Turkey’s hopes slowly fade away
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 03, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Months after making a name for itself as the comeback king, Turkey was on the receiving end Wednesday night after Albert Riera struck a last-minute goal to win the game for Spain in the World Cup Qualifying Group 5.
A last minute goal helped Spain steal victory against Turkey 2-1 in Istanbul on Wednesday, putting the home team’s chances to qualify for the World Cup 2010 in doubt.
Albert Riera scored in injury time to give his side the win and keep the European champion’s perfect record in group 5 of the World Cup qualifiers.
Riera benefited from a gap in the Turkish defense to score in the second minute of injury time from a pass by Daniel Güiza, who has so far had a sub-par season with Turkish side Fenerbahçe.
Most commentators were suggesting that Turkey should score the first goal of the game to be in the driving seat as soon as possible; which is exactly what Turkey did, when in the 26th minute Semih Şentürk was set up for an easy tap in after Arda Turan whipped in a cross that Tuncay Şanlı was able to set up for set him up for Şentürk.
That goal, which came in a rare Turkish foray into the opposition’s box, stopped Spain’s fast and insistently attacking football. The game turned into more balanced play, just as Turkey wanted. The fact that midfielder Xavi was shown a yellow card after clapping his hands to protest referee Mike Riley following the final whistle of the first half could have meant that Spain was nervous. But the European champion gave a perfect example of their professionalism in the second half, just as Turkey showed how not to hold on to the lead.
Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel failed to catch a ball during a Spanish corner in the 62nd minute, Fernando Torres touched the ball in and left back İbrahim Üzülmez meaninglessly blocked with his hand just in front of goal. It was a clear penalty and Xabi Alonso scored.
Turkey did not fall apart immediately. It looked like coach Fatih Terim’s boys had an answer but Semih could not touch Gökhan Gönül’s cross and Tuncay could not beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Maybe Turkey was a little lucky that Torres was not having his best day, and spared a couple of decent chances. But the Turks ran out of luck or miracles in the 91st minute with Riera’s goal.
"Until the moment when Spain scored from a penalty kick, I don't remember any good position for them," Turkey coach Fatih Terim said. "Today could have been a historic night for Turkish football, but we missed that chance. When you have so many goal chances like that, you just have to put the ball into net."
That was Turkey’s second loss to Spain in five days. During that period Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Belgium twice and advanced to the second spot with 12 points, four ahead of Turkey.
Spain has virtually won the group with four games left, and Turkey has a mountain to climb, considering it has to play Bosnia on away ground.
"Now we have to get 12 points from four games," Terim added. "We don’t have an easy fixture but Turkey can beat anyone anywhere. I admit that Bosnia-Herzegovina has the advantage now. We must win our games and wait for them to drop points."
Albert Riera scored in injury time to give his side the win and keep the European champion’s perfect record in group 5 of the World Cup qualifiers.
Riera benefited from a gap in the Turkish defense to score in the second minute of injury time from a pass by Daniel Güiza, who has so far had a sub-par season with Turkish side Fenerbahçe.
Most commentators were suggesting that Turkey should score the first goal of the game to be in the driving seat as soon as possible; which is exactly what Turkey did, when in the 26th minute Semih Şentürk was set up for an easy tap in after Arda Turan whipped in a cross that Tuncay Şanlı was able to set up for set him up for Şentürk.
That goal, which came in a rare Turkish foray into the opposition’s box, stopped Spain’s fast and insistently attacking football. The game turned into more balanced play, just as Turkey wanted. The fact that midfielder Xavi was shown a yellow card after clapping his hands to protest referee Mike Riley following the final whistle of the first half could have meant that Spain was nervous. But the European champion gave a perfect example of their professionalism in the second half, just as Turkey showed how not to hold on to the lead.
Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel failed to catch a ball during a Spanish corner in the 62nd minute, Fernando Torres touched the ball in and left back İbrahim Üzülmez meaninglessly blocked with his hand just in front of goal. It was a clear penalty and Xabi Alonso scored.
Turkey did not fall apart immediately. It looked like coach Fatih Terim’s boys had an answer but Semih could not touch Gökhan Gönül’s cross and Tuncay could not beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Maybe Turkey was a little lucky that Torres was not having his best day, and spared a couple of decent chances. But the Turks ran out of luck or miracles in the 91st minute with Riera’s goal.
"Until the moment when Spain scored from a penalty kick, I don't remember any good position for them," Turkey coach Fatih Terim said. "Today could have been a historic night for Turkish football, but we missed that chance. When you have so many goal chances like that, you just have to put the ball into net."
That was Turkey’s second loss to Spain in five days. During that period Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Belgium twice and advanced to the second spot with 12 points, four ahead of Turkey.
Spain has virtually won the group with four games left, and Turkey has a mountain to climb, considering it has to play Bosnia on away ground.
"Now we have to get 12 points from four games," Terim added. "We don’t have an easy fixture but Turkey can beat anyone anywhere. I admit that Bosnia-Herzegovina has the advantage now. We must win our games and wait for them to drop points."