In a highly dramatic match, Turkey won for the first time under coach Stefan Kuntz and thus preserved their chances of World Cup qualification. Three days after a 1-1 draw with Norway, the team won 2-1 in Latvia on Monday night – through a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
In the end, it all came down to one decision. Penalty or no penalty? That was the question referee Andreas Ekberg had to answer late on Monday night at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. The referee from Sweden had received a hint from his video assistant Daniel Siebert and was now standing at the small monitor on the sidelines. Yilmaz, the Turkish attacker, had gone down in the Latvian penalty area after a duel with Dubra.
Penalty or no penalty?
Ekberg finally pointed to the spot, Yilmaz stepped up and scored in the ninth minute of injury time to make it 2-1 for Turkey. It was the final point of a crazy final phase, a little later Ekberg brought the game to an end with the final whistle – Stefan Kuntz had scored his first victory as Turkish national coach.
Latvia take the lead – Dursun replies
For more than 90 minutes his side had been dominant, leaving no stone unturned but repeatedly getting caught in the Latvians’ compact defence. And when the underdogs took the lead at the start of the final phase because Demiral was unfortunate enough to direct a sharp cross into his own goal (70th), it was clear that Turkey needed a show of strength to keep their chances of qualifying for the World Cup alive.
Kuntz’s team started to run – and answered quickly: Substitute Dursun headed in a cross from Cengiz Ünder (75), but then Turkey missed several good chances to score. First Cengiz Ünder (86th), then Yilmaz (90.+1) and finally Dursun (90.+3). So in the end it came down to a single question – and the referee answered it in such a way that Kuntz was allowed to cheer after all.
His team remains on the heels of the second-placed Norwegians. With two games left to play, the gap is still two points.
