Saint-Etienne: Turkey did just enough to beat Colombia 2-1 Saturday and clinch third place in the Confederations Cup

Saint-Etienne: Turkey did just enough to beat Colombia 2-1 Saturday and clinch third place in the Confederations Cup in a game played under the shadow of Cameroon player marc-vivien foe’s death in the semi-finals. The Turks, who also claimed third place at last year’s World Cup, picked a second-string team, fielding only three players who had appeared in their four previous encounters in the eight-nation tournament. But the celebrations were dampened by the death of Foe, a celebrated player and personality in Africa and Europe. The players of both sides wore black armbands, and the 18,237 fans at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard hushed for a minute’s poignant silence before the game as a mark of respect for Foe. Colombia’s players said before the game they were still coming to terms with Foe’s sudden death, but coach Francisco Maturana said they were composed on the pitch. Tuncay Sanli got his third tournament goal after just two minutes when he exploited a defensive blunder to hit a thundering shot from just inside the Colombian area. Giovanni Hernandez levelled the score after 62 minutes and also clinched a triple of Confederations Cup goals, linking up with victor Aristizabal to burst into the Turkish area and tap the ball past Omer Catkic.