nothing ventured or gained for sweden, turkey published: monday 6 october 2003, 11.51cet
italy were the beneficiaries as this scrappy draw sealed their progress with a game to spare.
sweden and turkey played out a mutually detrimental goalless draw that means to join italy in the uefa euro 2000 quarter-finals they must win their final group b matches and hope the other result goes their way.
sweden had the better of the subdued exchanges but it was not until the dying minutes that the 24,500 fans in eindhoven were teased to the edge of their seats. hakan ünsal's dangerous low ball somehow evaded everyone, while at the other end substitute jörgen pettersson curled a free-kick a whisker over. in truth, neither side deserved the three points.
after opening day defeats there were changes to both teams. with patrick andersson suspended and roland nilsson injured, gary sundgren and teddy lucic came into the sweden defence with olof mellberg switching to centre-back. håkan mild and henrik larsson were also recalled. for turkey, mustafa izzet was given his full debut, while arif erdem, hakan ünsal and suat kaya all came in.
the effect of those wholesale changes was that the teams spent most of the scrappy opening exchanges getting reacquainted and chances were at a premium. kennet andersson's third-minute free-kick brought a fine save from rüştü reçber, while turkey briefly threatened when ümit davala and araf sent volleys just off target.
the play became even more disjointed as the match went on – any quality stood out like a beacon. on 29 minutes niclas alexandersson and larsson combined well to release kennet andersson, but the striker's shot was saved by rüştü's feet. another bright spot saw the impressive lucic set fredrik ljungberg free, but the arsenal fc man failed to connect with only the goalkeeper to beat.
it was a similar pattern in the second period, with sweden showing more purpose but little finesse. both sides rang the changes, and turkey substitute sergen yalçın produced the one moment of real danger in the half on 71 minutes. he seized on joachim björklund's poor clearance and ran at the retreating defence before firing in a powerful shot that magnus hedman did well to turn away. okan buruk was quick to the rebound, but shot over.
the draw means italy are through and to join them turkey and sweden need to win in four days and hope for a favourable result elsewhere.
