NORWAY: Turkey coach Fatih Terim praises his side after 2-1 Euro qualifier victory over Norway in Oslo

Turkey's soccer coach Fatih Terim praises his team after a 2-1 in Norway puts his side close to Euro 2008 qualification. Turkey coach Fatih Terim praised his side after they beat Norway 2-1 in Oslo on Saturday (November 17). The win, decided by a Nihat Kahveci goal in the 60th minute, put the Turks on 21 points, one ahead of Norway, with one match to play. "I would like to congratulate my players," said Terim, whose team would have been out of contention for a place in the finals had they lost the match. "The way the match played out showed who deserves to go to Europe," he said. Turkey still need to win their final match against Bosnia on Wednesday (November 21) to ensure qualification as Norway next take on bottom-of-the-group Malta but Terim remained confident. "It has not been decided yet, we still have a big job to do on Wednesday too. On Wednesday we'll be playing on home ground and with all the people supporting us there we should be able to beat Bosnia," he said. Norway, who would have made it into the finals if they had won, opened the match aggressively. Defender Erik Hagen put them in the lead with a bicycle kick from close range in the 12th minute after collecting a header from Steffen Iversen. At a news conference after the game, Norway coach Aage Hareide said they had controlled the first half until Turkey scored. Turkey's equaliser near the half-hour mark came from a remarkable solo effort by captain Emre Belozoglu. He picked up the ball in midfield and broke away from his markers to fire a 25-metre shot past keeper Haakon Opdal. "We didn't take advantage of the big opportunities while it was 1-1 and in football, the margins are small. We did not put any pressure on Turkey and we know that Turkey is a good team if they get space to play in," Hareide said. Kahveci got the winner 15 minutes into the second half when he outwitted a defender just outside the penalty area and fired past Opdal.

ITN Source | November 18, 2007

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