Coach Stefan Kuntz has brought in the next victory in the third division of the Nations League with the Turkish national football team.
On Saturday evening, Turkey also won their third group game in League C in Luxembourg 2-0 (1-0). The Kuntz team thus distanced the opponent who was previously level on points by three points and remains the sovereign leader of the table with the optimal result of nine points.
Ex-Bundesliga professional Hakan Calhanoglu gave Turkey the lead with a penalty (37′), before the ball had hit Mainz midfielder Leandro Barreiro’s outstretched arm from close range. Former Darmstadt player Serdar Dursun, who came on at the break, made the final score (76th).
Salih Özcan, who switched from 1. FC Köln to Borussia Dortmund in the summer, was on the bench until the 68th minute four days after his starting XI debut. The defensive midfielder had already played for the German U21s under Kuntz, but has now decided to play in his parents’ home country.
Turkey was relegated from the B-League in the last Nations League season as the bottom of the group. In League C, the Kuntz team is a big favorite with group opponents Lithuania, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg. The Turks did not qualify for the World Cup in Qatar next winter.