|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Turkey surprise Sukur double ruins the party for Belgium
Posted: Tuesday June 20, 2000 08:49 AM
Turkish football climbed to new and heady heights after a memorable night in Brussels. With Euro 2000 co-host Belgium needing just a point to join Italy in the quarterfinals from Group B, Turkey produced the greatest result in its international history. Two goals from their star striker, Hakan Sukur, gave the Turks a 2-0 win -- their first ever in a major championship finals. And, remarkably, it earned them a place in the last eight. They now have a date with Portugal in Amsterdam on Saturday. I could talk about Belgium's early domination of the match and the numerous near misses they had, of Bart Goor's deflected shot going inches wide, of Luc Nilis' flashing strike just off target, of Emile Mpenza 's disallowed goal following a questionable off side decision, of Mpenza's free header that should have been buried. But instead, I'd prefer to dwell on Turkish delight. What a season it has been for Turkish soccer. Galatasaray rode a glorious wave all the way to UEFA Cup final success, which was the first major European club trophy for Turkey. Now this. There's a large Turkish population in Belgium and Holland. Short of doing the deed on home soil, this was quite a setting for their best ever international result. Thousands of fans celebrated into the night in the Belgian capital -- images that were mirrored, indeed surpassed, back in Turkey. The Turks gave Italy a fair battle in their first group game, but were frankly ordinary in that dour 0-0 draw against Sweden. But after coming through their early struggles against Belgium, Turkey began to play like the team that beat Germany in the Euro 2000 qualifiers. The Turks were dangerous on the break. Twice Hakan Sukur should have done better with golden opportunities in front of goal. But he more than made amends when he somehow leaped above goalkeeper Filip De Wilde to give Turkey the lead in first-half injury time. It was a strange goal -- but probably the most significant in Turkish football history. From that point on there was a certain inevitability about proceedings. Hakan's second goal 20 minutes from time simply clarified matters. Turkey is in the European Championship quarterfinals -- another step on the way to being regarded as a legitimate European football power. And how far the Turks have come in four years. At Euro 96, they lost all three games and failed to score a goal. Now Turkey is three wins away from the European title. OK, so that's not going to happen. But then did any of you non-Turkish fans out there predict Galatsaray's UEFA Cup success way ahead of time or suggest for one minute that they'd down the Belgians in Brussels in such startling fashion? I wonder how comfortable Portugal feels about facing them right now?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
