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Euro 2020: Earlier billed the 'dark horses', Turkey exit in miserable fashion

There are now calls for the resignation of coach Senol Gunes

turkey-euro Turkey's Mert Muldur looks dejected after losing against Switzerland | Reuters

After Xherdan Shaqiri scored twice for Switzerland, delivering a 3-1 victory for his team against Turkey, the latter had its hopes of progression into the knockouts dashed to pieces. On the back of a third straight defeat, Turkey is now out of Euro 2020. This comes as a big disappointment for a team billed as the possible "dark horses", a young team on the rise, led by coach Senol Gunes who had led them to a stunning third place in the 2002 World Cup. However, the football looked disjointed, with the team managing to score only a single goal in the three games. The team had even beaten Netherlands 4-2 in the World Cup qualifiers before the Euros. 

As Reuters reported, former Turkey international Nihat Kahveci said the Turkish side was the worst at the 24-team tournament."We were among the definite favourites to qualify for the second round, but now we are the worst team in the tournament," Kahveci said, adding that the Turkish performance didn't even have bright moments throughout all three games. 

"This young team will mark the next 10 years of Turkish football but we are well aware that such a performance at this tournaments is unacceptable," coach Gunes said. "I am responsible for this," Gunes added, blaming the media response, his players' lack of experience, individual mistakes and bad luck for the team's worst ever performance at a European Championship. 

"I do not think of resignation at the moment, the bill of failure has to be paid but media is also responsible, the management is also responsible, the coaching team is also responsible," Gunes said. "Players and individual mistakes are also responsible. Before the tournament, we were expected to play the final, and now we are being criticised so harshly. It was a big test for us but sometimes these failures can add more experience than success." 

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