Turkey Wins 3rd Place by Beating S. Korea 3-2

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, June 30, 2002

Turkey Wins 3rd Place by Beating S. Korea 3-2

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Turkey Wins 3rd Place by Beating S. Korea 3-2

Turkey, who came to the World Cup finals for the first time in 48 years but stunned the world by jumping into the semi-finals, won the third place of the 2002 World Cup by beating co-hosts South Korea 3-2 in the third-place playoff Saturday in Taegu.

South Korea, who also made a history for their country and Asiafor roaring into the semi-finals for the first time, had beaten European soccer powerhouses Portugal, Italy and Spain and were only upset 1-0 by Germany in the semi-final match. But the Asian heroes came across a nightmare in the first half of today's playoff.

Turkey's ace striker Hakan Sukur scored the fastest-ever goal in 72-year World Cup history only 11 seconds into action, lifting his side to 1-0 lead.

Sukur, who had never collected any goal in the previous matchesof this World Cup, eased into space as his new partner up front Ilhan Mansiz harrassed South Korean veteran defender Hong Myung-bointo losing the ball straight after the kick-off. Sukur calmly pounced the ball home and brought his total haul for his country to 36 goals in 80 appearances, both records.

South Korea's midfielder Lee Eul-yong leveled the score by sending home a brilliant curling free-kick in the 9th minute.

But only after four minutes, Ilhan Mansiz got a timely pass from Sukur and fired a close-range shot home, giving Turkey a 2-1 lead.

Ilhan Mansiz, who scored a golden goal in his side's quarter-final against Senegal and became a starter for the first time in this World Cup, scored his second goal in the 33rd minute, giftinghis side a 3-1 lead. This goal saw a dazzling combination between Hakan Sukurand Ilhan Mansiz who darted into the box clearly and fired his shot past the goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae who darted out.

Although South Korea's defender Song Chong-gug blasted a long-range shot home in the injury time of the second half, it was too late for the history-makers to create more miracles.

The South Koreans launched waves of attacks on their opponents and beleaguered the Turks' goal. But their finals shots often flewwide or high. A few shots on goal were often saved by keeper RustuRecber who was in a normal form today.

The Turks concentrated more on their defense and created few scoring chances in the second half.

South Korea's defense line appeared weaker than before in this match, partly because of the injuries on their left back and rightback defenders.

On the other hand, Ilhan Mansiz and Hakan Sukur, the new partners up front for Turkey, showed their unbelievably brilliant performance in the first half. Before the match, Hakan Sukur's dryspell, partly caused by a lingering abdominal injury, had brought calls for coach Senol Gunes to play Ilhan Mansiz in his place. Instead, Gunes opted to play the pair together and reaped the reward.

Before today's match, Turkey had already eliminated another co-hosts Japan in the knockout stage of this tournament. And they could be called the killers of East Asian teams as they also beat China 3-0 in the group stage.

Although Turkey lost 1-0 to four-time champions Brazil in the semi-final clash, their great performance in that game won the respect of the world. But one interesting fact was that Turkey were lucky to have never met any European soccer teams in this World Cup.

They lost 2-1 to Brazil, tied 1-1 with Costa Rica and beat China 3-0 in the group stage, upset Japan 1-0 in the second round, won 1-0 over Senegal in the quarter-final, lost 1-0 to Brazil in the semi-final and defeated South Korea 3-2 in the playoff.

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S. Korea, Turkey Serious for World Cup Third-place Playoff

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