Turkey 1-2 Spain; “Perfect”

Maybe the game wasn’t perfect, but we sure are.

A 100% record still maintained with 6 wins out of 6 matches in qualifying, a 31 game undefeated streak stretching back to 2006 with the later 11 of those matches being all wins, and we now sit 6 points ahead of second place Bosnia and 10 points ahead of third place Turkey.

We went into Istanbul today needing a win to further cement our place in South Africa 2010. We came out with nothing less than we asked for in all three points.

We started the match lined up a bit differently as we played three central midfielders in Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Marcos Senna. On the flanks were Albert Riera and David Silva as Valencia compatriot David Villa started on the bench due to tactical reasons and Fernando Torres up top on his own.

We started the game flying and absolutely dominating the math from end to end with Torres missing an absolute sitter to give us the lead within the first 20 minutes. It was Turkey who surprisingly against the run of play struck first though Semih Senturk when Marchena and Piqué were caught ball watching Tuncay.

Despite the goal we were still on top form and the Turks could still not generate anything dangerous and we continued to dominate possession. Half time arrived with Turkey still up 1-0 and for the first time in a very long time Vicente del Bosque had to rally the troops for a come from behind victory.

The second half started with Torres and Riera enjoying some passing on the left side but any genuine chance we created was wasted. Finally on the 60th minute Xavi knocked in one of his picture perfect crosses which fell to Torres who in a scramble, headed the ball towards the goal only for Turkish defender Uzulmez to handle the ball with his hand and we were awarded a penalty. Up stepped Xabi Alonso and the ex-Real Sociedad man slotted the ball past Volkan with the greatest of ease.

It was a stalemate at one goal a piece now but neither side seemed to be satisfied with it as both teams took gambles. Semih came close again and so did Torres with a rocket of a shot.

Torres who was lonely all match up top by himself needed a partner desperately to help him run down balls and with five minutes left Güiza was set to check in but it was Torres’ number who appeared on the board to come off. Just as I was screaming to my Dad about how del Bosque is making a huge mistake, the former Pichici winner Güiza outmuscled the Turkish defender for the header and then ran the ball down the flank, spotted Riera making the run through the centre, dished it off to the Liverpool man and he slotted it through the legs of Volkan to silence the crowd and steal all three points from a cool night in Istanbul.

Man of the match honours have to go to the one and only Xavi who was the instigator behind every movement, play and spell of possession we had. The Barça playmaker indirectly set up out goal and also provided Torres with decent service all night albeit it was wasted. Without Xavi our midfield would look bland and boring as Alonso and Senna are too defensive to start movement up field.

Just to add a bit of fuel to the fire here – I’m happy we won the way we did, it’s good to see Turkey get a taste of their own medicine losing in the dying minutes of the match. Sure a win is a win, but to defeat a team who has done the same thing numerous times before is even more satisfactory.

We stay atop group 5 still with a perfect 6 out of 6 record and 18 points to match. We’re one of only three teams to win every qualification match thus far with England who looked less than convincing against Ukraine whilst winning 2-1 this afternoon and Holland who defeated Macedonia in emphatic fashion 4-0 today. It looks like we very well could be the strongest team in Europe and if it’s true that nothing has changed then, roll on Confederations Cup 2009!!!

¡¡Qué Viva España!!