Turkey end Japan's dream

Japan 0-1 Turkey

(BBC, June 18) - Turkey striker Umit Davala ended Japan's World Cup journey with the only goal of a disappointing match in Miyagi. Davala's header in the 12th minute proved enough to send Turkey into the quarter-finals, where they will meet Senegal in Osaka on Saturday. Philippe Troussier, who had hoped to take the co-hosts even further in this tournament, will now stand down as Japan coach.

Turkey will enter uncharted territory when they meet their African opponents, with neither side having appeared in the last eight of the World Cup. With a 45,000-strong partisan crowd behind them, Japan were expected to take the game to their opponents. Yet it was Turkey's Yildiray Basturk who provided the co-hosts with cause for concern early on, racing clear into the penalty area only to be thwarted by Seigo Narazaki.

For all their impressive attacking play during the tournament, Japan's defending has at times been flawed. And their rearguard was exposed when Koji Nakata needlessly squandered possession and conceded a corner. Davala rose adroitly to head home Ergun Penbe's cross, but questions must be asked about Narazaki, who strayed off his line to leave the goal exposed. Japan's fans urged their side forward. The Brazilian-born Alex proved a constant threat, his pace and skill troubling the Turkish defence.

Indeed, Alex went closest to scoring an equaliser for Japan just before half-time, but his free-kick struck the angle of the Turkish goal. That Alex was substituted after the interval seemed an odd decision given that he had been Japan's most impressive player. He joined Junichi Inamoto on the bench with Takayuki Suzuki and Daisuke Ichikawa their replacements. The new-look strike-force probed, but could not find a way through a resolute Turkish defence for whom Alpay Ozalan and Bulent Korkmaz were pillars of strength and compusure.

Alpay made a timely interception to deny Suzuki midway through the second half, and yet another Japanese attempt was foiled. Despite dominating possession, Japan's play was too often lacking a cutting edge, with no penetration. And ultimately Japan's inability to make inroads in their opponents' half ended a nation's World Cup dream and prolonged Turkey's adventure. Japan: Seigo Narazaki, Naoki Matsuda, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Koji Nakata, Tomokazu Myojin, Junichi Inamoto (Daisuke Ichikawa 45), Hidetoshi Nakata, Kazuyuki Toda, Shinji Ono, Alex (Takayuki Suzuki 45), Akinori Nishizawa (Hiroaki Morishima 86). Subs Not Used: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Yutaka Akita, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihiro Hattori, Masashi Nakayama, Atsushi Yanagisawa, Takashi Fukunishi, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Hitoshi Sogahata.Booked: Toda. Turkey: Rustu Recber, Fatih Akyel, Bulent Korkmaz, Alpay Ozalan, Hakan Unsal, Umit Davala (Nihat Kahveci 74), Tugay Kerimoglu, Yildiray Basturk (Ilhan Mansiz 90), Ergun Penbe, Hasan Sas (Tayfur Havutcu 85), Hakan Sukur.Subs Not Used: Abdullah Ercan, Arif Erdem, Muzzy Izzet, Okan Buruk, Omer Catkic, Umit Ozat, Zafer Ozgultekin.Booked: Alpay, Ergun, Sukur.Goal: Davala 11. Attendance: 45,666. Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy).