Football: Turan, Belozoglu back in Turkish squad

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has announced its 26-man draft squad ahead of upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

According to a statement released on Friday, Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan and Medipol Basaksehir midfielder Emre Belozoglu made the cut ahead of the matches against Ukraine and Croatia.

Two weeks ago, sharing his thoughts on coming back to the national side after former manager Fatih Terim's departure and Mircea Lucescu taking over the hot seat, Turan said he changed his mind thanks to the “mature, warm and cohesive” attitudes of TFF head Yildirim Demiroren, and the new manager.

Lucescu said on Aug. 4, when he signed a two-year contract with a one-year renewal option, he would call on Turan to again play for his country.

"The team needs him and he needs the team," he said.

Emre Belozoglu was a dominant force for Basaksehir in the team's Champions League play-off round matches against Sevilla despite his 36 years.

Turkey will take on Ukraine on Sept. 2 in Kharkiv, then Croatia on Sept. 5 in Eskisehir, Turkey.

Here is the full announced squad:

Cenk Gonen (Malaga), Harun Tekin (Bursaspor), Volkan Babacan, Emre Belozoglu (Medipol Basaksehir), Kaan Ayhan (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Sener Ozbayrakli, Mehmet Topal, Ismail Koybasi, Ozan Tufan (Fenerbahce), Caglar Soyuncu (Freiburg), Omer Toprak, Emre Mor, Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund), Serdar Aziz, Selcuk Inan, Tolga Cigerci (Galatasaray), Caner Erkin, Cenk Tosun (Besiktas), Cengiz Under (Roma), Yusuf Yazici, Okay Yokuslu, Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor), Arda Turan (Barcelona), Hakan Calhanoglu (Milan), Yunus Malli (Wolfsburg) and Enes Unal (Villarreal).