NORFOLK, Va. – Ece Turkoglu (Istanbul, Turkey) of the Old Dominion women's soccer team has been selected to play for the Turkey national team in four UEFA Women's Championship Qualification Round matches in the upcoming months.
"For an athlete, it is always an honor to represent your country at the highest level," explained Turkoglu. "When I heard that I was called up to the national team again, I felt the same excitement when I got my first senior call at the age of 17. From that moment, I believe that I have improved my play a lot. The time I have spent here at ODU has had a big impact on me, both on and off the field. I'd like to thank the staff and my teammates who have always been friendly and helpful; they deserve a lot of credit for my development. Now, I hope that I can have similar performances with the Turkey national team as I did with ODU last season."
In 2019, Turkoglu was named the Conference USA Co-Freshman of the Year, as well as was named to the All-League Third Team and All-Freshman squad. She also garnered United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I All-South Region Team and the VaSID All-State Women's Soccer Second Team honors.
The Turkish national team will commence competition against Kosovo on Oct., 23, before taking on Russia's national team on Oct. 27. Turkey will then have a showdown against Estonia on Nov. 27, before playing Russia again on Dec. 1.
"I'm thrilled for Ece to be selected for the national team," said ODU head coach Angie Hind. "It is the pinnacle of any player's career to be selected to represent your national team. She is a quality player and being in this environment daily has really helped her, so it's exciting that her national coach has recognized the continued development in her enough to fly her back for these important games. Playing in these qualifiers will give her additional experience that she can also bring back to her team here at ODU. We are all very excited for her."
Turkoglu Selected to Represent Turkey in UEFA Championship Qualification Round Matches
