Parks' late volley leaves Turkey frustrated

Costa Rica 1 Turkey 1

The tournament of the upstart team has also been conspicuous for the impact of the forgotten men. They are the players who, after spending the club season being surplus to requirements, have emerged fresh and with a point to prove in the Far East. Emre Belozoglu and Winston Parks have now joined their ranks, their goals taking Turkey and Costa Rica to the wire in the push to progress from Group C with Brazil.

First came Junichi Inamoto, overlooked at Arsenal but twice a scorer for Japan, followed swiftly by Ahn Jung-Hwan, neglected by Perugia yet a dazzling presence for South Korea. Then there was Robbie Keane, a perpetual bench-warmer with Leeds but the Republic of Ireland's hero against Germany. Yesterday it was the turn of Emre Belozoglu, who put a season of inactivity with Internazionale behind him by firing Turkey ahead after half-time, only for Parks, a similarly marginal performer with Udinese, to equalise with four minutes remaining.

The Central Americans' goal, which was richly deserved, came at exactly the same stage in the contest as Rivaldo's penalty winner for Brazil against Turkey. Had they held out, the Turks would have been favourites to reach the last 16 with Brazil, since their last fixture is against the makeweights of the section, China. Now they can wait no longer for the win in the finals that has eluded them since 1954, while hoping that the Brazilians do not ease up against a Costa Rica team coached by one of their compatriots, Alexandre Guimarães.

Unfortunately for the standard of the spectacle, Costa Rica did not show their neat, pacy attacking style until they had fallen behind. Turkey, equally humdrum during one of the least entertaining first halves so far, came out strongly after half-time, with Hakan Sukur at last announcing his presence at the finals with two attempts on goal.

Turkey's bright start reaped the desired dividend in the 56th minute. Emre Belozoglu's first shot came to grief on Gilberto Martinez, who was outstanding in Costa Rica's defence, yet rebounded obligingly to him. A sharp turn created the space for a right-footed shot, which he stroked with lethal precision into the net by the near post.

Stung into retaliation, Costa Rica had a good chance to draw level after Carlos Castro's dribble set up Mauricio Solis. The former Derby County player blazed the ball high over the bar, but justice was merely delayed. Paulo Wanchope's knock-down was hooked back across goal for Parks, who had been on the field nine minutes as a substitute, to volley into the roof of the net.

There was still time for both Serie A understudies to blot their copybooks. Parks, having rounded Rustu Recber, was almost closer to finding the adjacent baseball stadium than the net with a wayward shot. Meanwhile, Emre Belozoglu pushed one of the Costa Rica coaches, who was holding on to the ball unfairly. A brawl ensued, involving players and backroom staff from both countries, before the referee finally restored order.

MATCH DETAILS

Costa Rica 1
Parks 86

Turkey 1
Emre 56

COSTA RICA (4-3-3): Lonnis (Saprissa); Martinez (Saprissa), Wright (Herediano), Marin (Alajuelense), Wallace; Solis (both Alajuelense), Centeno (Saprissa), Castro (Alajuelense); Lopez (Alajuelense), Wanchope (Manchester City), Gomez (OFI Crete). Substitutes: Medford (Saprissa) for Centeno, 66; Bryce (Alajuelense) for Wallace, 77; Parks (Udinese) for Lopez, 77.

TURKEY (4-4-1-2): Rustu (Fenerbahce); Fatih, Umit Ozat (both Fenerbahce), Emre Asik, Ergun (both Galatasaray); Umit Davala (Milan), Tugay (Blackburn), Emre Belozoglu (Internazionale); Basturk (Bayer Leverkusen); Hakan Sukur (Parma), Hasan (Galatasaray). Substitutes: Ilhan (Besiktas) for Hakan Sukur, 74; Tayfur (Besiktas) for Basturk, 79; Arif (Galatasaray) for Tugay, 88.

Referee: C Codjia (Benin).

Bookings: Costa Rica: Martinez, Castro. Turkey: Emre Asik, Tugay, Emre Belozoglu.

Attendance: 42,299.