Violent scenes marred the end of Turkey's World Cup play-off with Switzerland
in Istanbul.
The Swiss, who had won Saturday's first leg 2-0 in Berne, lost a dramatic
second leg 4-2 in Istanbul but advanced to the finals in Germany next summer
thanks to the away goals rule.
Tuncay Sanli scored a hat-trick for the Turks, who finished third in the 2002
World Cup, but Marco Streller's 84th-minute goal put the Swiss through.
However, the match ended with tempers fraying and Benjamin Huggel was seen to
kick a member of the Turkish coaching staff as he ran off the pitch before
former Aston Villa defender Alpay aimed a kick at Streller as the goalscorer
went down the players' tunnel.
Television footage then showed a melee breaking out in the tunnel involving
several players from either side.
Swiss TV reported defender Stephane Grichting was hospitalised after being
kicked in the groin.
"A few of our players overreacted after the match but I'm happy there were no
serious incidents," said Turkey striker Halil Altintop, who plays for
Kaiserslautern.
"I was in the Swiss locker room and talked to the players I knew from the
Bundesliga. They said everything was fine."
Switzerland boss Kobi Kuhn, who was reportedly also hit by coins when he
walked off the pitch, said he needed more time for the achievement to sink in.
"We could not yet show our tremendous joy but it will be a great feeling very
soon," he said. "It was one of those matches which really makes you
nervous."
Swiss press officer Pierre Benoit said his federation will report the
incidents to FIFA.
After losing 2-0 in Berne on Saturday, Turkey fell further behind tonight when
Alexander Frei scored from the penalty spot after Alpay handled inside the
area.
But the Turks rallied with two goals from Tuncay before half-time, with Necati
Ates levelling the scores at 3-3 from the spot six minutes into the second half
after Serhat Akin was brought down.
Streller's goal on the counter-attack came with six minutes remaining and,
despite Tuncay completing his hat-trick, the Swiss held on.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim said: "I apologise to the Turkish nation that we did
not succeed, but the games were not decided on the pitch but by poor
officiating. We really played a very good match."
Elsewhere Trinidad and Tobago claimed their first appearance at the World Cup
finals with a 2-1 aggregate win over Bahrain.
Spain who had won 5-1 in their first leg against Slovakia, cruised through
their second leg in Bratislava with a 1-1 draw and the Czech Republic also had a
comfortable night against Norway, winning 1-0 in Prague for a 2-0 aggregate
score.
Earlier Australia beat Uruguay on penalties to earn their first World Cup
place since 1974.
Trinidad, coached by former Ajax manager Leo Beenhakker, secured a ticket to
Germany thanks to Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence, who headed the only goal of
the second leg against Bahrain.
Lawrence scored four minutes after half-time with a free header from Dwight
Yorke's corner in Manama to send the Caribbean nation into the finals and earn
the CONCACAF region a fourth World Cup place.
Beenhakker said: "We scored a good goal, a wonderful goal and after that it
was a very nervous situation for the players.
"Most of them are not used to playing under such pressure but at the end we
saved the result and you can imagine that everybody is unbelievably happy.
"It's the first time in history that this country will be represented in the
World Cup, so I suppose it will be a one-week carnival in Trinidad and
Tobago."
Tempers flared as Trinidad ran down the clock and the Caribbean side held on
to record a famous win as Hussein Ali was sent off following an altercation with
the referee which involved the majority of his team-mates.
Spain had few problems against Slovakia thanks to their four-goal cushion from
the first leg.
Although Felipe Holosko gave Slovakia the lead early in the second half, David
Villa's first goal for his country meant Spain's qualification was never in
doubt.
A first-half goal from Tomas Rosicky was enough for the Czech Republic to see
off a determined effort from Norway and seal their first appearance at a World
Cup as an independent nation.
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