Turkey seeks fist group win against Iceland

Turkey, which grabbed a comeback draw against Ukraine in a Group I World Cup qualifier on Oct. 6, is now set to visit a well-motivated Iceland, which achieved an even more striking comeback against Finland on the same night. 

The Turkish team under coach Fatih Terim, which has gained two draws in the first two games of the qualification stage, has much to lose if fails to beat Iceland, one of the stars of Euro 2016 over the summer. 

Terim congratulated his men for the comeback in an interview after the game, while regretting the loss of points in a home game.

"I hope we will close out the week with a win," he said. 

Turkey clawed its way back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to Ukraine with a late penalty from Hakan Çalhanoğlu in the game in the Central Anatolian province of Konya. 

Andriy Yarmolenko put the visitors ahead in the 24th minute with a penalty after Ömer Toprak brought down Artem Kravets, and two minutes later, Kravets doubled their lead when he was played in by Yarmolenko after springing the offside trap. 

Ozan Tufan pulled a goal back for the hosts just before the break with a header in a crowded area from a corner by Çalhanoğlu, who equalized matters in the 81st minute with a penalty after Taras Stepanenko pulled striker Cenk Tosun's shirt. 

Terim controversially left Barcelona's in-form midfielder Arda Turan, Burak Yılmaz of Beijing Guoan and Galatasaray's Selçuk İnan out of his squad after the country's poor Euro 2016 campaign when they went out in the group stage. 

He also said after the game that he had no knowledge about his contract with the federation, which triggered a media criticism and speculation due to his high fee. 

Turkey and Ukraine both...