.

Portugal are arguably the favorites for this match, something that is also confirmed by Turkey’s Nihat Kahveci.

The Villarreal striker claims that Portugal should be considered favorites to win Group A, while his team take on the underdog role.

The past surely seems to be in favour of the Portuguese. In four meetings since 1965, Portugal never even dropped a point. The last time the two teams met was in the quarter finals of Euro 2000, with Portugal winning 2-0.

Saturday’s match will have its kick-off at 20:45 CET in Geneva, Switzerland. Referee will be German Herbert Fandel.