China routed 5-1 at U-17 World Cup quarter-finals
(FIFA.com)
Updated: 2005-09-26 15:45

The Turks had ridden out the storm and they began to look like adding to their tally. Kose came especially close when he collected a pass in the area, beat a defender and dribbled past the goalkeeper but his effort was blocked on the line (80'). The Bayer Leverkusen forward was not to be denied though, and, having been expertly set up by Aydin Yilmaz, he hit his third goal of the competition with consummate ease (4:1, 88'). The Europeans were not finished there either, and a beautifully curled shot from Erkin in stoppage-time rounded off a commanding performance (5:1, 90'+1).

The next challenge for Abdullah Avci's charges will come from either Brazil or Korea DPR in the last four, but after this score-line and the superb manner in which they went about their task, they have sent out a clear warning to anyone else hoping to lift the trophy. "I'm not at all concerned about who we face in the semi-finals," declared the Turkish coach. "Whoever it is, we'll take them. What interests me is my own team."

In the Chinese camp, Ning Zhang could not hide his disappointment: "We made an enormous amount of mistakes in this match and we never got over the first goal. I don't think we were able to cope with the pressure. I'd like to wish the Turks good luck and I have to say that, as far as I can tell, the quality on view in FIFA youth tournaments just doesn't stop improving."