Place for, among others, Kaplan and Kökçü in the European Championship pre-selection Turkey

Turkey has announced the 35-man pre-selection for the European Championship. There is room for Ajax player Ahmetcan Kaplan and ex-Feyenoorder Orkun Kökçü, among others. Ex-Eredivision players Ferdi Kadioglu and Enes Ünal can also hope for their European Championship participation.

Turkey will play in Group F at the European Championships this summer, in which Portugal, Georgia and the Czech Republic are the opponents. Turkey came first in the qualifying group and travels to Germany as number 40 in the FIFA world rankings.

The Turkish federation must submit the final European Championship selection to UEFA by June 7 at the latest. Then there is a maximum of 26 players, which means that nine more players will have to be removed from this shortlist.

Kaplan is one of the notable names on the list. The 21-year-old central defender of Ajax was first called up by the Turkish national coach in March, but has so far only made minutes in the Under 21 team. Kaplan can now still hope to participate in the European Championships.

Naturally, there is also room for Kökçü. The Benfica midfielder has now become a certainty in the selection of national coach Vincenzo Montella. Kökçü was also in the selection at the previous European Championship.

Other well-known names are Kadioglu and Ünal, who were both active in the Eredivisie. It would also be the second European Championship for Ünal, as he, like Kökçü, was part of the European Championship selection in 2021, when Turkey finished last in Group A without a chance.

Furthermore, the Turks will mainly count on the services of star player Hakan Çalhanoglu. The Inter midfielder is by far the most experienced man in the squad. In 84 international matches he scored 18 times for Turkey.

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