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| Turkey 0-0 England | ||||||||||||||
Tugay sends Steven Gerrard to the floor (RossKinnaird/GettyImages) Having adopted a siege mentality all week, England were at least perfectly prepared for everything that was thrown at them by Turkey as they gained the required point in their titanic Group Seven decider.
They coped with an unseemly incident in the tunnel at half-time, with claims that Alpay pushed Beckham in the face, sparking a melee in which Emile Heskey and Emre supposedly had to be parted. Indeed, displaying guts, gusto and not inconsiderable guile, they evoked memories of the national side's similarly brave display six years ago to the day in Rome to qualify for the 1998 World Cup. Once again, England's spine, quite simply, refused to buckle. With Sol Campbell and John Terry immense at the back, the midfield quartet were tigerish and James could not be beaten. The events of the past week may have, indeed, brought the squad closer together. For this was all about industry rather than industrial action. Without either Michael Owen or Rio Ferdinand, without even any supporters, the same players who had threatened strike action redeemed themselves in the only way possible. On the pitch. Engulfed by a cacophony of unrelenting noise, intimidation and hostility, they had bunched close together in a line, with their arms draped around each other's shoulders as they sang the national anthem with pride. They had at least become accustomed this week to standing alone amid a hailstorm of criticism, but their show of solidarity continued as a match of pure drama began. England were by no means overawed and, with Turkey fielding three strikers, that enabled Eriksson's midfield quartet - led by the effervescent Steven Gerrard - to dominate proceedings. With Turkey wilting under the weight of expectation, Paul Scholes placed a header over the crossbar and then Wayne Rooney was sent scurrying through after Alpay had given away the ball to Beckham. Rooney managed to lob goalkeeper Rustu Recber but the ball dropped agonisingly onto the roof of the net and it was not too long after that before the home side managed to settle. James twice denied Nihat, as well as Emre, but the space was still there for England to exploit on the break. When Gerrard foxed Tugay inside the penalty area with a neat twist, he crashed to the ground and referee Pierluigi Collina had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Beckham but he slipped horribly at the vital moment of impact and the ball ballooned embarrassingly over the bar. Alpay was straight over to rile the England captain and then fell to the floor as if he had been struck. Sensibly, Collina was unmoved and the Aston Villa defender had only served to add a further scar to his already blemished reputation. The miss was still a contender for one of those awful 'what happened next' moments but just three minutes later, England had a chance of immediate redemption. Rooney slipped the ball to Scholes just 12 yards out but, with the net seemingly at his mercy, the midfielder, without a goal for his country in 23 games, drove his shot narrowly wide. Back came Turkey in a thrilling encounter. James denied both Sergen and Nihat, but although England were by now hanging on, they survived until the interval. That was the cue for the scuffle inside the tunnel as Collina raced over to intervene, and he summoned players to his office at half-time to urge calm. Turkey were out early for the second half as England kept them waiting and they continued their attempts to take the sting out of the home side thereafter. It was nail-biting stuff, at times almost unbearably tense. Hakan Sukur went down in search of a penalty but was warned about diving and booked soon afterwards, while England also survived an almighty scramble in their own penalty area. With 30 minutes left, on came Tuncay - Turkey's version of Rooney - for Sergen, with Ilhan soon joining him at the expense, surprisingly, of Okan, who had just clashed with Beckham. Eriksson's response was to introduce Darius Vassell for Heskey, with Kieron Dyer also entering the fray for Rooney to bolster the midfield. While Sukur's header was deflected wide, Vassell came even closer and then Beckham's header was ruled out as Dyer had been offside in the build-up. Gary Neville had to be urged back onto the pitch as he failed to notice the linesman's flag, but it did not matter. Tuncay and Nihat both came within mere inches of hitting the target, but with Dyer excelling late on, England held on - just - through the agony and then ecstasy of four minutes of added time.
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