UEFA officials could be forced into an
emergency meeting should Turkey's injury crisis deepen ahead of
their Euro 2008 semi-final against Germany on
Wednesday.
Coach Fatih Terim had only 15
available outfield players for their dramatic victory over
Croatia, three of whom will be
banned for the clash in Basel after picking up their second
yellow cards of the tournament.
Nihat Kahveci is also set to miss the game with
a thigh complaint, joining Servet Cetin, Tumer Metin and Emre
Belozoglu on the treatment table. Emre Gungor has already been ruled out of the
tournament and goalkeeper Volkan Demirel will find out tomorrow if
an appeal against his suspension has been
successful.
Terim refused to call up a player when
replacements were allowed, but should he need to now then a request
would have to be made to UEFA. 'If a team, for instance, only has eight
players then there will probably be an emergency meeting but at
this stage we have not had any requests,' said UEFA director of
communications William Gaillard.
The good news for Terim is midfielder Mehmet
Aurelio returning from suspension. Terim's selection problems means Colin-Kazim
Richards is likely to feature, giving the London-born former
Sheffield United forward a chance to be a hero.
'There is always a chance to be a hero but if
we win the cup I won't mind if it is someone else,' said the
Fenerbahce forward. 'You have ambition and personally you want to
be the hero and you want to score the goals but it is also a team
game.'
