Arif shines as Turks stroll to easy win

Turkey 3 Slovakia

The Turkey coach Senol Gunes admitted he had expected more of Slovakia after his side started their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign with a convincing 3-0 win on Saturday.

The Turks, who finished third at the World Cup, cruised to victory at the Ali Sami Yen stadium in Istanbul, with Arif Erdem scoring twice after Serhat Akin had given them a 14th-minute lead. A poor Slovakia side were bereft of attacking ideas and without a cutting edge up front due to the absence of Middlesbrough's Szilard Nemeth.

"It was not a hard match," Senol said. "We won with few problems and I am happy that we started with an easy win.

"I am disappointed by the performance of Slovakia in this match. They played much better last year. They made many mistakes in defence and we took advantage of them. The first goal was very important – it was an easy match for us from that moment."

None the less, he added: "I think Slovakia will play better and better in their remaining games and still have a chance to advance to Euro 2004."

Slovakia now need to take something from their next match, a home game to England, and their coach Ladislav Jurkemik was mystified by his team's dismal performance, "The match showed how easy it is to win when one team is making mistakes and another one is passing the ball well and making the most of their chances," he said. "We made too many mistakes. Our opponents showed their quality and deservedly won. Turkey are a very good team but we helped them win this match. We gave them the first and the second goal as a present."

Serhat – who travelled to South Korea but was dropped from the final World Cup squad – opened the scoring when Arif's cross from the right beat three Slovak defenders and he slotted home.

Serhat returned the compliment just before half-time, sending a fine pass through to Arif, who controlled the ball well before putting it away. Arif struck again 20 minutes after the break to put Turkey out of reach.

Senol agreed that England's visit to Slovakia on 12 October, when Turkey play in Macedonia, was now a key match in the group. "After this victory, Slovakia's match against England has become very important," he said.

Goals: Serhat Akin (14) 1-0; Arif Erdem (45) 2-0; Arif Erdem (65) 3-0.

Turkey (4-4-2): Rustu Recber; Emre Belozoglu (Cihan Haspolatli, 78), Bulent Korkmaz, Fatih Akyel, Alpay Ozalan; Arif Erdem, Okan Buruk (Nihat Kahveci, 63), Tugay Kerimoglu, Serhat Akin (Umit Davala, 86); Yildiray Basturk, Hakan Unsal.

Slovakia (4-4-2): Bucek; Karhan, Spilar, Cisovsky, Dzurik; Labant (Michalik, 60), Kisel, Kozlej (Reiter, 55), Gresko (Hlinka, 72); Janocko, Vittek.

Referee: A Lopez Nieto (Spain).