Orkun Kökcü failed to win the European Championship qualifier against Croatia. The Feyenoord midfielder went down with Turkey in the Bursa Timsah Arena against stars such as Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić.
Chelsea midfielder Kovacic scored twice in the first half. Kökcü was dangerous once with a good shot, but his effort was turned by the Croatia goalkeeper. National coach Stefan Kuntz chose to use Kökcü mainly as a chaser. In possession of the ball, the Feyenoord player barely came into play.
The intensity of the game was also high during the second half. What will please everyone at Feyenoord is that Kökcü looked super fit and did not sustain an injury. After an hour of play, the captain of the Rotterdam club was replaced. He can therefore rejoin the team of trainer Arne Slot in the coming days. Turkey lost the game against Croatia 2-0.
Kökcü had 26 successful passes, resulting in a 79% pass accuracy. The midfielder also showed attacking intentions by shooting three times, one of which was on target. Kökcü created one chance and made one key pass. He also won one ground duel (33%). Kökcü eventually made one tackle and was successful in winning the ball three times.
Arrangement Turkey
Gunok; Çelik, Demiral, Soyuncu, Kadıoğlu, Özcan, Kökçü, Calhanoğlu, Aktürkoğlu, Ünder, Ünal
Croatia setup
Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Barisic; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic.
Marcus Holmgren Pedersen
Norway failed to beat Georgia with Pedersen, despite national coach Ståle Solbakken’s team taking the lead in the fifteenth minute thanks to a goal from Alexander Sørloth. After an hour, however, the Georgians came alongside thanks to Georges Mikautadze. Feyenoord’s right back was substituted in injury time and came out of the battle unscathed.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Jahanbakhsh managed to beat Kenya with Iran. The 29-year-old Feyenoord attacker started in the base and got a total of one half of playing time. Jahanbakhsh was left in the dressing room during half time. In the end, Iran won the friendly match 2-1. Jahanbakhsh also came out of the battle unscathed and can join the group of trainer Arne Slot in the coming days. The away game against Sparta Rotterdam awaits on Sunday.
Marcos López & Dermane Karim
Karim played the entire match with Togo. The midfielder eventually got no further than a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso. López played one half against Morocco. The Feyenoord player played in a 4-2-3-1 system as a left winger.
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