Turkey booked a practice victory over the Czech Republic on Saturday evening. The team of national coach Stefan Kunz, who did not qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, won 2-1 thanks to goals from Enes Ünal and Hakan and Calhanoglu. FC Twente attacker Vaclav Cerny evened the score after the break after a huge blunder by Dogan Alemdar.
On the side of the Czech Republic, national coach Jaroslav Silhavy had reserved a starting place for Cerny. The FC Twente wing attacker, who played his eighth international match, was also allowed to participate in a half earlier this month during a friendly match against Germany (1-0). The friendly game between Turkey and the Czech Republic was marked by the farewell of referee Cüneyt Çakir. The 45-year-old referee ended his career after five minutes with a special substitution, after which he was put in the spotlight. The Scot William Collum was the guide for the remainder of the exhibition game.
Enes Ünal scores the opener! ?? With any luck, the ball will fall into the net via the defender, 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #TURCZE #Unal pic.twitter.com/VxaaQJ45ce
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) November 19, 2022
The game undulated in the first company, although this did not immediately lead to serious opportunities. The spell was finally broken by the Turks after half an hour. Former FC Twente striker Ünal was sent in by Cengiz Ünder and found the long corner: 0-1. The team of national coach Kuntz then seemed to press on, but Ünder encountered the fists of goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka.
Where the closing post of the Czech Republic kept his country going, his colleague Dogan made a huge mistake after the break. Cerny shot from about 25 meters straight at the Turkish goalkeeper, who clumsily pushed the ball into his own goal. Nevertheless, Turkey managed to put things in order fairly quickly. Tomas Koubek, who replaced Pavlenka as goalkeeper of the Czech Republic at half-time, first managed to save shots from Cenk Tosun and Dogukan Sinik, but was then surprised in the short corner by a shot from Calhanoglu: 2-1.
Keeper right?? Cerny takes a swing but what does the keeper do with that shot? ??#ZiggoSport #TURCZE #Cerny pic.twitter.com/mPkf7bssq5
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) November 19, 2022