Day of sorrow

France beats Turkey, reaches Confed Cup final

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) -- Defending champion France, playing just hours after the death of Cameroon's Marc-Vivien Foe, relied on three goals from its Arsenal players to beat Turkey 3-2 and advance to the Confederations Cup final.

Les Bleus got their goals from Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord.

Turkey fell behind 2-0 and 3-1, but refused to lie down, battling back with goals from midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz and striker Tuncay Sanli.

Turkey had a chance to tie the game in the 87th minute, but Okan Yilmaz slid his penalty kick wide of goalkeeper Gregory Coupet's right post.

FIFA held a moment of silence in memory of Foe, who once played for current France coach Jacques Santini at Lyon.

Foe collapsed and died while playing in Thursday's earlier semifinal in Lyon, won by Cameroon 1-0 against Colombia. The final between France and Cameroon is set for Sunday at the Stade de France.

Despite the victory "everyone is downcast and it is not this win which will boost our morale," said Santini afterward.

"When we learned [the news], the players tried to overcome the shock, it was very emotional," Santini added.

Turkey coach Senol Gunes also paid tribute to Foe, saying "the death of a human life puts sport into perspective."

France's three goals all exposed Turkey's weak right flank. In the 11th minute, defender Lilian Thuram fed a pass to Pires who cut inside left-back Ibrahim Uzelmez, before passing to Wiltord.

Wiltord's mishit shot fell kindly to Henry, who stroked the ball home for his 21st international goal in 50 appearances -- moving him up to eighth place in the country's all-time scoring list.

Speaking after the match, a downcast Henry first dedicated his goal to Foe, before praising Turkey's second-half showing.

"They played well and in the second half we didn't play our game because Turkey was better," Henry said, adding that the French players had to "dig in and fight."

The home side's silky touch-play had Turkey's players backpedaling, and Les Bleus went further ahead on 25 minutes to the delight of the French supporters in the 41,195 crowd.

Following a flowing move down the right-hand side, Lyon striker Sidney Govou cut inside his marker and squared the ball to Henry -- who then feinted to shoot before presenting Pires with a simple tap-in for his 14th international goal.

Turkey was dealt another blow shortly after when goalkeeper Rustu Recber left the field after having picked up an earlier knock. He was replaced by Omer Catkic.

The French defense was caught napping on 41 minutes, allowing Turkey to pull a goal back courtesy of midfielder Karadeniz, who needed two attempts before slotting the ball past Coupet.

With Turkey's passionate fans still celebrating, Wiltord put France 3-1 ahead, following some wayward defending.

A poor back pass let in Henry and, following a series of blocked shots, the ball bounced to Pires. His fiercely struck effort bounced back off a post and landed to Wiltord -- who popped the ball past Catkic for his 17th international goal.

France held on to survive an incessant spell of Turkey pressure, with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Yildiray Basturk finding time and space to pressure the home defense.

"Turkey played an excellent match, it was tough for us," Santini said. "They reduced the deficit early, allowing them to believe all through the second half that they could equalize or even win."

Turkey was handed a precious chance to equalize late in the game, after France midfielder Olivier Dacourt fouled an opponent in the penalty area.

The responsibility for the penalty, taken in front of a mass of Turkish fans, fell to Bursaspor striker Yilmaz. He ruffled his hair, placed the ball on the spot, then breathed deeply, before sending a feeble shot wide after Coupet had dived the other way.

Despite the defeat, Gunes praised his young team's performance during the competition.

"They succeeded in their duty and, if they didn't win the cup, well ... they learned a lot of things," Gunes said.

France's players reacted with muted celebrations at the final whistle, as news of Foe's death was still fresh in memory.

During the moment's silence before the match, Coupet -- a former Lyon teammate of Foe's -- stood head bowed and wiped away tears as France captain Marcel Desailly wrapped his arm around him in a gesture of compassion.

French players wonder how final can go on

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) -- For two weeks, they only had one goal -- reach the final of the Confederations Cup.

Now, French players are pondering whether it is appropriate to face Cameroon on Sunday, following the death of African star Marc-Vivien Foe.

"We should not play the final," Monaco midfielder Ludovic Giuly said following France's 3-2 victory over Turkey in Thursday's semifinal. "We could do this for him.

"When I see how the players on our team who knew him were affected, I don't know where Cameroon could find the force to play the final.

"It's a bit indecent," Giuly said.

The 28-year-old Foe shocked the soccer world when he collapsed on the field near the end of Cameroon's 1-0 semifinal win over Colombia in Lyon and never regained consciousness.

"I don't know how we can play the final when the Cameroon team has suffered such a great, great loss," said goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, a former teammate of Foe's in Lyon, where they played together from 2000 to 2002. "For myself it was difficult enough today. It will be just as tough in the final.

"I don't know how the Cameroon players would be able to concentrate or focus on the final. But maybe they'll just rally and say they are fighting for him. Maybe this could be the greatest tribute to him."

FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter said Cameroon has already promised it would play in Sunday's final at the Stade de France.

"They will do it for the honor and respect of their teammate," Blatter said. "I never say the show must go on, but life must go on and our competition and football must show it is part of our life.

"And life is sometimes marked by death."

Foe was playing in his 64th international for Cameroon.

At last year's World Cup, Foe played in all three of Cameroon's games, but the African champion went out in the first round.

It made the team's success here, with upset wins over Brazil and Turkey, all the more sweet.

"Of course this is difficult for everyone," said France's captain Marcel Desailly. "Everyone on the Cameroon team must be devastated. I can't imagine. And everyone on our team has either played with him at some points or played a match against him.

"In the end, it makes you realize today was not an important day for France, or French soccer. You see what happened and you don't want to play.

"It's only sports. He lost his life."

Summary

In Paris: France 3 Turkey 2

Scorers:

France - Thierry Henry 11, Robert Pires 26, Sylvain Wiltord 43

Turkey - Gokdeniz Karadeniz 42, Tuncay Sanli 48

Missed penalty: Okan Yilmaz 88

Halftime: 3-1 ; Attendance: 41,195

Teams:

France: 23-Gregory Coupet; 15-Lilian Thuram, 5-Wiliam Gallas, 8-Marcel Desailly (captain), 13-Mikael Silvestre; 6-Olivier Dacourt, 18-Benoit Pedretti, 11-Sylvain Wiltord (10-Ludovic Giuly 78), 7-Robert Pires (17-Olivier Kapo 70); 22-Sidney Govou (9-Djibril Cisse 66), 12-Thierry Henry

Turkey: 1-Rustu Recber (12-Omer Catkic 36); 15-Ibrahim Uzulmez, 3-Bulent Korkmaz (captain), 4-Fatih Akyel, 5-Alpay Ozalan; 6-Ergun Penbe, 22-Gokdeniz Karadeniz, 20-Selcuk Sahin (8-Volkan ARslan 84), 10-Yildiray Basturk (19-Necati Ates 81); 16-Okan Yilmaz, 9-Tuncay Sanli

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

 

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