SPORTS

Coach delighted with win

December 03, 2003 11:31 IST

Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim paid tribute to his team's supporters after a 2-0 win over Juventus on Tuesday kept their Champions League hopes alive.

The match against the Italian champions had been postponed by a week and switched to Borussia Dortmund's Westfalen stadium by UEFA following the recent bombings in Istanbul.

Galatasaray had been critical of UEFA's decision to move the game from the club's Ali Sami Yen stadium but so many Turks, many of them residents in Germany, flocked to the stadium that the kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes.

"I want to thank all those supporters here, it really felt as though we were in Istanbul, it was incredible just like a home game," Terim said.

Two goals from striker Hakan Sukur, a flop during his two spells in Italy with Torino, Inter Milan and Parma, secured the victory for Terim's side against a weakened Juve who had already qualified for the next round.

"They were two truly nice goals, even if we missed a lot of other chances," Sukur told Turkish television.

"We really proved ourselves against a top team tonight."

The Italians, last season's beaten finalists, caused plenty of problems for Galatasaray's Colombian keeper Faryd Mondragon, who kept his side in the match with a series of saves, particularly in the opening 45 minutes.

"The first half they had two or three great chances and we were trying to protect the result," Terim told Italy's Sky Sport.

"But we did so well in the second half in terms of chances, possession and determination," he added.

Hakan had been doubtful for the game with a muscle problem but proved to be decisive.

Galatasaray must now beat Real Sociedad away in their final game to make it through to the knockout stage.

Juve coach Marcello Lippi, whose side suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to Inter at the weekend, said he was pleased with his side's display in the first half.

"We did very well for an hour and created a lot of chances. We really should have scored at least once. We wanted to get back on level terms and went looking for the result but they were able to get the second at the end," he said.

He added that despite the defeat he had no plans to change his squad rotation policy that had led him to leave top players such as Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero out of the side.

Source: REUTERS
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