Hamit Altıntop is looking further forward than a semi-final reunion with a number of his FC Bayern Munchen team-mates after helping Turkey defeat Croatia in an epic last-eight tie in Vienna. "If we believe in ourselves we can win the tournament," said the Carlsberg Man of the Match award winner.
The midfielder covered more ground than any other player – 14.21kms – and came into his own in an unfamiliar role as Turkey's playmaker following the 76th-minute substitution of Mehmet Topal for Semih Şentürk. Semih went on to rifle in a last-second equaliser after Ivan Klasnić had scored 29 minutes into extra time for the Croatians, prompting a shoot-out which the side in red won 3-1.
Hamit, who drilled in Turkey's third penalty, said: "We played well as a team and reaching the semi-final is the important thing. It's vital to be cold-blooded in shoot-outs – you mustn't show nerves in football. If we carry on this way, and believe in ourselves, we can win the tournament."
'We can beat anybody'
The 25-year-old spent four successful seasons with FC Schalke 04 before joining Bayern last summer and he could face as many as five club colleagues in Wednesday's semi-final in Basel. He knows only too well that Turkey's preparations must be perfect if they are to triumph against the odds once more.
"It's important that we rest first and then we can analyse Germany with our coach," he said. "We can beat anybody if we prepare ourselves properly. All the team showed tonight that it's important to believe in ourselves, in what's right, and in what our coach tells us. If we continue like this we shouldn't fear any team."
Victorious coach Fatih Terim praised his No22 – "when you have footballers like this, you don't lose," he said – along with the UEFA Technical Team who voted Hamit as Man of the Match after hearing the results of the online vote on euro2008.com. Technical Team member Roy Hodgson said of the midfielder's display: "There were several candidates but obviously we decided on a Turkish player because they won the penalty shoot-out and I thought Altıntop's performance throughout the game was extremely good. He both defended and attacked very, very well and was a key figure alongside Tuncay [Şanlı] in the centre of the midfield. I thought as the game went on the Turkish midfield got stronger and stronger."
Hamit Altıntop (literally "Hamit Goldball") born December 8, 1982 in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany. He is a versatile midfielder and can play either in a defending or attacking role. He is well known for his flair of long-shot ability, as shown when he played for Schalke 04 and so far with Bayern Munich.
Source: euro2008.uefa.com
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