ST. ETIENNE, France, 20 June 2003 — Striker Tuncay Sanli celebrated his debut for Turkey by scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over the United States in their Confederations Cup opener yesterday.
DaMarcus Beasley headed the USinto a 37th-minute lead against the run of play, but Okan Yilmaz leveled from the penalty spot three minutes later and Sanli tapped home the second in the 73rd minute to seal the win in Group B.
With neither coach fielding anything like the sides who enabled Turkey to finish third at the 2002 World Cup and the United States to reach the quarterfinals, the encounter at a half-empty stadium was never going to be memorable. Turkey, who could have been three goals ahead by the break, deserved their win, though were let down by supporters who booed and whistled the United States sporadically throughout the game at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.
Brazil take on Cameroon in the the second Group B game in Paris later.
Pires May Captain Reshuffled
France Team Against Japan
In Lyon, midfielder Robert Pires is poised to captain a reshuffled France side in the Confederations Cup group match against Japan in St. Etienne today.
“Robert is here because he is among the potential skippers. He may well wear the armband,” France coach Jacques Santini told a news conference yesterday.
Pires added with a smile: “The armband? I don’t know. It is true it’s the rule that the player who comes to the pre-match press conference is the captain”.
Pires said he would be delighted to lead the European champions in their Group A match against Japan, a repeat of the 2001 final, at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.
“I’m not afraid of it. I’m going to take my responsibilities.” Santini said Fabien Barthez, who was rested for the opening match against Colombia, will replace Gregory Coupet in goal. “Gregory Coupet won’t play,” Santini said, adding that Barthez remains his first choice.
