A spirited New Zealand forced a draw against a classy Turkey side in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Group B tie at the D Y Patil stadium on Thursday. Max Mata struck the equaliser as the Kiwis turned the tide in the second half after Ahmed Kutucu headed the first goal. The Kiwis deserved to win for a breathtaking counter-attack to leave their rivals breathless.
Danny Hay’s focus on building up endurance via multiple training sessions and practise games against Brazil, England almost paid off the champions from the Oceania zone. The Kiwis were unlucky to share points; the post blocked an attempt with the goalkeeper not in the frame.
Mata will miss the next tie after getting a red card for two yellow card offences.
Mehmet Hacioglu’s confidence in Turkey’s technical expertise to get around physical play proved right in an enthralling first-half show of measured passes and mastery on the ball.
Turkey was a strange bunch, flourishing in the first half and floundering in the second. Errors crept in and loss of ball possession turned the heat on custodian Berke Ozer.
Jacob Clark, under the Kiwis bar, got little reaction time as Kutucu scored with a snap header.
Turkey captain Recep Gul threatened to score twice, once in each half. He cut in from the right, veered to his left to attack, but Clark responded with a superb save the second time the former connected with a right-footed shot on the run.
Mata and Elijah combined to score the equaliser. The latter surprised the defence with a quickly taken free-kick, finding his captain in place on the left for a tap in. The Turkey defenders lost their concentration and allowed the former to nip in for an aerial shot.
Results: New Zealand 1 (Max Mata 58) drew with Turkey 1 (Ahmed Kutucu 18).
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