Turkey finished third in the last
World Cup but their play-off jinx could cost them a place in next year's
tournament in Germany after they were outclassed by Switzerland in the first leg
in Bern's Stade de Suisse Wankdorf.
Switzerland may have won Saturday's World Cup play-off first-leg match only
2-0 thanks to a first-half header from Philippe Senderos and a late goal by
substitute Valon Behrami but it's only thanks to wasteful Swiss finishing that
the Turks have even the slenderest of hopes ahead of next Wednesday's return
match in Istanbul.
Swiss profligacy means that the tie is just about alive and the Turks can
still avoid the play-off hoodoo that first afflicted them two years ago when
they were denied a place in Euro 2004 by European football minnows Latvia.
Switzerland laid siege to the Turkish goal in the first half but only had
Senderos' header to show for their efforts and the home side also spurned some
gilt-edged chances in the second with Marco Streller particularly culpable.
The first real chance fell to Turkey in the second minute when a goalmouth
scramble saw the ball land at the feet of Huseyin Cimsir but the Trabzonspor
player did not connect properly and Pascal Zuberbuhler saved to his right.
From that moment on Switzerland seized control of the game. Kobi Kuhn's men
created two chances of their own with Alpay Ozalan's foul on Tranquillo Barnetta
giving Alexander Frei a chance from a free-kick but his shot was easily dealt
with by Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel.
Daniel Gygax then did excellently well to burst down the right but after Frei
and Streller had worked the ball towards him he hopelessly miscued his shot with
only Volkan to beat. Just a minute later Streller's poor control denied the
Swiss another good scoring chance.
It was an unexpectedly open start to perhaps the most important World Cup
match at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf since the 1954 World Cup final when West
Germany came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against a Ferenc Puskas-inspired Hungary,
perhaps the greatest side never to win a World Cup.
Serkan Balci's unnecessary foul on Barnetta gave Frei another free-kick
opportunity which was blocked by the wall but Ludovic Magnin lashed in the
rebound with his left foot only for Volkan to make a magnificent diving
two-handed save to his left to deny the Swiss.
Volkan then did well to claw the ball away from the head of Frei after a
delightful four-man Swiss move started by Johan Vogel but then the best chance
yet went begging for Switzerland when another penetrating move saw Frei set up
Streller on the left who had an age to line up his shot but screwed it wide.
A minute later a header flicked on by Frei towards Streller saw the ball kept
out by the combination of Volkan and the post.
Cimsir became the first name in referee Lubos Michel's book as the Turks
resorted to desperate tactics to hold the irrepressible Swiss at bay.
After an unrelenting opening half-hour of Swiss pressure, the Turks started to
get more into the game and some slack Swiss defending gave Tuncay Sanli a sight
at goal but his weak shot was saved by Zuberbuhler.
Then Tuncay's overhit cross denied Hakan Sukur what would have been a simple
header but the veteran Galatasaray marksman recovered the loose ball to force
the goalkeeper into another save.
But in the 41st minute Switzerland finally got their reward just as it looked
as though their first-half onslaught would be fruitless.
A clearly rehearsed dead-ball move saw Magnin drive a free-kick from a long
way out on the right with his left foot. Senderos had anticipated the delivery
with his run deep into the penalty area to get the faintest of touches with the
back of his head and the change of direction wrong-footed Volkan.
Turkey boss Fatih Terim made a defensive substitution at half-time with Okan
Buruk replacing Nihat Kahveci as he looked to shore up his side.
After 56 minutes Switzerland produced another magnificent move which once
again lacked only the finish as Senderos found the overlapping Magnin on the
left with a perfect pass - the cross on the run was equally precise but
Streller, with the goal at his mercy, side-footed into Volkan's body.
The Turks complained bitterly when Patrick Muller seemed to handle in his own
area with Slovakian Michel deciding the defender had been pushed by Sukur, much
to the anger of Terim and his players who thought Muller should have been
penalised.
Behrami then scored the second after unselfish work from Frei to bring a World
Cup berth within reach of Kuhn and his men although Sukur's late shot did rattle
the Swiss crossbar.
Teams:
Switzerland Zuberbuhler, Magnin, Muller, Senderos, Degen,
Vogel, Barnetta (Behrami 83), Cabanas, Gygax,
Streller (Vonlanthen 77), Frei.
Subs Not Used: Coltorti, Grichting, Huggel, Spycher,
Lustrinelli.
Booked: Streller, Magnin.
Goals: Senderos 41, Behrami 86.
Turkey Demirel, Alpay, Ozat (Halil Altintop 77), Toraman,
Balci, Cimsir, Selcuk Sahin, Metin, Nihat (Buruk 46), Sukur,
Sanli (Penbe 83).
Subs Not Used: Rustu, Seyhan, Tekke, Akin.
Booked: Cimsir, Balci.
Att: 31,130
Ref: Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook