Turkish fury after Brazil penalty winner

NOBODY in Turkey had probably heard of Korean referee Young Joo Kim before they played Brazil - but they will know all about him now.

He will now be known by Turks as the official who awarded Brazil a late penalty when TV replays suggested the offence was outside the area.

Kim, who made history by becoming the first Korean to referee a World Cup game, pointed to the spot when Aston Villa’s Alpay cynically tugged back Brazilian substitute Luizao three minutes from time.

Alpay was somewhat fortunate to escape with just a booking when he tripped Juninho in the first half, but whether or not his later transgression should have been a penalty was an entirely different matter.

Rivaldo compounded Turkey’s misery by converting the spot-kick to complete Brazil’s comeback and get their World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

The Turks, not known for their restraint, lost it at this point and in stoppage time Blackburn’s Hakan Unsal booted the ball at Rivaldo and also received a red card.

Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face, when in reality he had been hit on the knee, in a shameful display of playacting. It would be wrong, though, to let events in the final frantic minutes overshadow what was a fine Group C tussle.

Turkey, competing in their first World Cup for 48 years, were not overawed by playing such illustrious opposition.

However, as half-time approached, Brazil stepped up the pressure only to find Rustu Recber in no mood to be beaten.

The Fenerbahce keeper is being tipped for a summer move to one of Europe’s top leagues and it is not hard to see why. First he made a brilliant save to keep out Rivaldo’s close-range header. He then denied Rivaldo again, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho in quick succession.

His saves became all the more important when in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Bayer Leverkusen’s Yildiray Basturk split the Brazilian defence with a brilliant diagonal pass to Hasan on the left and he fired home left-footed.

Any thoughts of a shock result were dispelled five minutes into the second half when Brazil levelled.

Bulent Korkmaz blocked Ronaldo’s initial effort but seconds later when Rivaldo sent over a perfect outswinging cross from the left, the Inter Milan star steered the ball home with his outstretched right foot.

It was a poignant moment for the striker, who has been to hell and back several times since France 98, and he was mobbed by all of the Brazilian substitutes on the touchline.

Afterwards Rivaldo claimed Brazil have little room for improvement after their dramatic 2-1 win.

"We don’t have to get better as we got a great result," the forward announced. "We played well against a side who were strong defensively."

BRAZIL: Marcos, Cafu, Lucio, Roque Junior, Carlos, Edmilson, Juninho (Vampeta 72), Gilberto, Ronldinho (Denilson 67), Rivaldo, Ronaldo (Luizao 73).

TURKEY: Rustu, Korkmaz (Mansiz 66), Akyel, Alpay, Unsal, Ozat, Basturk (Davala 65), Emre, Tugay (Erdem)