Turkey 2 - 0 Albania
Turkey 2-0 Albania: Edgy victory
| Scoring Summary | |
| Turkey | Albania |
| Necati Ates (pen 3) | |
| Elvin Beqiri (og 5) | |
| Match Information |
|
Stadium:
Inonu Stadium
Attendance: 32,000 Match Time: 12:00 ET Official(s): Konrad Plautz (Referee) |
| Teams | |
| Turkey | Albania |
| 1 Recber Rustu | Elion Lika |
| 6 Umit Ozat | Altin Lala |
| Mustafa Koray Avci | Altin Haxhi |
| 2 Tolga Seyhan | Elvin Beqiri |
| Serkan Balci | Adrian Allaj |
| 10 Yildiray Basturk | Armand Dallku |
| 19 Ibrahim Toraman | Ervin Skela |
| 5 Belozoglu Emre | Klodian Duro |
| 9 Fatih Tekke | Lorik Cana |
| 18 Necati Ates | Igli Tare |
| 20 Hamit Altintop | Erjon Bogdani |
| Substitutes | |
| Omer Catkic | Isli Hidi |
| Bulent Korkmaz | Elvis Sina |
| 11 Gokdeniz Karadeniz | Tefik Osmani |
| 7 Okan Buruk | Devi Muka |
| 18 Ayhan Akman | Florian Myrtaj |
| Ersen Martin | Suad Lici |
| 17 Tuncay Sanli | Alban Bushi |
| Substitutions | |
| Ayhan Akman for Fatih Tekke (63) | Alban Bushi for Klodian Duro (79) |
| Gokdeniz Karadeniz for Hamit Altintop (76) | |
| Bulent Korkmaz for Belozoglu Emre (84) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Lorik Cana (70) | |
| Adrian Allaj (82) | |
| · Club Rosters: Turkey | Albania | |
Updated: March 26, 2005, 7:00 AM ET
ISTANBUL, March 26 (Reuters) - Turkey boosted their World Cup qualifying hopes with two goals in the first five minutes to defeat Albania 2-0 in Group Two on Saturday.The home side made a flying start, earning a penalty in the third minute when midfielder Emre Belozoglu was brought down as he surged into the area. Striker Necati Ates fired the spot kick past Albanian keeper Ilion Lika.
Turkey doubled their lead two minutes later when Yildiray Basturk surged into the area and powered in a shot which deflected in off hapless Albania defender Elvin Beqiri.
Despite their early advantage the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists were far from convincing and squandered a series of goalscoring opportunities in the second half against an Albanian side who also failed to capitalise on their chances.
Turkey now have nine points from six games in Group Two and play Georgia on Wednesday. Albania remain on six points.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
| Armenia | 2 | |
| Andorra | 1 | FT |
| Czech Republic | 4 | |
| Finland | 3 | FT |
| Romania | 0 | |
| Netherlands | 2 | FT |
| Georgia | 1 | |
| Greece | 3 | FT |
| Turkey | 2 | |
| Albania | 0 | FT |
| Denmark | 3 | |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | FT |
| Estonia | 1 | |
| Slovakia | 2 | FT |
| Liechtenstein | 1 | |
| Russia | 2 | FT |
| Israel | 1 | |
| Ireland | 1 | FT |
| France | 0 | |
| Switzerland | 0 | FT |
| Italy | 2 | |
| Scotland | 0 | FT |
| England | 4 | |
| Northern Ireland | 0 | FT |
| Wales | 0 | |
| Austria | 2 | FT |
| Poland | 8 | |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | FT |
| Belgium | 4 | |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 1 | FT |
| Bulgaria | 0 | |
| Sweden | 3 | FT |
| Croatia | 4 | |
| Iceland | 0 | FT |
