Calhanoglu returns for Turkey, Aké starts for Netherlands in Euro 2024 quarterfinal



BERLIN (AP) — Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu is back after a suspension and Netherlands defender Nathan Aké has recovered from a knee injury to start their European Championship quarterfinal on Saturday.

Turkey is without defender Merih Demiral, who was suspended for two matches by UEFA for making a nationalistic hand gesture after scoring in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Austria. The gesture is used by Turkish nationalists and associated with an ultra-nationalist group.

Many Turkish fans made the gesture on their way to Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Turkey is also without suspended midfielders Orkun Kokcu and Ismail Yuksek. Eight Turkish players — including Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz — are in danger of missing the next match if booked.

The Netherlands has no suspended players. Denzel Dumfries, Joey Veerman, Jerdy Schouten and Donyell Malen will hope to avoid any yellow cards that rule them out of a potential semifinal.

The winner will play England or Switzerland in the second semifinal in Dortmund on Wednesday. Spain faces France in the first on Tuesday.

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Teams:

Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké, Stefan De Vrij, Xavi Simons, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Tijjani Reijnders, Denzel Dumfries, Jerdy Schouten, Steven Bergwijn.

Turkey: Mert Gunok, Samet Akaydin, Arda Guler, Hakan Calhanoglu, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Salih Ozcan, Mert Muldur, Kenan Yildiz, Ferdi Kadioglu, Baris Alper Yilmaz, Kaan Ayhan.

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AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024


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