Turkey’s Late Goal Gives It Third Place

Turkey won third place in the FIFA Confederations Cup with a 2-1 win over Colombia on Saturday at Saint-Etienne, France, in a game played with dampened spirits following the death of Cameroon’s Marc-Vivien Foe earlier in the tournament.

Players on both teams wore black armbands in memory of Foe, and there was a minute of silence before the start of the game. Foe, a 28-year-old midfielder, collapsed and later died at Cameroon’s semifinal game against Colombia on Thursday.

With the score tied at 1-1 and four minutes remaining, Turkey’s Okan Yilmaz scored the game-winning goal off a shot into the corner.

Tuncay Sanli, who had an assist on the game-winning goal, scored for Turkey two minutes into the game. He scored his third goal in four games at the tournament when he exploited a defensive blunder, converting a shot from just inside the Colombian penalty area.

Giovanni Hernandez scored for Colombia after 62 minutes, to make the score 1-1.

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South America won a chance to gain a fifth berth at the 2006 World Cup at the expense of Oceania, which again may not send any team.

After failing to muster support for its plan to expand the World Cup field by four nations to 36, South America’s governing body withdrew its proposal Saturday.

The executive committee of soccer’s world governing body then gave South America, which has four guaranteed spots, the chance to win the fifth in a playoff.

“Things are so clear and simple with 32 teams,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. He said a 36-nation field was impractical “when you have to consider the details, the practical organization.” The committee also said the field would not be increased for 2010.

The executive committee had voted Dec. 17 to give Oceania a guaranteed berth and take away South America’s playoff spot. Saturday’s vote to reverse that decision was 22-1, with Oceania dissenting and Blatter abstaining.