Turkey Beats S. Korea 3-2 For Third
Hakan Sukur scored the fastest opening goal in World Cup history
John Pye, The Associated Press, DAEGU, South Korea (AP) - Hakan Sukur scored the fastest opening goal in World Cup history, just 11 seconds into Turkey's 3-2 victory Saturday night over South Korea for third place in the World Cup.

Turkish soccer fans celebrate after a live transmission of the so called small final match from the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, at the Reeperbahn in Hamburg's district St.Pauli, northern Germany, on Saturday, June 29, 2002. Turkey won 3-2 vs South Korea. (AP Photo/Fabian Bimmer)

Ilhan Mansiz had two other goals, both helped by Sukur. The Turks, in just their second World Cup, had their best finish; they went out in the first round in 1954.

Sukur, Turkey's career scoring leader, hadn't scored in six previous tournament games. He couldn't believe his luck when rival captain Hong Myung-bo's attempted pass back for his goalkeeper set up Sukur for an open chance. He right-footed a shot past goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae.

The previous record of 15 seconds was held by Vaclav Masek of Czechoslovakia in a first-round match against Mexico in 1962.

"When would I have scored if not in the last game of the tournament?" Sukur said. "Many people were waiting for me to score a goal, but I didn't have much luck in previous matches."

Korean midfielder Lee Eul-yong tied it with a curling 25-yard free kick in the 9th minute that shaved the inside of the goal post barely over the outstretched arm of keeper Rustu Recber.

The goal sent almost 65,000 red-clad fans at Daegu's World Cup Stadium wild, but they had little to cheer about the rest of the first half.

Mansiz, replacing injured striker Hasan Sas, scored in the 13th and 32nd minutes, enough of a buffer to hold off South Korea's charge in the second half.

Turkey's Tugay Kerimoglu (L) and Arif Erdem (2nd R) join South Korea's Song Chong-gug (2nd L) and Yoo Sang-chui (R) after their World Cup third place play-off match in Taegu June 29, 2002. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan

The forward, who scored an overtime goal as a replacement in the quarterfinals against Senegal, took a neat inside pass from Sukur and buried a left-footed shot to make it 2-1.

On a counterattack almost 20 minutes later, Sukur got two touches, including the last pass before Mansiz chipped over the onrushing Korean keeper.

South Korea scored a late goal when Song Chong-gug fired past Recber to make it 3-2 in the final seconds.

That briefly raised the hopes of the fervent local fans, but there wasn't enough time for a tying goal.

"I am delighted with the fact that our team has done so well," Sukur said.

South Korea never won a game in five previous World Cup trips. But it won its first-round group, then stunned Italy and Spain in the knockout rounds before losing in the semifinals to Germany.

"I would've liked to get third place - desperately," said South Korea's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink. "But we made some big mistakes in the first half in defense.

"But when I see and hear the public reacting to the team and what they did in the second half, I can be very proud in general of these guys."

At the end, players from both teams wrapped arms and ran around the field as the fans stood and cheered. Several Korean fans even waved Turkish flags, and the Korean players threw Hiddink in the air several times.