Football War: Turkey's Tensions with Switzerland Back on the Grass - Walla! Euro 2020

2021-06-25T04:24:36.237Z

Switzerland has a clean and peace-loving image, but since the 2006 World Cup qualifiers there has been bad blood between it and Turkey. From the testicle kick that scared the hospital, through the Yakin brothers to the diplomatic affair in 2017, do not be surprised if you also find action unrelated to football in tonight's game (19:00, Sports 1)

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Football War: Turkey's tensions with Switzerland return to the grass

Switzerland has a clean and peace-loving image, but since the 2006 World Cup qualifiers there has been bad blood between it and Turkey.

From the testicle kick that scared the hospital, through the Yakin brothers to the diplomatic affair in 2017, do not be surprised if you also find action unrelated to football in tonight's game (19:00, Sports 1)

19:00 in Sports 1: The Swiss must win, the Turks also have a chance to qualify for the eighth

To the full article

In the first game, on November 12, 2005, Switzerland won 0: 2.

The opening team of Terim complained after the game that it had suffered humiliating treatment, from the moment it landed in Bern until it left, and when the Swiss arrived in Istanbul four days later for the rematch, the host hoped for revenge, both on and off the pitch.

"It is no wonder that the UEFA has rejected the Turkish offer to host Euro 2012," the Swiss tabloid "La Matinee" wrote after reporters saw the treatment of their national team players.

Unfortunately for Turkey, on the pitch the business looked bad and in the second minute Alexander Fry approached More Switzerland for the World Cup with an accurate penalty, but from there the great drama began.

Turkey needed another goal and attacked in a rage, until Marco Streller stung her, six minutes to go. Tonchai still managed to complete a hat-trick in the 89th minute and give renewed hope, but there it also ended, with 2: 4 Turkish, 4: 4 in total and Switzerland's immigration thanks to the foreign goals. A moment after the last whistle, the mess began.

The Swiss Benjamin Hogel kicked from behind with Trim's assistant coach and pushed Alfai before the drop sold the turf. No one knows what made him act like that, but the players and players of the host team stormed back, beating every Swiss around and sent defender Stefan Grichting to the hospital, where he had a catheter inserted after he received a huge kick in his testicles. "He was full of blood. They threatened to kill us," the Swiss said, after the exile himself received a severe blow to the head.

The event almost created a serious political incident and most importantly, provided a video that never stopped playing around the world and making a terrible name for football, precisely in such a festive event as a World Cup qualifier. To everyone's delight, the winds calmed down and finally, FIFA, which threatened to keep Turkey out of the next World Cup qualifiers, settled for a penalty shootout of six games and a fine of about $ 150,000. This time it worked for them.

The Turks claimed he cared for his people.

Sepp Blatter (Photo: GettyImages)

Switzerland hosted together with Austria the next big tournament, Euro 2008. She and Turkey were placed together in House A and both lost on the opening night, to the Czech Republic and Portugal respectively.

Therefore, for the second round, on June 11 at the stadium in Basel, they showed up with the clear knowledge that anything but a victory would probably close the story for them.

Switzerland started better and in the 32nd minute also took the lead, from a goal by Kan Yakin.

Not hard to notice - his name does not sound particularly Swiss.

Hakan, like his brother Murat, who himself starred in the Swiss national team and like another 130,000 citizens living in Switzerland, comes from Turkish descent.

It is the sixth largest population group in the country and includes dozens of cultural figures and athletes, mainly footballers (and also the basketball player Ans Canter, who admittedly represented Turkey, but was born and raised in Zurich).

For many immigrants from the Muslim Turks, football was the way to integrate into society in Switzerland and the idyll and harmony prevailed, until the great explosion between the countries in those years. So Yakin scored, in a mad flood and with a ball barely moving on the grass, in front of his parents' country. He did not celebrate, but the one who did celebrate is Turkey - this was her tournament. In the 57th minute, Samih Santork equalized with a close and deep shot in extra time, and after a huge double miss by Switzerland, a 21-year-old Arda Turan kick was deflected and flew in, a dramatic 1: 2 to Turkey and a brutal dismissal to Switzerland.

The Turks, for those who forgot, continued their crazy Euro with the same turnaround against the Czech Republic in the final round of the home, a goal in the 122nd minute of the quarter-final against Croatia and a painful 3: 2 loss against Germany in the 90th minute of the semi-final. Except for one game, they spent all that euro on Swiss soil, celebrating and enjoying life, inside the face of the stunned host.

This was already her tournament.

Altintop celebrates comeback against Switzerland in 2008 (Photo: AP, Murad Sezer)

But that was not the end of the "affair" either, and the story moved from the field to the diplomatic arena with a bizarre affair that exploded in March 2017. A few years earlier, Switzerland was still a key player in establishing historic relations between Turkey and Armenia, but silence was broken when Switzerland's Attorney General opened In an investigation against workers at the Turkish embassy in Bern, on suspicion of spying on Swiss citizens of Turkish descent.

According to the investigators, the same workers closely examined and photographed some of the participants in a political protest against Turkish policy, which took place in Zurich and tried to kidnap a Swiss-Turkish businessman, identified with Pethullah Golan, who hated the almighty Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Switzerland made it clear at the time that no one would be immune from the investigation, not even Turkish diplomats, if they were found guilty of espionage.

The harsh accusations against him pop up again.

Erdogan (Photo: Reuters)

Turkish ambassador to Switzerland and the rule of Erdogan denied the serious accusations and the story faded, but just a few weeks ago published a new report claimed that the Turkish diplomats continue to spy against dissidents living in Switzerland, Germany and Greece, it seems that it is far from being the end of it.

And now , 15 and a half years after the beatings and 13 years after the drama in Basel, Switzerland and Turkey meet again, for the first time since the same game in Euro 2008 and as always with them, it will be a war. Hopefully this war will be fought only between the field lines and 90 minutes, but after Turkey They lost twice and did not win at all and Switzerland were left with a single point from two games, they both know that any result other than a victory is likely to keep them out of this Euro.

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Source: walla

All news articles on 2021-06-25

Football War: Turkey's Tensions with Switzerland Back on the Grass - Walla! Euro 2020

Football War: Turkey's tensions with Switzerland return to the grass

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19:00 in Sports 1: The Swiss must win, the Turks also have a chance to qualify for the eighth

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