Turkey opens new era with easy win

Turkey’s national football squad downed Honduras on Wednesday night to win its first game under new management.

It was a big night of friendlies building up to the World Cup with almost every participant of the big event testing itself.

Argentina lifted the pressure on coach Diego Maradona with a 1-0 victory away to Germany while Spain heaped more worry on the shoulders of French trainer Raymond Domenech with a 2-0 triumph in France.

Emre Güngör and Hamit Altıntop scored to give Turkey a 2-0 win over Honduras in the match at Istanbul’s İnönü Stadium.

The fixture allowed new Turkish assistant coach Oğuz Çetin, who was in charge of the squad selection for the Honduras game, to try out some new young players, such as Bursaspor's Volkan Şen and Ozan İpek. Çetin will be in charge of the team until Dutchman Guus Hiddink takes over as coach in August.

Çetin said the game was a chance to try out the young players. “We had some young players and newcomers in the squad, as well as regulars,” he said after the game. “We saw the performances of young players and the areas in which the team has problems. I’m happy to have had such a chance.”

Galatasaray captain Arda Turan headed a corner from the right down to the feet of his teammate Güngör, who made no mistake from close range to open the scoring in the 41st minute.

Altıntop of Bayern Munich then slammed in the ball from the edge of the penalty area into the top right-hand corner in the 55th minute for Turkey’s second.

Turkey gained control of the game midway through the first half and missed several chances before eventually going ahead.

Honduras goalkeeper Donis Escobar saved a rising shot by Paris Saint Germain striker Mevlüt Erdinç in the 14th minute before keeping out a close-range header by Mehmet Aurelio of Real Betis just after the half-hour mark.

Honduras will be making its first World Cup appearance since 1982 this summer and is in Group H with European champion Spain, Chile and Switzerland.

"I believe they will have a difficult time against Spain, Chile and Switzerland," Altıntop said of Honduras.

"It was a special game for us," he said. "A new team was being tried out. We played well here. My teammates all had the desire to win."

Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda said he was surprised that Turkey had not succeeded in reaching the World Cup. “Turkey is a very good team and they dominated the game,” Rueda told reporters after the game.

Turkey, which finished third in the 2002 World Cup, failed to qualify for the tournament in South Africa, an outcome that resulted in coach Fatih Terim’s resignation last October.

Maradona relieved

Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal in first half injury time in Munich as Maradona's team showed it may have left its poor form in World Cup qualifying behind, the Associated Press reported.

"It was [like] a World Cup game," Maradona said. "The lads played a great match. I've nothing but praise for all of them."

Argentina's victory, however, was clouded by an injury to defender Martin Demichelis, who suffered a broken cheekbone when he was hit accidentally in the face by the knee of Germany captain Michael Ballack.

Goals by David Villa and Sergio Ramos gave European champion Spain a comfortable victory over the French at the Stade de France where some home fans called for Domenech's resignation.

In Pasadena, California, Galatasaray’s winter signing, Gionavi Dos Santos, and his brother Jonathan were in the starting line-up in Mexico’s 2-0 victory over New Zealand.

The clash of the two World Cup-bound teams drew 90,526 people to the Rose Bowl, where Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela scored in a five-minute span of the second half for the victory.

Fernandez and Vela may have done enough to earn themselves a place in Mexico's World Cup squad.

"They have the desire to do something," said Mexico coach Javier Aguirre, who will choose the squad in May. "They have the hunger and I'm going to take advantage of it."

Two goals from Peter Crouch helped England to a come-from behind victory over Egypt, the African champion which failed to qualify for the World Cup.

"I said to the players to press more to win the ball back quickly and in the second half we did that," said England coach Fabio Capello. "Crouch is a big option for me because sometimes you can play long ball. Today we didn't, and he played very well with one touch, two touches. In the second half he made the difference."

The Netherlands beat the United States 2-1 in a meeting of two more World Cup teams in which the Americans lost winger Stuart Holden with a bruised shin in the first half.