Turkey's World Cup hope shines brighter after victory over Romania

Turkey's World Cup dreams are still alive after passing a do-or-die test against Romania with a 2-0 win in Bucharest on Sept. 10, marking the second victory in as many games since Fatih Terim took over as coach.

Burak Y?lmaz opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, burying a difficult header between two defenders past Romanian keeper Ciprian Taturasanu, after a cross from Caner Erkin.

Turkey doubled its lead in the dying minutes of the game through substitute Mevlüt Erdinç. Erdinç, who recently joined French club Saint Etienne, beat Taturasanu with a cool strike into the bottom corner of the net during stoppage time.

With the result, Turkey go level with Romania in third place of Group D, both teams on 13 points. Hungary, which demolished Estonia 5-1 on the back of a 3-0 loss against Romania over the weekend, stands second with 14.

The Netherlands, leader of the group, defeated minnows Andorra 2-0, becoming the first European nation to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

The road to Brazil is still thorny as Turkey will visit Estonia on Oct. 11 before hosting the Dutch four days later. Hungary will play against the Netherlands and Andorra, while the Romanians have the easiest calendar on paper, facing a trip to Andorra before welcoming Estonia at home.



/HurriyetDailynews.Com/