Turkey coach Senol Gunes has suggested that Brazil have only reached the semi-final because of a series of refereeing mistakes.
“Turkey are there cleanly without the benefit of refereeing mistakes,” he said. “The same cannot be said of Brazil.”
Turkey still feel aggrieved at two decisions that overshadowed the previous meeting between the two sides. In one, a penalty was awarded to Brazil when the infringement clearly took place oputside the penalty area, while the other involved Rivaldo’s play-acting which led to the dismissal of Hakan Unsal.
“Everybody saw what happened in that first game with the referee,” Gunes added. “I have heard Rivaldo say that we are only here because they beat Costa Rica. But they are only here because they beat us.
“Everybody is talking about the stars of Brazil like Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Cafu but we have also stars Hakan Sukur, Emre Belezoglu, Hasan Sas and Ilhan Mansiz.
“So far we have used our right to lose one game, but Brazil have not lost so now it’s their turn.”
Despite reaching the semi-finals for the first time in their history, Gunes insitsts that his side possess the hunger to go on andwin the competition.
“I am proud of my players that we have come this far,” he said. “We have shown the worked what can be achieved with patience and hard work, but we are not finished yet. We want to play in the final.
“We are ready for this, and we will do it with a good performance against Brazil. Brazil have already won the World Cup four times so they are not hungry, but we are hungry.
“In Turkey we are used to supporting Brazil, but now we are competing with them, and that must be a good feeling for all the Turkish people back home.”
