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Turkish coach Senol Gunes called on Monday for fans and the media not to raise tensions ahead of the country's Euro 2004 qualifying decider against England on Saturday.
Turkish authorities are planning extra-tight security to stop England fans attending the match in Istanbul after a number of clashes between rival supporters from the two countries.
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Gunes told a news conference that Turkey would show hospitality to England off
the pitch but defeat their side in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium, where more than
50,000 Turkish fans are expected to create an intimidating atmosphere.
"Our fans should lift the team with its cheering, there should not be any aggression...We need them to raise the football's quality, not the tension," he said at a hotel in Istanbul where the squad gathered before the start of training.
"We will defeat England and show everyone that we are a world class team," said Gunes, who led Turkey to third place in the 2002 World Cup finals. Ticketmaster
AVOID PLAYOFFS
England lead Euro 2004 Group Seven by one point from Turkey, who need to win the game to qualify for the finals in Portugal and avoid the playoffs.
The Turkish coach said there were no serious injuries in his 23-man squad. Newspaper reports said key goalscorer Hakan Sukur is hopeful of playing despite picking up an injury in a game at the weekend.
Midfielder Sergen Yalcin, who scored two goals in Besiktas's Champions League victory over Chelsea last week, is back in the squad two years after he last played for the national team. He missed last year's World Cup due to injury.
Gunes called on Turkish journalists not to let the English media set the agenda this week after mutual recriminations highlighted in press reports in recent weeks.
"We are not interested in events off the pitch. We know these are games and we don't want to take the bait...Security subjects are brought before us to change the agenda," he said. Ticketmaster
The English FA has not taken any tickets for the match and has urged their supporters not to travel after recent clashes between fans from the two countries.
The atmosphere was soured further by comments attributed to the president of the Turkish FA, who reacted angrily to suggestions by Eriksson that any fans who travel could put their safety at risk.
UEFA, which has fined and warned both associations in recent months for crowd misbehaviour, has sought to calm the situation. Ticketmaster
Relations between fans of the two countries hit an all-time low when two Leeds United supporters were stabbed to death during clashes in Istanbul before a UEFA Cup match against Galatasaray in 2000.