Young Turkey squad instills hope in national team's future
Among the young players, Emre Mor was undoubtedly the most remarkable.

Three of Turkey's young and upcoming stars scored their first national team goals on Monday as Turkey beat Moldova 3-1 in a friendly. With the team's average age standing at just 23.27 years old, Turkish football fans can be hopeful about the country's next generation of players



Longing for their first real international success since the 2002 World Cup where they came in third, Turkish football fans witnessed an Anatolian revolution on Monday, orchestrated by the youngest members of their national team.Turkey's young soccer prodigies Emre Mor, Ahmet Çalık, and Cengiz Ünder all netted their first international goals on Monday, as Turkey defeated Moldova 3-1 in an international friendly that was played in the heartlands of Anatolia, Eskişehir.There was one more remarkable detail in the victory as eight players in Fatih Terim's starting 11 were from Anatolian clubs, five of whom don jerseys in Turkey's lower leagues.Turkey dominated the game from the onset, with 19-year-old Emre Mor opening the scoresheet in the 14th minute. Assisted by Oğuzhan Özyakup, Mor sped past two defenders and the goalkeeper to slot in his first internarial goal for Turkey.Just 10 minutes after the Mor opener, another young player, 23-year-old Ahmet Çalık successfully headed in a Emre Çolak corner, making it 2-0 against the Moldovans, in the first half.In the second half, yet another up-and-coming star, Cengiz Ünder, scored his first goal for the national team to give Turkey an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 54th minute of the match.Moldova's only goal, scored by Radu Gînsari, came in 92nd minute as the match ended 3-1.Praising his young guns, coach Fatih Terim said, "First, I want to thank Eskişehir for the great hospitality it has offered. The atmosphere was amazing. Our team's average age was under 24 and we had already said prior to the match that we would give priority to the young players. We may have fielded one of the youngest aged national squad line-ups today. They played really well and dominated the game. Even if it was just a friendly match, we should make winning part of our habit."Among the young players, Emre Mor was undoubtedly the most remarkable. The promising soccer sensation, who now plays for German side Borussia Dortmund, was called up by Terim when he was just 18 years old.Mor was born and raised in the Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Turkish father and a Macedonian mother. He represented Denmark before switching his allegiance to Turkey last year, with his father signing Mor's citizenship papers.Upon being granted citizenship Mor was almost immediately called up by Turkey's U-21 team, for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against the Slovakia. He made his senior team debut against Montenegro in Antalya last May.Mor was also included in the Turkey squad for the UEFA Euro 2016, making him the third-youngest player of the tournament, where he came off the bench to replace Cenk Tosun in Turkey's opening game against Croatia. He was part of Turkey's starting 11, in their last match of the tournament against the Czech Republic where he assisted Burak Yılmaz to score the opening goal of the match.The Turkish national football team has been in good form recently as they beat Finland in their Group I World Cup qualifier match on Friday.An early double from Cenk Tosun gave Turkey their first-ever home win against Finland, taking them up to fourth place in the group with eight points; they trail behind third placed Ukraine only in goal difference. Meanwhile, group leaders Croatia have 13 points, second-placed Iceland has managed to secure their position with 10 points.Turkey's qualifying campaign had started off with disappointment, but the recent win against Finland keeps their hopes for next year's World Cup in Russia alive.