Small consolation

Turkey beats Colombia 2-1 for Confed Cup third place

Tuncay Sanli celebrates scoring Turkey's first goal. AP

SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) -- Turkey took third place in the Confederations Cup with a 2-1 win over Colombia Saturday in a game still dominated by the semifinal death of Cameroon Marc-Vivien Foe.

Tuncay Sanli got his third tournament goal after just two minutes when he exploited a defensive blunder to hit a thundering shot from just inside the Colombian area.

Giovanni Hernandez leveled the score after 62 minutes and also clinched a triple of Confederations Cup goals, linking up with Victor Aristizabal to burst into the Turkish area and tap the ball past Omer Catkic.

The two joined Frenchmen Thierry Henry and Robert Pires and Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura atop the scoring standings. France still plays Sunday's final against Cameroon.

With four minutes left on the clock, Turkey broke quickly down the left and had four men against three as Tuncay passed inside for substitute Okan Yilmaz to fire a shot into the corner.

But spirits were dampened by the death of Cameroon's Marc-Vivien Foe, a celebrated player and personality in Africa and Europe.

The 28-year-old midfielder collapsed and later died at Cameroon's semifinal game against Colombia on Thursday. The cause of death was being investigated.

Colombia's players admitted before the 3rd place playoff they were still coming to terms with Foe's sudden death.

Turkey, which also took third place in last year's World Cup, picked a second-string team Saturday, fielding only three players who had appeared in its four previous encounters in the tournament.

Both sides wore black armbands, and the 18,237 fans at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard hushed for a minute's poignant silence before the game as a mark of respect for Foe.

Colombia fielded its strongest team, including pacey winger Elson Becerra.

Turkish stars Bulent Korkmaz, Fatih Akyel, Ergun Penbe and Yilmaz were all on the subs' bench. First-choice goalie Rustu Recber, injured in the semifinal, also missed the match.

A defensive error by Jorge Lopez allowed Turkey the early lead. He headed the ball weakly to his backline and Tuncay sneaked in to fire the ball past Oscar Cordoba.

The South Americans went in pursuit of the equalizer but their poor ball control and stray passes thwarted their efforts despite having most of the possession.

Hernandez hit Colombia's first shot on goal after 35 minutes but it went straight into the hands of the 'keeper.

Five minutes before the interval Becerra pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Eudalio Arriaga.

Five minutes into the second half Jairo Patino broke down the left wing and passed for Arriaga to cross for Aristizabal who, despite being unchallenged, hit the ball against the woodwork from short range.

Turkey's slovenly defending almost cost it dear as Colombia poured forward and Hernandez's goal came at the peak of the South Americans' pressure.

Hernandez and Aristizabal continued to maraud while the Turks misfired in attack, rarely getting a glimpse of goal until the 86th-minute counterattack which brought the winning goal.

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Lineups:

Turkey -- Omer Catkic; Fatih Sonkaya (Selcuk Sahin 60th), Deniz Baris, Ibrahim Uzulmez, Servet Cetin; Serkan Balci, Volkan Arslan, Ibrahim Toraman, Gokdeniz Karadeniz; Tuncay Sanli, Necati Ates (Okan Yilmaz 65th).

Colombia -- Oscar Cordoba; Ivan Cordoba, Mario Yepes, Gerardo Bedoya, Gonzalo Martinez; Giovanni Hernandez, Ruben Dario Velasquez, Jorge Lopez (Arnulfo Valentierra 29th), Jairo Patino; Victor Aristizabal, Elson Becerra (Eudalio Arriaga 41st).

 

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