After a goalless first half, the Turks literally ran riot in the second -- scoring three beautiful goals against a Ukrainian side which included legendary AC Milan star Andriy Shevchenko, thereby sending warning signals to foes and friends alike on the European continent.

Turkey dominated from the word go but missed several chances in the first half. Boro striker Tuncay Şanlı finally gave the visiting Turks the lead in the 55th minute after Ukraine keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy failed to block the ball.

 Five minutes later, Galatasaray defender Servet Cetin headed in a long pass from the left and Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop beat Shovkovskiy with a left-footed low shot from inside the box in the 65th to seal the score: Ukraine 0, Turkey 3.

 Ukraine then pushed forward for a consolation goal, but all their half-efforts were thwarted by the superb goalkeeping of Fenerbahçe's Volkan Demirel.

 “Being in the right place at the right time, you can make the impossible possible,” Turkey coach Fatih Terim said philosophically after the match. “Some of our players were better than others, but overall we played well. With marking, first touch and ball control our defense made no mistakes,” he added.

 Even the coach of defeated Ukraine, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko, heaped praise on the Turkish team. “They got a well deserved victory,” Mykhailychenko said without mincing words. “They are a very skillful side, and their play is characterized by short quick passes. We lost to a better side, and I apologize to the Ukrainian fans,” he further said.

The nine European group winners will qualify automatically for South Africa, while the best eight of the nine European runners-up will play a two-leg playoff. With Spain (18 points) almost certain to go through as the leader in World Cup 2010 European Qualifying Group 5, the battle is now between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina for second place and a berth in the playoffs.

 On paper, second-placed Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 12 points, seemingly has the advantage with four games to go. So Turkey, with 8 points, must turn this disadvantage into advantage by beating Estonia at home on Sept. 5, Bosnia and Herzegovina away four days later, Belgium away on Oct. 10 and Armenia at home on Oct. 14. “We have to win all our remaining our matches, as we have no other alternative,” Terim said before Wednesday's Ukraine match.

 This, indeed, is a task that must be done.

Spain wins friendly as England holds Holland away

In other friendlies played across Europe on Wednesday, European champion Spain hit back from two goals down to beat Macedonia 3-2, England rallied from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 with the Netherlands in Amsterdam, Argentina beat Russia 3-2 in Moscow and Australia beat Ireland 3-0 at Limerick.

Portugal outplayed Liechtenstein 3-0 despite the absence of flu victim Cristiano Ronaldo but World Cup holder Italy was held 0-0 by Switzerland in Basel, its third game in a row without scoring. Fabio Cannavaro made his 127th international appearance to beat Paolo Maldini's record for Italy.

Macedonia threatened a major shock in Skopje when Goran Pandev netted twice against Spain. But three goals in four minutes by Fernando Torres, Gerard Pique and Albert Riera turned the game around.

After defensive blunders had handed first-half goals to Dirk Kuyt and Rafael van der Vaart, Jermaine Defoe came off the bench to score twice for England. Argentina took some pressure off coach Diego Maradona by beating Russia 3-2 in Moscow, despite the absence of injured star Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona forward withdrew from the game with a pulled muscle and Maradona's team, which has slipped to fourth in World Cup qualifying, fell behind to Igor Semshov's 17th-minute strike at the Lokomotiv Stadium.

Sergio Aguero equalized in the final minute of the first half and goals by Lisandro Lopez and Jesus Datolo put Argentina in control before Roman Pavlyuchenko replied with a deflected free kick. Maradona said there was no need to risk Messi's fitness in a friendly.