New names, old fixtures in national team


Şenol Güneş, the newly appointed coach of the Turkish national football team, unveiled Friday the lineup for the upcoming matches against Albania and Moldova.

The squad features old fixtures cut off by Güneş's predecessors, as well as new names like Ozan Kabak and Dorukhan Toköz. Güneş, who is set to leave Süper Lig side Beşiktaş at the end of the season, replaced Mircea Lucescu last month.

He will lead the national team into the Euro 2020 qualifiers on March 22 and March 25 against Albania and Moldova respectively. His lineup includes seven names that will play for the national team for the first time, while Medipol Başakşehir's Emre Belözoğlu and Beşiktaş's Burak Yılmaz will rejoin after a break of one and a half years.

Başakşehir Goalkeeper Mert Günok and Galatasaray's Emre Taşdemir had to wait longer, more than 1,200 days, to earn a recall to the national team. Taşdemir is also the only Galatasaray player to be included in the lineup.