Turkey won the opening match of the annual tournament on a warm afternoon at Wheatsheaf Park and the margin of victory could have been greater. Muhammed Demir, wearing No.9, registered a hat-trick in an outstanding performance.
Turkey, in all red, were quicker and stronger from the first whistle and were almost ahead in two minutes. Cem Sultan was sent flying by an unnecessarily robust challenge a yard or two outside the box on the right-hand side and Eren Albayrak whipped in a free-kick that was turned round a post at full stretch by Fillipo Perruchini.
But the Turkish wouldn’t be denied for long, pushing the Italians back into their own half, and just three minutes later Olcaytu Ergen knocked down Albayrak’s far-post cross in acres of space and, as the ball bounced up, Demir headed it powerfully into the roof of the net.
The Italians were making no headway in attack, although Daniele Ragatzu was twice thwarted by a bad bounce as he threatened the solid Emrah Yollu-Sertac Eren axis in the centre of Turkey’s defence. Turkey continued to push forward, striking their passes confidently, and an inevitable second goal arrived on 17 minutes. A left-wing corner was cleared to the "D", where Demir half-volleyed the ball through a crowd into the net.
Albayrak was unstoppable down the left flank, firing in a number of crosses that might have brought further goals. Sultan’s back-heeled effort looked a goal until the ball hit an Italian defender and Perruchini had to be brave to keep the score at 2-0 to half-time. Italy had more of the play in the second period but ultimately couldn’t make the closing stages more interesting by pulling back a goal.
Demir’s third, on 73 minutes, was the best of the three. Receiving the ball centrally about 30 yards out, he accelerated past two defenders before unleashing a rocket of a shot that Perruchini could barely have seen as it flashed past him. The No.9 had to be "Man of the Match": he kept a harassed Italian rearguard on their toes throughout, running powerfully and blasting right-footers in the direction of their goal at every opportunity.
Italy: Perruchini, Faraoni (D’Allessandro), Albertazzi, Rigione, Caldirola, Giandonato (Galassi), Giutto, La Rocca, Ragatzu, Petrucci, Santon
Turkey: Yuksel, Kaya, Cek, Yollu, Eren, Kayali, Aydogdu (Aslan), Sultan (Kucik), Demir, Albayrak, Ergen (Mertogun)
Referee: S. Attwell