Turkey take play-off spot

Turkey secured a place in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs with a 2-1 away win against Portugal in Group 7.

Well-worked combinations
The home side produced some skilful football, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma, Hugo Viana, Hélder Postiga, and Tiago combining to threaten the Turkish defence, but Portugal were unable to convert their play into goals, and fell behind in the 36th minute as Turkey launched a swift counterattack and, with Quaresma unable to clear, Kemal Kemal Arslan was on hand to beat Moreira.

Scrambled equaliser
The visitors continued to threaten on the break but the home team drew level nine minutes into the second half as substitute Lourenço headed home a loose ball after a scramble in the Turkish goalmouth.

Halil on target
Portugal continued to press forward in search of a winner, but were caught out again 15 minutes from time as Kemal's pass found Halil Altintop, whose powerful right-foot shot flew into the net for what proved to be the winning goal, silencing the 9,000 home fans.

All to play for
The result meant that Turkey opened an unassailable seven-point lead at the top of the section, while Portugal remained in second place with 12 points from six games, one ahead of England, with the two sides meeting in Liverpool on Tuesday - the away side knowing that victory would confirm them as runners-up.