Turkey hands Ukraine another defeat

By foxsports
Published

Ukraine slumped to its second straight defeat ahead of the European Championship when the co-host was beaten 2-0 by Turkey in a warm-up game on Tuesday.

Midfielder Caner Erkin gave Turkey the lead with a low shot past goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov after 30 minutes, and striker Mustafa Pektemek doubled the score in the 70th from a quick counterattack after the Ukraine offside trap failed.

The defeat came four days after Ukraine's 3-2 loss to Austria in another friendly. In both matches, Ukraine looked vulnerable in defense and powerless in attack.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin rested key players Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Andriy Voronin, while Andriy Shevchenko only appeared for the second half.

The veteran striker missed two of his team's best chances after sending a header wide in the 76th and hitting the crossbar with a chipped shot 10 minutes later.

Ukraine will open its Euro 2012 campaign against Sweden in Kiev on Monday in a group that also includes England and France.

Turkey, which also upset Portugal 3-1 on Saturday, failed to qualify for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.