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State medal for Turkish heroes Posted: Tuesday July 02, 2002 5:21 AMANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- After confetti and rose petals, Turkey is showering its third-place World Cup squad with gold coins. The government on Monday announced that the players will be honored with a state medal. The sport's federation said each player will be given 300 gold coins. Coach Senol Gunes deserves 600 gold coins, they said. Turkey beat cohost South Korea 3-2 on Saturday to claim third place behind champion Brazil and second-place Germany. It was Turkey's second World Cup since 1954. A day after they were welcomed by tens of thousands jubilant fans in Istanbul, the Turkish treasury Monday announced that it was printing 300,000 "third in the world" commemorative coins. The silver coins which will bear the names of the Turkish players on the back will be sold at 15 million Turkish lira (US$9). Local authorities have already begun naming stadiums, bridges, parks and streets after the players and coach. Left-winger Hasan Sas now can stroll down a boulevard named after him in his southern hometown of Adana. Gunes can relax at a park named after him in Istanbul and defender Ergun Penbe can play soccer in a stadium bearing his name in the northern city of Zonguldak.
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