|
ANKARA, Nov.12 (Xinhua) -- Turkey revived its hope of making the way to 2018 Russia World Cup competition with a 2-0 home victory over Kosovo in southern Turkish city of Antalya on Saturday.
After a goalless first-half, Kosovo conceded two goals in quick succession from Burak Yilmaz, the central forward of Beijing Guoan, and Volkan Sen shortly after the break.
The defeat leaves Kosovo bottom on just a solitary point.
Turkey are now fourth in the Group I with five points, while Kosovo is sixth and last with only a single point.
Croatia moved to 10 points, with Iceland on seven and Ukraine could advance to eight with a win over Finland later in the evening.
Turkey' s star midfielder Arda Turan of Barcelona was recalled to the national team on Nov. 5 for the World Cup qualifier against Kosovo after apparently healing a rift with coach Fatih Terim.
Arda Turan, one of Turkey' s most successful players, had last month been sensationally dropped from the side.
The rift between Terim and Arda Turan reportedly stemmed from a debate over the distribution of the bonuses to be paid by the federation to the players for reaching to the Euro 2016 finals.
