The second half seemed destined to finish goalless. Romania had lost all their willingness to attack, and Andorra were rarely able to challenge. However, in stoppage time, Romania got greedy. Two goals in stoppage time made it four to Romania, who win 4-0 to record their second straight win to open the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Turkey played before their home fans in Istanbul against Estonia looking to right the ship. In minute 19, Estonia's Enar Jaager took down Burak Yilmaz when he was the final defender and was thus shown a straight red, leaving the visitors to fight on with ten men. Yilmaz scored the opener for Turkey in minute 42, but the referees blew the call as the ball had completely crossed the goal line before the Estonia defender stabbed it away. Emre Belozoglu gave Turkey their first official goal one minute later, taking a through ball up the middle and then dribbling left to bury a shot from an improved shooting angle. Turkey led 1-0 at halftime.
The complete and total Turkish dominance continued in the second half. A Sercan Sarerer cross found Umut Bulut rising over his man for a powerful headed finish to give Turkey their second goal on the hour mark. With fifteen minutes left to play, a Hasan Kaldirim overlapping run allowed him to receive a pass and then slot across the box to Selcuk Inan, who having faded back into space, found plenty of time to create a fine finish for the hosts' third goal. Turkey win 3-0.
Budapest was the scene as Netherlands paid a visit to Hungary. It took the Oranje only three minutes to score as a Luciano Narsingh cross floated onto the head of Jeremain Lens for a 1-0 lead. However, but two minutes later, Jordy Clasie tripped the attacker in the box. Hungary converted the penalty kick for a 1-1 score. Within the quarter hour, Netherlands had restored their lead. Awful Hungarian marking on a Wesley Sneijder free kick allowed Bruno Martens a chance at an unmarked header, from which he scored for the 2-1 lead. The teams went into their locker rooms with that same score in place.
Netherlands took advantage of good fortune as a Hungarian headed clearance fell to Lens in a dangerous area, leading to a fine finish for 3-1. Hungary found themselves with a one-on-one situation through Tamas Priskin, but he blew the opportunity. Sneijder nearly made it four a few minutes later as his bending strike from distance crashed into the crossbar. Netherlands caught Hungary napping on a quickly taken free kick, springing a two-on-none break from where Lens slotted across to Klaas Jan Huntelaar for the final goal of the match. Netherlands win 4-1.
Romania 6 pts +6
Netherlands 6 pts +5
Hungary 3 pts +2
Turkey 3 pts +1
Estonia 0 pts -5
Andorra 0 pts-9
Goals
Romania
Gabriel Torje 29
Costin Lazar 44
Valerica Gaman 90+1
Alexandru Maxim 90+3
Turkey
Emre Belozoglu 44
Umut Bulut 60
Selcuk Inan 75
Netherlands
Jeremain Lens 2, 52
Bruno Martens 18
Klaas Jan Huntelaar 73
Hungary
Balazs Dzsudzsak 6 PK
Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1699555/index.html
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/soccer-world-turkey-idINL5E8KBA1020120911
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1699880/index.html
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/92461/hungary-vs-netherlands/report
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1699654/index.html
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUOOS6jQ_0E (Romania v. Andorra)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sSIxiL76M8 (Turkey v. Estonia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr16w4Z3sYI (Netherlands v. Hungary)
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