Turkey hold Brazil to a 0-0 draw

New Delhi: Brazil drew 0-0 with Turkey in a friendly international on Tuesday at the Westfalen Stadium in Dortmund (Germany).

Brazil's first-half line-up included only two of the players who started against England in their friendly 1-1 draw at Wembley on Friday, while Turkey fielded five new players.

Ronaldinho and Kaka came on for Brazil in the second half, stepping up the pace and bringing more imagination and flair to their game.

"I expected more today - I didn't like the game," Brazilian coach Dunga said. "But some people said I wouldn't dare sit down Ronaldinho and Kaka, but I don't do anything to please people, I do what I think is best for the team."

Turkey were the better team in the first half and had many scoring chances but they failed to do so.

Hamit Altintop's looping volley in the 26th minute was blocked by the crossbar and the wood work again came to Brazil's rescue in the 70th minute when another free-kick by Altintop kissed the bar.

Turkey's goalkeeper Hakan Arikan was instrumental in keeping Brazil from scoring when in the 80th-minute he blocked Ronaldinho's cross towards Jo though he was injured in the resulting collision.

Arikan had also stopped Brazil from scoring in the 59th minute when Afonso failed to dribble the ball past him.

After the match Dunga said he was still searching for a starting line-up for the Copa America. The 22-man roster will be announced on Wednesday.

The match was also the last for Kerimoglu Tugay after 94 games for his country.

Turkish coach Fatih Terim said he was pleased with his team's performance, which came after a 3-2 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina knocked the country from atop Group C of European Championship qualifying.

The match was the fifth between the two countries since they first met in 1956 with Brazil having won three of the previous four and the other ending in a 2-2 draw when they last met in the Confederations Cup in France four years ago.

Teams:

Brazil: Doni, Maicon, Naldo, Alex, Marcelo, Edmilson (Gilberto Silva, 81), Elano (Kaka, 60), Josue, Diego (Mineiro, 70), Afonso (Jo, 75), Robinho (Ronaldinho, 46).

Turkey: Hakan Arikan, Ibrahim Ulzulmez, Gokhan Zan, Mehmet Aurelio, Arda Turan (Serdar Kurtulus, 46), Tuncay Sanli (Gokdeniz Karadeniz, 66), Emre Asik, Hamit Altintop, Sabri Sarioglu, Umut Bulut (Colin Kazim Richards, 62), Kerimoglu Tugay (Yildiray Basturk, 11; Nuri Sahin, 75).

(With inputs from AP)