When it comes to football, the people of Turkey are as passionate as the come.
Their supporters have long been known for making a right old noise when backing their team, be it at club level or internationally.
And as Friday night’s match with Spain showed, they’re also pretty vocal when it comes to letting one of their star players know he’s not playing that well.
Of the current Turkish crop, Arda Turan is (or at least should be) their main man. Brilliant at Atletico, he moved to Barcelona last summer – although wasn’t permitted to play until January because of Barca’s transfer ban. He hasn’t been a regular at the Camp Nou and, perhaps as a result, appears to be lacking a bit of form for his national side.
He didn’t do all that well in their Euro 2016 opener against Croatia a few days ago and his performance against Spain attracted boos from unimpressed Turkish supporters.
But given his already low-standing in the popularity stakes, he didn’t exactly help himself. Instead of ignoring it and getting his head down, he did the opposite. With 25 minutes to go, he received the ball near the halfway line. Hearing more jeers from his countrymen, Turan stopped and sarcastically gave a thumb up to the supporters.
https://twitter.com/killeroc/status/743908526624481281
Ouch.
Spain cruised to a 3-0 win in the end. A result which leaves any Turkish hopes of reaching the last sixteen looking increasingly slim.
