portugal into semis at expense of ten-man turkey published: monday 6 october 2003, 12.11cet
nuno gomes scored twice to down a turkey team down to ten men for over an hour.
portugal displayed the full majesty of their attacking talent to easily dispose of turkey in amsterdam and book a semi-final place.
two goals either side of half-time from nuno gomes sealed victory, but the last-eight tie ultimately hinged on the 29th-minute dismissal of alpay özalan. the defender was punished for lashing out at fernando couto and though turkey battled – arif erdem had a penalty saved at 1-0 – his departure was terminal.
portugal were swiftly into their stride, keeping the ball moving and encouraging luís figo and rui costa to dart in from the flanks. as play built up, the fc barcelona winger was increasingly found infield, linking with colleagues or popping up to inflict his mastery on an opponent. his eighth-minute cross only just evaded nuno gomes.
turkey were battling hard for a foothold, chiefly through okan buruk, but they were mere pauses in portugal's flow. a figo cross landed perilously close to the far upright with rüştü reçber watching its flight with concern. then a great move involving five players ended with rui costa having his shot blocked. figo's 19th-minute corner brought the best chance so far.
the ball skimmed off a defender and left costinha with a glorious opening at the far post. he could not seize control quickly enough, giving rüştü the opportunity to get down and pull off a splendid save. ogün temizkanoğlu's free-kick enabled hakan şükür, who shrugged off a knock to start, to send in a header that failed to test vítor baía.
turkey were at last imposing themselves but a moment of madness from alpay, upfield for a corner, ended that. portugal capitalised before the interval, as rui costa and figo combined skilfully down the right and nuno gomes did well to twist and put away his header. more drama followed as couto brought down arif erdem. arif's poorly-hit penalty was comfortably saved by vítor baía.
most of the second half was played out in the turkey half and portugal extended their lead on 56 minutes when figo broke down the right before squaring a beautiful ball for nuno gomes to tap in. nuno gomes could have had two more goals, maybe three, as turkey were pegged further and further back. in the end, it was as comprehensive as a 2-0 victory could be.
