Semi-final 1: Germany v Turkey

UEFA EURO 2008 SEMI-FINAL
Date: Wed 25 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel


Faith Terim
Turkey coach Fatih Terim has been hit by injuries and suspension

Germany coach Joachim Low said Torsten Frings could play against Turkey despite suffering from a fractured rib.

The midfielder was back in training on Monday having missed the quarter-final win over Portugal.

Turkey face the prospect of having just 13 outfield players available for their Euro 2008 semi-clash.

Keeper Volkan Demirel will miss out after his two-match ban was upheld for a red card against Czech Republic while Emre has a 50-50 chance of returning.

Coach Terim said he may have to field third-choice keeper Tolgan Zengin during Wednesday's encounter.


"He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man in defence or a centre forward," he said.

The Turks were without six players when they beat Croatia 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals Friday, and lost a further three - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - to suspension after picking up yellow cards during the match at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.

Striker Nihat Kahveci was ruled out of the tournament on Sunday with a thigh injury, but Uefa insists it will not be making a special dispensation for Turkey to call up more players to their squad.

Defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurelio returns from a one-match ban, but keeper Volkan still has one game left on his suspension.

Uefa spokesman William Gaillard said: "You can't replace any players after the first game of the tournament has been played.

"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules.

"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match, then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and we would find it a bit difficult changing now."

BIG MATCH STATS

Head-to-heads

Germany and Turkey have played each other on 17 occasions with Germany winning 11 and losing three.

Turkey are unbeaten in three successive meetings with Germany, recording two wins and one draw.

Germany's last win over the Turks dates back to May 1992, when they won 1-0 in a friendly encounter.

Their only previous meetings at a major tournament came at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, when West Germany won 4-1 and 7-2.

Their last meeting in all competitions was a friendly in October 2005, in which Turkey prevailed 2-1 in Istanbul, through goals by Halil Altintop and Nuri Sahin. Oliver Neuville scored the German goal in injury time.

Team facts - Germany

Played five previous European Championship semi-final matches, progressing on four occasions.

Their sole semi-final defeat came in 1988, when West Germany were knocked out by eventual winners the Netherlands (2-1).

Both Germany and Turkey finished second in their group at Euro 2008. The last two European champions (Greece in 2004 and France in 2000) also finished second in their group.

Team facts - Turkey

This is Turkey's first European Championship semi-final. Their only previous appearance in the last four of a major tournament came at the 2002 World Cup when they were defeated 1-0 by Brazil.

Been in the lead for only nine minutes in their four matches played at Euro 2008. Including injury time, Turkey were in the lead for 2.5 minutes against Switzerland and 6.5 minutes against the Czech Republic.
Most comebacks in a single European Championship finals

Trailed in all four matches at Euro 2008 and yet still managed two wins and a draw. These three comebacks, against Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia, equal the record number of comebacks in a single European Championship finals, made by Czech Republic in 2004.

Player facts - Germany

Bastian Schweinsteiger has a goal, an assist, a yellow card and a red card to his name at Euro 2008. The only other player to have achieved this feat is Denmark's Klaus Berggreen in 1984.

If he plays, Kevin Kuranyi will win his 50th cap for Germany. He made his international debut in March 2003 in a 1-1 draw against Lithuania.

Michael Ballack has scored in two successive European Championship matches (against Portugal and Austria).

Ballack and Lukas Podolski both need two goals to equal Jurgen Klinsmann's German record of five in the European Championship.

Ballack has now scored 38 international goals. Only six German players (Muller, Klinsmann, Voller, Rummenigge, Seeler and Klose) have scored more goals.

Player facts - Turkey

By scoring twice at Euro 2008, Arda Turan, Nihat Kahveci and Semih Senturk have all equalled Hakan Sukur as Turkey's joint top scorers in European Championship history.

If they take to the field, Hamit Altintop will come up against his Bayern Munich team mates Marcell Jansen, Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.

If he plays, Gokdeniz Karadeniz will win his 50th cap for Turkey. He made his international debut in a 4-0 defeat against the Czech Republic in April 2003.

35-year-old Rustu Recber is the oldest ever Turkish player in a major tournament (European Championship and World Cup combined). Rustu is Turkey's most capped player with 117 internationals and also the most experienced Turkish player in the European Championship with eight matches to his name.

Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik are suspended for this semi-final. Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is also suspended pending his appeal.

So far, Turkey have received 15 cards at Euro 2008, only four shy of the competition record set by the Czech Republic in 1996.