Miracle needed for Turkish national team after defeat

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey's players react after being defeated at the end of the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifier football match Turkey vs Romania in Istanbul, on October 12, 2012. AFP photo

The Turkish national football team lost its latest World Cup 2014 qualification match in Hungary last night, leaving its qualification hopes hanging by a thread.

Hungary beat Turkey 3-1 in Budapest in the group D qualification match, and Turkey now needs a miracle to secure a ticket to Brazil for the 2014 finals.

Turkey opened the scoring with a goal from Mevlüt Erdinç in the 22nd minute but was unable to preserve its advantage, conceding goals to Hungary's Vladimir Koman in the 31st minute and Adam Szalai in the 50th minute. Zoltan Gera's penalty in the 57th minute made the score 3-1 for Hungary, from which Turkey was unable to recover.

Turkey has already suffered reverses against the group's runaway leader, the Netherlands (2-0), as well as one of its main rivals, Romania (1-0). Turkey's next opponent is Andorra next month.

Following six defeats in the last 11 games, national coach Abdullah Avcı is now being severely criticized by Turkish football fans.