Turkey At Full Strength For Socceroo Matches

Turkey today announced their squad to take on the Socceroos in Sydney and Melbourne this month and showed they will be tough opposition by confirming superstars such as Hakan ªükür and Rüºtü Reçber will be part of the team.

Turkey today announced their squad to take on the Socceroos in Sydney and Melbourne this month and showed they will be tough opposition by confirming superstars such as Hakan Sükür and Rüstü Reçber will be part of the team.   Ersun Yanal, the recently appointed head coach of Turkey, included 12 of the squad that were a part of Turkey's dramatic surge to the semi finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.   A true superstar of the game, Sükür, was recently nominated by the Turkish Football Federation as their most outstanding player over the past 50 years.   Socceroos coach Frank Farina said that the matches against Turkey would be a significant test for his side.   "Turkey have shown with the strength of their squad that they mean business," said Farina.   "The nucleus of the squad that was so successful at the last world cup is still there and this will be a huge test for us."   "They have a new coach so the players will be out to impress him and will want to perform very well in these matches."   "There are some genuine superstars of the game in their squad and this is a great opportunity for the fans to come out and support the Socceroos but also to see top quality opposition."   Farina is looking forward to the challenge of seeing where the Socceroos measure up against the seventh ranked side in the world.   "No doubt the matches are going to be tough but this is a great opportunity for us to take on a top quality team and see how we measure up," added Farina.   "I'll be asking our players to put their hands up and show they can match it with one of the best teams in the world and I expect our players to do that."   "It's a massive incentive for our players that they will be up against a full strength team and throws down the challenge to our players to perform and show they are worthy of a spot in the squad."   The Socceroos will play Turkey in Sydney at Aussie Stadium on Friday 21 May and in Melbourne at Telstra Dome on Monday 24 May.   TURKEY SQUAD FOR TOUR OF AUSTRALIA Hakan Sükür (Galatasaray, Turkey), Bülent Korkmaz (Galatasaray, Turkey), Hasan Sas (Galatasaray, Turkey), Ümit Özat (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Fatih Akyel (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Tuncay Sanlý (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Serhat Akýn (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Ali Günes (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Fatih Tekke (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Tolga Seyhan (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Mehmet Yýlmaz (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Ýbrahim Üzülmez (Besiktas AS, Turkey), Ömer Çatkýç (Gaziantepspor, Turkey), Ýbrahim Toraman (Gaziantepspor, Turkey), Deniz Barýs (Gençlerbirliði, Turkey), Serkan Balcý (Gençlerbirliði, Turkey), Murat Hacýoðlu (Diyarbakýrspor, Turkey), Zaf Biryol (Konyaspor, Turkey), Koray Avcý (Çaykur Rizespor, Turkey), Rüstü Reçber (Barcelona, Spain), Okan Buruk (Ýnter Milan, Italy), Emrere Belözoðlu (Ýnter Milan, Italy), Nihat Kahveci (Real Sociedad, Spain), Yýldýray Bastürk (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Ümit Davala (Werder Bremen, Germany), Hamit Altýntop (Schalke 04, Germany), Önder Turacý (Standard Liege, Belguim)