Roy Turnham insists England fear nobody at the Blind European Championships as they prepare to play Russia in Friday’s semi-final.
England recorded a 100 per cent group stage record in Hereford as they came from a goal down to record a 2-1 win against Turkey on Wednesday evening.
Despite trailing at half time, goals from Roy Turnham and Dan English meant England got out of trouble when it mattered most to avoid a potential tricky semi-final against reigning champions Spain.
England 2-1 Turkey
IBSA Blind Football European Championship
Wednesday 26 August 2015
thePoint4, Hereford
By Sam Conway
"It was a big test coming back from one goal down, but we fought right to the end and got the goals we needed," said Turnham.
"They [Turkey] were out to win. They wanted to beat us on our home turf and they played a great game.
"We’ve just got to beat whoever is in front of us. If we focus on our own game and play our own way, we believe we have got a chance against anyone.
"If we’d have played Spain in these semi-finals, we would have gone out to win that game, just like we will against Russia."
Turkey broke the deadlock with five minutes of the first half remaining. English tripped Emrah Ocal in the box and substitute Hasan Satay struck home an emphatic penalty from the six-metre line. It was the first goal that England had conceded at the European Championships.
England came racing out of the blocks in the second half and equalised after 28 minutes. Satay tripped England’s top scorer, Robin Williams, and from the resulting free-kick, Turnham struck into the corner to bag his fourth goal of the tournament.
And with 49 seconds remaining, England grabbed the all-important winner, with English weaving through the defence before firing past Aktas to secure the win.
"At half time we were told to go out and prove that we were worthy of winning that group," added Turnham. "I’m just pleased I was able to get that goal to bring us back into it.
"The lads will be feeling it after that, but we’ll all be ready for Friday’s game."
