Flawless Turkey through in style
Sunday 16 November 2008
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Hamburg's Tunay Torun scored four goals as Turkey won Group 11 (©Getty Images)
Turkey became the third side to reach the 2008/09 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round with a perfect record as three wins from three games secured first place in Group 11, Romania claiming the runners-up berth despite finishing with a 2-1 loss to the section winners.
Contrasting wins
Mini-tournament hosts Turkey opened their campaign in fine style with a 4-0 win against Andorra in Antalya, although it took until the 44th minute for Ogün Temizkanoğlu's side to break the deadlock at the Mardan Sport Complex through Werder Bremen forward Onur Ayik. Umut Sözen, who made his Süper Lig debut for Ankaraspor AŞ last month, made it 2-0 from the penalty spot six minute after half-time before late goals from substitute Isa Bagci (71) and Tunay Torun (88) added gloss to the win. In the other Matchday 1 fixture, Romania did not have it all their way against Wales despite taking a 39th-minute lead through Denis Alibec, goals from James Partington (48) and Nathan Craig (51) turning the match around before substitute Marius Cornel Battoi levelled 17 minutes from time, and Romania went on to snatch all three points when Cornel-Emilian Rapa struck with nine minutes left.
Progress assured
The two Matchday 1 victors secured second wins – and their places in the Elite round – in the next round of matches, first-half goals from Alibec (24) and Marius Alexe (35) ensuring Romania progressed for the second successive season. Turkey, runners-up in this competition in 2004, enjoyed a more comfortable win, Hamburger SV starlet Torun finding the net in either half (21, 51) to set them on their way and Sinan Osmanoğlu adding a third in the 87th minute.
Torun on target again
Romania have never qualified for these finals and were quickly on the back foot as they met Turkey in the final round of matches to decide who would finish first in the standings, Serdar Eylik giving his team a 17th-minute lead. Torun doubled the advantage from the penalty spot 15 minutes later and, although Alibec pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, Adrian Vasai's Romania were unable to find an equaliser and had to settle for the runners-up spot. Wales claimed third place – although their record against the top two means they cannot progress to the Elite round draw, held on Nyon, Switzerland on 4 December, with a 6-0 victory against Andorra, substitute Kayelden Brown scoring a hat-trick in the final 23 minutes.
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