ISTANBUL: Veteran captain Burak Yilmaz netted a hat-trick as Turkey saw off a late rally from the Netherlands to secure a 4-2 home victory on Wednesday at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Yilmaz opened the scoring in the 14th minute of the Group G match with a deflected shot followed by a penalty 20 minutes later at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium to put the Turks 2-0 up at halftime.
The game looked to be effectively over when Hakan Calhanoglu added the third a few seconds into the second half but two goals in as many minutes gave the Dutch hope of a late comeback.
Their momentum was ended , however, by a stunning free kick from Yilmaz that completed his hat-trick and secured the points for Turkey.