Turkey will be more than anxious about their upcoming game on Tuesday. Not only are they looking to confirm their place in the World Cup qualification playoffs, but they're coming up against the team which comfortably ran away with the group. The Netherlands incredibly demolished Hungary 8-1 in their last game, with Louis van Gaal's team still intent on squeezing into the seeded positions for the Brazil 2014 group stage draw.
Turkey vs. Netherlands, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Preview and TV schedule
Turkey still have a playoff spot to play for, and host a Netherlands side who’ve already booked their World Cup place on Tuesday.
Scott Heavey
However, Turkey are certainly a capable side, and come into this match having not lost a competitive game in almost exactly a year. Their last meaningful defeat was at the hands of Hungary -- currently two points adrift of Turkey in the group and one of two teams Fatih Terim’s side are looking to hold off to finish second in the group. The other side is Romania, who are below Turkey on goal difference alone, and who host Estonia on Tuesday.
Despite occupying the playoff spot heading into the final round of group games, Turkey’s tough Dutch task means the qualification odds are stacked firmly against them. They need to pull off a big upset, or, failing that, equally sizable upsets in both Hungary and Romania.
Projected lineups
Turkey: Volkan Demirel; Caner Erkin, Ömer Toprak, Semih Kaya, Gökhan Gönül; Arda Turan, Selçuk İnan, Mehmet Topal, Gökhan Töre; Umut Bulut, Burak Yılmaz
Netherlands: Michel Vorm; Daley Blind, Ron Vlaar, Jeffrey Bruma, Daryl Janmaat; Kevin Strootman, Nigel De Jong, Rafael van der Vaart; Jeremain Lens, Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m. local, 2 p.m. ET
Venue: Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey
TV: Star TV (Turkey)
Online: ESPN3 (U.S.)
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