Istanbul, Oct 12: England qualify for Euro 2004 thanks to 0-0 draw with Turkey. Skipper David Beckham missed a first-half penalty but England still reached the finals of Euro 2004 on Saturday (October 11) after drawing 0-0 with Turkey to win Group Seven. England, who had gone into the game just three days after avoiding an unprecedented player boycott, got the draw which they needed to qualify and send Turkey into the playoffs before a passionate pro-Turkey crowd. England also missed a string of scoring chances, including the 37th minute spot-kick ballooned into the crowd by Beckham, who lost his footing as he struck the ball. The England skipper also found the net with a late header that was ruled offside. Turkey, beaten 2-0 by England at Sunderland in April in a qualifier marred by crowd trouble, fell well short of the fluid attacking form which took them to the World Cup semi-finals.
England had no vocal support inside the ground, with the FA having refused its ticket allocation and urged fans to stay away, amid fears for crowd safety and a potential exclusion from the tournament by UEFA.


Yet the visitors, missing injured striker Michael Owen and defender Rio Ferdinand who was dropped from the squad for failing to take a drugs test, had the better of the game.


David Beckham's perceptive pass gave a breakaway chance for Wayne Rooney but the 17-year-old lofted his effort over the bar.


Emre Belozoglu had a fine shot on target deflected over the bar by England goalkeeper David James and Turkey then pinned England back in their half before the penalty came -- Tugay Kerimoglu, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in the English premier league, tripping Steven Gerrard.


Beckham, who had converted a pressure penalty at the 2002 World Cup to beat Argentina 1-0, this time slipped as he skied the ball high into the upper tier of the stands.


Alpay Ozalan was quick to taunt the England skipper and also poked him in the face as the two men walked off at the break.


That led to a melee in the tunnel with Italian referee Pierluigi Collina calling the captains to his room during the half-time break and telling them to calm their team mates down.


Kieron Dyer provided a cross for Beckham's would-be matchwinner but Dyer was ruled offside. Nihat hit two powerful drives in the closing minutes but both flashed wide of James' goal and at the final whistle it was the England players celebrating in the middle of the pitch.


Turkey: 1-Rustu Recber; 4-Fatih Akyel, 3-Bulent Korkmaz, 5-Alpay Ozalan, 2-Ibrahim Uzulmez; 7-Okan Buruk, 6-Emre Belozoglu, 8-Tugay Kerimoglu, 11-Sergen Yalcin; 9-Hakan Sukur, 10-Nihat Kahveci



England: 1-David James; 2-Gary Neville, 5-John Terry, 6-Sol Campbell, 3-Ashley Cole; 7-David Beckham, 11-Nicky Butt, 8-Paul Scholes, 4-Steven Gerrard; 9-Wayne Rooney, 10-Emile Heskey Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)


Bureau Report