Turkey, who hardly ever make it to the World
Cup finals, faced Brazil (who are always there) and went into the half-time break in front
-- against the run of play.
One of the nicest moves of the half came in
the 40th minute.... Ronaldinho, on the right, crossed high to Rivaldo.... who took it on
his chest (under pressure) and turned the ball to Roberto Carlos on the left.... forward
to Ronaldo.... who dummied and skipped past Fatih Akyel and Alpay..... then crossed to
Rivaldo at the far post...... whose header was saved by Recber.
Turkey coped well with the Brazilian pressure,
denying Rivaldo, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho on numerous occassions but they never really
looked like they would go in front.
Turkey had soaked up 45 minutes of pressure
from Brazil yet countered, in the dying seconds of the first half, to make the four times
World Champions pay for not having taken the lead first.
-- GOAL -- 0-1
Against the run of play, Bastürk floated a long ball over the head of Roque Junior and
behind Cafu, for Hasan Sas to run onto and score.
Half-time: Brazil 0 -- Turkey 1
Brazil came out for the second-half looking a little shell
shocked. If they only needed to play at 60% -- according to Roberto Carlos in the
pre-match build up -- then now they had to step up a gear.
Turkey started to play with more confidence although Brazil
were not prepeared to lie down and let them have their way.
Edmilson took the ball out of the Brazilan defense, on a
great solo run, before releasing the ball for Ronaldo and Rivaldo in the Turkish area....
but they seemed to get in each other's way.
-- GOAL -- 1-1
On the next forward push, Rivaldo crossed in for Ronaldo who dived feet
first to hit the ball, while it was still in the air, past the helpless Recber -- 50 mins.
Alpay Özalan, already on a yellow, earned the second red card of the tournament for
pulling on Luizao's shirt, as the Brazilian broke free towards the area.
The foul was comitted on the edge of the area but Luizao
fell into the box and a penalty was given by the Korean referee, who seemed to be enjoying
himself throughout the game.
-- GOAL -- 2-1
With three minutes to go, Rivaldo put Brazil back in the driving seat.
But the drama didn't end there. In the dying seconds of time added on Hakan Ünsal earned
himself a second yellow card, and sending off, for kicking the ball at Rivaldo; as the
Brazilian prepared himself for a last-ditch corner kick.
Brazil have proved that they are still a class act and
Turkey have shown the world that they lose their cool when the going gets tough.
