Of all the players missing from the Turkish squad, Tuncay Sanli’s absence hurts more than others. The Middlesbrough striker has been the catalyst and the motivator par excellence for all the Turkish comebacks.
Against a German side ready to exploit their physical play against the more diminutive Turkish side, Tuncay would have brought his strength and pace to cause problems down the flanks and up the middle. But more than that Tuncay has given 110% to the game, running back all the way to tackle, racing upfield to chase a ball, test the goalie with a sizzling shot, crunch heads with defenders to get to a ball, take corners and free kicks, send in crosses, and even play goalie.
I am not discounting the immense efforts of Adhar Turan, Nihat, Semih, Hamit Altintop, Hakan Balta, and others but Tuncay’s impact has been as important as Andrei Arshavin’s to the Russian success. Personally, I think he would run Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder ragged. Torsten Frings would probably have to soften him up with fouls to break his rhythm and Philip Lahm would have to chase him down.