Scotland take on Turkey on Wednesday in the hope that a friendly examination in a testing environment will stand them in good stead in their final match before European Championship qualifying begins in March.
They travelled to Diyarbikar, a two-hour flight south east of Istanbul, knowing the atmosphere will likely be electric given the city hosts its first-ever international fixture.
In unchartered territory, this may turn out to be a friendly that has a bit more fire.
Head coach Steve Clarke and his captain Andy Robertson believe it is exactly the sort of challenge Scotland need.
“It’s an important test,” Robertson said. “Two teams that are similarly ranked and it will be a full crowd – we know the Turkish crowd can always be lively and get right behind their team.
“When you are in campaigns, these are the types of places you have to come and get a result. It’s a good friendly for us and a good way to prepare for the campaign ahead. Both teams wish they were going to the World Cup. We’ll both be competitive and try and get out of it what we need to prepare for the Euro campaign.”
With no Celtic players involved because of their club tour to Australia and further late call-offs, Clarke is keen to give as many players as possible more international experience, balanced with the tried and trusted.
For some, such as 19-year-old right-back Calvin Ramsay, Liverpool’s summer signing from Aberdeen, that may lead to a first international breakthrough.
“I would expect that, over the course of the game, we will use 17 players,” explained Clarke. “Calvin hasn’t had much game time since he went down. He went down injured.
“I’m remembering the Calvin Ramsay that was a progressive young player at Aberdeen. I would imagine that he’s already improved having worked with the Liverpool first-team squad, so we look forward to seeing Calvin and seeing what he can do in the game.”
Team news
Sassuolo defender Kaan Ayhan and Burnley forward Halil Dervissoglu are among those missing from the Turkey squad that ended their Nations League campaign, while Hull City midfielder Ozan Tufan is out through injury along with Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz.
Two teenage midfielders – Fenerbahce 17-year-old Arda Guler and Torino 18-year-old Emirhan İlkhan – could be in line for their international debuts as head coach Stefan Kuntz also recalls a number of experienced campaigners.
Scotland have lost Southampton striker Che Adams, Everton right-back Nathan Patterson and Norwich City midfielder Kenny McLean through injury from their initial squad.
What do we know about Turkey?
Having dropped from a world ranking of 29 in 2019 to their current 45 – five spots below Scotland – Turkey hope they are emerging out of the doldrums.
Since succeeding Senol Gunes after a 6-1 World Cup qualifying group hammering by Netherlands in September 2021, former Germany Under-23 head coach Stefan Kuntz has led his side to seven wins, and only three losses, in 12 games.
Like Scotland, they finished runners-up in their qualifying group before losing their play-off – Portugal being their nemesis – and followed that with promotion from their Nations League section.
In Turkey’s case, however, that came in lowly Group C and, although they had already secured top spot by then, a draw at home to Luxembourg and a shock 2-1 loss in the Faroes last time out suggests the 60-year-old former Germany, Kaiserslautern and Besiktas striker still has a tough job on his hands.
Captain Hakan Calhanoglu, the Internazionale midfielder, Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu, Atalanta centre-half Merih Demiral and their main goal threats – Cenk Tosun, the striker who joined Besiktas from Everton in the summer, and Marseille winger Cengiz Under – are among those who have returned to the squad.
Istanbul Basaksehir midfielders Deniz Turuc and Berkay Ozcan will be known to Heart of Midlothian fans via this season’s Europa Conference League encounters, while Hoffenheim centre-half Ozan Kabak had a spell on loan to Liverpool, forward Enes Unal was at Anfield before joining Getafe and winger Dogukan Sinik is with Hull.
What they said
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke: “It was important to fit a match into the November window because obviously going from September to March without one is too long for the players. We’ve managed to get a good percentage of the players that were with us last month even though it’s not an official Fifa window. That was important.
“We’ve picked a difficult friendly – it’s a difficult place to come. The fact that we’re here for the first game in the history of this city is a big occasion for the city – hopefully the match will do the occasion justice.”
Match stats
- Turkey are currently ranked 45th in the world – five places below Scotland.
- Scotland are unbeaten in four outings, a 0-0 draw away to Ukraine ending a run of three consecutive wins.
- Turkey suffered a shock 2-1 loss away to the Faroe Islands in their final Nations League group game, ending a run of five games without defeat.
- The sides have met just once previously – Turkey winning 4-2 in 1960, with Eric Caldow and Alex Young scoring for the visitors at the Mayis Stadyumu in Ankara.
