Umit (22) - celebrates the clinching third (Allsport)
GUNES PROUD OF TURKISH PROGRESS
Turkey progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup finals for the first time
after a comfortable 3-0 victory over China in their final Group C match in
Seoul.
Goals from Hasan Sas, Umit Ozat and Bulent Korkmaz did the damage, while
Brazil's emphatic 5-2 win over Costa Rica allowed Turkey to sneak into the
second round via the back door.
Turkey coach Senol Gunes was delighted with his side's performance and their
progress after a 48-year absence from the World Cup.
"We are very happy," he said. "We made a promise to the Turkish nation.
First, qualification to the World Cup finals and then progress to the second
round. We have kept our promise.
"The only thing that has disappointed us so far was the draw against Costa
Rica. But our work still continues, and today we got a deserved victory."
Asked if he was happy with the way his side played, Gunes added: "I was
particularly happy at the beginning of the game, as we controlled the football
and scored the goals. We created lots of chances, and missed some too. At the
end of the first half, some of our players were tired.
"There were problems for the players due to the pressure, especially after
the game against Brazil. We felt it against China but I believe it will be
better now."
On which of the three Group H teams he would prefer to meet in the last 16,
Gunes said: "Obviously we do not want to select our opponents. It doesn't
matter if it is Japan, Belgium or Russia. Of course, playing against the host
nation may not be to our advantage.
"Today we qualified from the group, we now want to progress from the knockout
stage and we will play better football than we have during the group matches."
China coach Bora Milutinovic's two-year reign in the job came to an end with
this defeat, but he was pleased with the attitude of his players.
"I'm happy with how they fought," said Milutinovic, who also coached USA,
Nigeria, Costa Rica and Mexico at World Cup finals.
"This is a good lesson though because our team is very young. I'm sure China
has a future and they would have learned a lot.
"Our players made mistakes in the second half and it was difficult for us."
Milutinovic now says he will use the coming months to think over his next
step.
"I was very happy to work in China and the people were very good to me," he
said.
"I need to rest a little bit to see what my future holds."
|
