Turkey

SECOND-GUESSING which Turkey turns up to the Euros is half the challenge because the boys from the Bosphorus are the personification of a Jekyll-and-hyde team.

If we get the outfit who took four points off France in qualifying and kicked off their current World Cup campaign with handsome wins over Netherlands and Norway, then the Turks are a threat.

But if we get the other Turkey, the one beaten me and away by Hungary to sink into Nations League C where they will enter a draw with the likes of Gibraltar and the Faroes, they can be written off. The Turkey who kept eight clean sheets in ten qualifiers, or the side who between October and March played nine internationals and conceded at least two goals in seven of them.

They are in the capable hands of a man who can get the best out of any group. Senol Gunes is 69 and a hero in Turkey for guiding them to third place at the 2002 World Cup when first in charge.

He was drafted back in after the failure to get to the last World Cup and is blessed in obvious areas. Caglar Soyuncu and Juventus’s Merih Derimal at centre-back with Ozan Kabak as back-up should be solid. Okay Yokuslu is the obvious candidate to anchor a midfield fronted by Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu.

Burak Yilmaz, one of three of Lille’s Ligue 1-winning team to call upon, has enjoyed a phenomenal season, scoring 22 in total for club and country. Cengiz Under, Kenan Karaman and Yilmaz’s Lille colleague Yusuf Yazici are candidates for the wide roles.

They are entertaining – those nine matches over the last season produced 40 goals – but if they are leaking more than they score, the fun won’t last long.