Turks and Koreans..
Posted on 06/29/2002 12:01:26 PM PDT by a_Turk
Hakan Sukur hit the fastest goal in World Cup finals history after 11 seconds and Ilhan Mansiz added two as Turkey beat South Korea 3-2 to claim third place.
A forward ball from Ilhan sent Hakan Sukur clear, who then spun his veteran marker Hong Myung-bo and beat goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae with a left-foot shot from 16 metres straight from the kick-off.
It was a disappointing end for South Korea's extraordinary campaign which has sparked unprecedented support from their countrymen.
The match was also the perfect hors d'oeuvre for Sunday's World Cup final in Yokohama between Germany and Brazil.
The previous fastest goal, timed at 15 seconds, was by former Czechoslovakia's Vaclav Masek in an opening round game against Mexico in the 1962 finals in Chile.
Turkey were playing in only their second World Cup finals and first in 48 years.
They thoroughly deserved the tournament's bronze medal in front of another passionate South Korean capacity crowd in an exciting match full of attacking play - unusual in an anticlimactic fixture which is often treated as a friendly.
Turkey only lost twice in the tournament, both times to finalists Brazil in their opening match (2-1) and a tightly contested semi-final (1-0).
Both Turkey and South Korea were in the last four for the first time.
South Korea were quick to level Hakan Sukur's record goal, equalising eight minutes later when midfielder Lee Eul-yong curled a 25-metre free kick into the back of the net.
In his first game as a starter, Ilhan put Turkey back in the lead in the 13th minute by converting a return pass from Hakan Sukur on the six-metre line, then made it 3-1 in the 32nd with a seven-metre chip over the Korean keeper.
The second half was thrilling but without further goals until Song Chong-gug scored in the second minute of injury time with a powerful low drive.
The performance put the seal on a wonderful tournament for Ilhan, who scored the golden goal winner in Turkey's quarter-final 1-0 victory over Senegal and has emerged as one of the attacking finds of the World Cup.
In this match, he particularly linked up well with Hakan Sukur, one of Turkey's few disappointments during the finals, while usual first choice Hasan Sas sat out the match injured.
Rarely tested
The second half produced more of the pace which both sides brought to the finals as Korea worked hard to make up the deficit, although neat one-touch passing allowed Turkey to probe the Korean defence.
They rarely tested keeper Lee Woon-jae, however, with many of their runs forward halted for offside.
But Korea drove shot after shot toward the Turkish goal in the second half as they slowly took over.
Turkish keeper Recber Rutsu made save after save, preventing his team from having to play extra-time.
The partisan home-crowd never let up its chanting, and were rewarded in injury time when Song Chon-gug scored the Koreans a consolation goal.
Third place was by far Turkey's best-ever finals showing,
In their only other appearance (1954), they ended in ninth place.
South Korea's fourth place also comes as a boost to local pride as they came to the tournament without a victory in their previous five appearances, but this time swept aside Portugal, Italy and Spain on their way to the semi-finals.
Huge year for upsets.
I guess we both have a team that is now officially "World-Class".
... Much to the consternation of the Euros.
An English football cheer taught to Turkish teenagers by an English English teacher friend of mine some years back. No, he was not fired.
It's great to see a team with class get their due.
Hope the team got out of the stadium safely...
I suppose they would rather we had left them alone so they could have joined thier bretheren in the North? LOL!
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