Turkish national football team manager Guus Hiddink’s comments & remarks on Turkey’s  need of being realistic before Turkey vs Germany game in the Euro 2012 Group A qualifiers have found heavy criticism among soccer pundits in Turkey.

Turkey will meet Group A  leaders Germany today at 9.30 Pm Turkish local time at Turk Telekom Arena Istanbul before wrapping up the 2012 European Championship qualifiers against Azerbaijan next Tuesday. Turkey is second in the group behind runaway leader Germany, who has won all of its 8 games, and has an advantage over Belgium for the runner-up spot. Friday’s game against group leaders Germany may be an early decider for the Turkish internationals to fight their Belgian contenders — who are two points away — to finish the group stage at the second spot and make a headway to the play-offs for Euro 2012. A win against Germany will keep Turkey’s hopes alive prior their last group game with Azerbaijan.

Turkey vs Germany Euro 2012 Qualifier: Guus Hiddink is the man of the hour in Turkey

Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey Manager Guus Hiddink said it was good to have the decisive initiative at their disposal. However Guus Hiddink downplayed Turkey’s chances to beat Germany.

“One year ago I have said we wanted to be in control, we don’t want to depend on other results,”the Dutch football nomad expressed. “And we are exactly at that point. We are happy that we were able the hold the control in our own grasp in the group.”

Turkey coach Guus Hiddink : Turkish Football is not on the same level as Germany

However playing against a strong Germany will not be an easy task at all, Guus Hiddink admitted. “ Turkish football has to face the reality. We are not on the same level as Germany,” Guus Hiddink said. “Germany is a team with very few weak points. However, we should not understate our potential. I think we can get a positive result with the home team synergy in Istanbul.”

These words have sparked some negative reactions from football pundits. Fuat Yaman, former Besiktas manager and NationalTurk reporter heavily criticised Hiddink’s remarks of Turkey’ s being inferior to Germany.

Fuat Yaman: Guus Hiddink comments are woeful and unfortunate

”Turkey is investing big on football, its football industry is rapidly growing. When Guus Hiddink was assigned as Turkey national football team’s manager, Turkish football community was split in two halves. One side thought Hiddink would bring experience and knowledge to a Turkish side, which lacks system and vision. I was thinking that a trainer like Guus Hiddink, who does not work more than 3-5 months at a specific team, should not be the choice for Turkey. The team’s performance so far and Hiddink’ s woeful comments after the Azerbaijan defeat, which gave us hints on Hiddink’s working habits and system, prove the latter to be right.”

”Motivation is a great factor in todays game and Turkey has proven that they can compete with any team in the world. The inferiority complex is in Turkey like a solid wall we have to try to climb over or tear down, instead of doing that, the Turkish media applauds Hiddink for his comments, claiming ”He reminds us of the truth”. ”I find that totally unacceptable.” ”No Turkish manager has right to state such things.”

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