Starting with a 'home' game played in Germany, their qualification campaign began magnificently - including a thrashing of bitter rivals Greece in their own back yard - then dipped alarmingly before a late resurgence saw Fatih Terim's side squeak through to their first finals tournament in six years by a single point.

The previous two attempts to reach major finals - for Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup - both ended with heartbreaking play-off defeats after second-place finishes in their group.

The latter also culminated in violence after the second leg in Istanbul when Switzerland knocked the hosts out on away goals - the sanctions imposed by FIFA as a result meaning Turkey kicked off their Euro 2008 campaign against Malta at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt.

Given what had gone before, a routine 2-0 win for the Turks thanks to goals from Nihat Kahveci and Tumer Metin was very welcome indeed and provided the launchpad for a blistering start to their qualifying section.

With Greece, Norway, Bosnia and Hungary all providing real competition in their pool, Fatih's men needed to start well and they reeled off four straight wins to leave themselves in pole position.

Next up after Malta was a tricky visit to Budapest to face a moderate Hungary side featuring the likes of Zoltan Gera and Gabor Kiraly.

Middlesbrough-bound striker Tuncay Sanli gave Turkey a first-half lead with an acrobatic volley from naturalised Brazilian Mehmet Aurelio's free-kick, and despite late pressure the visitors held on for a fully-merited 1-0 win.

Moldova were expected to provide far less stiff opposition in Frankfurt four days later and so it proved in a match that was most memorable for an individual landmark reached by iconic striker Hakan Sukur.

The man known by adoring home fans simply as 'King' scored four times in his country's 5-0 victory, including an eight-minute first-half hat-trick, to take his international goals tally to 50. Tuncay added a headed effort to leave Turkey with nine points and no goals conceded after three matches.

Turkey's fanatical fans probably thought things could not get much better - but the trip to face European champions Greece in Athens in March 2007 proved to be one of the greatest nights in the country's footballing history.

Turkey went a goal down to their neighbours early on but a fantastic display, aided by some predictably woeful goalkeeping from Antonios Nikopolidis, saw Tuncay, Gökhan Ünal, Tumer and Gökdeniz Karadeniz score in a famous 4-1 win.

At that point, the Turks seemed set to cruise through to Austria and Switzerland but a subsequent run of one win in six games left them on the brink of ignominious elimination.

Signs of the turbulence to come were in evidence during the final game of Turkey's German exile when Norway raced into a two-goal lead before a brace of Halil Altintop free-kicks - both of which should have been comfortably saved by former Everton goalkeeper Thomas Myhre - salvaged a last-gasp 2-2 draw.

A first defeat followed in June when the Turks capitulated after taking a 2-1 lead over Bosnia in Sarajevo to lose 3-2, despite yet another strike from Hakan and a fine finish from Sabri Sarioglu.

Turkey twice had to come from behind to draw with group whipping boys Malta in Valletta, Altintop and Servet Cetin preventing an embarrassing defeat - but the result left them third in a group they had looked set to dominate.

The second-half sending-off of Gera proved the catalyst for a morale-boosting 3-0 win over Hungary as Turkey finally got to play in front of their own fans in Istanbul.

But their situation in Group C became even more precarious in October 2007 when in the space of four days they could only draw 1-1 in Moldova and then Ioannis Amanatidis' late goal gave Greece revenge for their earlier humiliation with a 1-0 win in Istanbul which confirmed their place in the finals.

That all meant that Turkey's trip to face Norway in Oslo last November was an effective play-off for second place, with Fatih knowing his team would be out of the running were they defeated.

An overhead kick by Wigan defender Erik Hagen gave the hosts an early lead but Newcastle's Emre soon equalised with a fantastic run and 25-yard shot. Nihat's winner on the hour mark meant that Turkey's fate was back in their own hands when they took on Bosnia at home in the final match of their campaign.

Typically, the Turks did not make life easy for themselves, but Nihat's finish from Altintop's cross two minutes before the break proved the difference between the teams as Turkey sealed their passage through to the Alps.