By Chris Roberts, PA Sport

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You could have been forgiven if you had not heard of Senol Gunes before the 2002 World Cup finals.

However, he took his place in history after guiding Turkey to the last four of the planet's most prestigious sporting event for the first time.

The 50-year-old was already a national hero after clinching qualification for the World Cup finals for only the second time in Turkey's history, and the feat was met with a mixture of jubilation and relief after the country's painful 48-year absence.

His side finished as runners-up behind Sweden in European qualifying Group 4, which meant a two-legged play-off against Austria.

Gunes' men enjoyed two wins, managing to pull off an impressive 1-0 victory in Vienna before resoundingly completing the job with a 5-0 demolition in Istanbul.

But his rise to fame has been no fluke and nobody has deserved the success more having worked strenuously to get to the top.

Gunes spent the first 12 years of his playing career at the amateur club of Erdogdu Genclick, distinguishing himself as a talented goalkeeper.

He then signed professional forms with Trabzonspor, to whom he remained loyal for an amazing 15 seasons, which is rare these days, winning the league championship six times as well as lifting the Turkish Cup on no fewer than five occasions.

Gunes eventually called it a day shortly after his 45th birthday and went on to earn the accolades as coach with Trabzonspor, Boluspor, Istanbulspor and Sakaryaspor before replacing Mustafa Denizli as national coach in the months preceding the European Championships in Belgium/Holland in the summer of 2000.

It was a huge gamble by the Turkish Football Association and one that was met with concern by the demanding public - but it did not take long for Gunes to win them over by taking them all the way to the quarter-finals.

After the euphoria had died down, the Turkish FA had little choice in extending his contract, which got the approval of the media and supporters alike.

The honeymoon period, however, soon turned sour with Gunes criticising the fans' flailing support during the past few months before the World Cup.

But his concentration and desire to succeed has never wavered and with the backbone of his players from the all-conquering Galatasaray side that won the 2000 UEFA Cup and European Super Cup, he has made Turkey a hard team to beat.

He has stayed faithful to a tried-and-trusted 3-5-2 formation with Hakan Sukur as the main striking threat, but even though he has looked desperately short of confidence - and a goal - Gunes has stood by the striker and refused to drop him to the bench, though Ilhan Mansiz may push him hard for a starting berth after his golden goal winner against Senegal.

Gunes has been helped with the emergence of a number of top stars which saw them come through a group which contained Brazil, Costa Rica and China, while also finishing off home nation Japan and Senegal on their way to the last four.

Their stunning progress has made a mockery of Gunes' pre-tournament prediction: "If we play to the best of our ability and show our fighting spirit, then we can progress to the second round."

Now only Brazil, who they were unfortunate not to get at least a draw against in their first game, stand in Turkey's way of an unexpected - but by no means undeserved - place in the World Cup final.

But now that the celebrations from the victory over Senegal have subsided and Turkey prepare to take on the tournament favourites, Gunes is faced with the biggest decision of his managerial career so far - whether to drop Sukur or hand golden goal hero Mansiz a promotion to the starting line-up.

Whatever he decides, Gunes is likely to upset some people - but as the most successful international coach in the country's history, it is a decision the Turkish people will have to trust.