Turkey's national football team beat fellow Group D rivals Andorra in an exciting game qualifier for the 2014 FiFa World Cup hosted by Turkey in Kayseri. Turkey beat Andorra by five goals to nil, as Turkish striker Umut Bulut scored a hat-trick, with contributions from Burak Yilmaz and Arda Turan, the latter tallied in last seconds.

To qualify for the finals in Brazil, Turkey needs to win all of their remaining three matches and hope for a specific set of results from its neighbors in Group D. However, last night's results in the other Group D qualifiers and specifically Romania losing to Hungary is a step in the right direction.

The team's chances are considered slim, even though the tide may have been turned with the coming of new coach Faith Terim, who made his debut in the Andorra match, following lackluster results with only seven points in the last six games.

Terim heads last year's league champions Galatasaray, the only Turkish club to have won the UEFA Cup, now called the Europa League trophy, in 2000.

On September 10, Romania hosts Turkey for the final third game in the qualifier round and on October 11, the Turkish national team plays in Estonia. On October 15, Turkey hosts Group D leaders Netherlands for a final chance to make it past the qualifier round.

GROUP D

Standings P W D L F A Pts
Netherlands 7 6 1 0 22 4 19
Romania 7 4 1 2 13 10 13
Hungary 7 3 2 2 13 11 11
Turkey 7 3 1 3 12 7 10
Estonia 7 2 1 4 5 11 7
Andorra 7 0 0 7 0 22 0

SABAH and Agencies