Mehmet marches on

Academy goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet's fine run of form at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup continued as Turkey progressed to the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening.

The young stopper kept a clean sheet as Turkey held off the challenge of the United Arab Emirates to secure a 2-0 victory in their second-round tie in Enugu, Nigeria.

Mehmet, who conceded just one goal in two fixtures in the group stages before being rested for his country's academic final group match against New Zealand, was again in unbeatable form against the Emirates.

The 18-year-old looked on as Turkey took a second-minute lead through Furkan Seker before Ufuk Ozbek made the game safe in the second minute of added time.

In between, Mehmet made fine saves from Fahad Salim and Mohamed Hossain as the Asian nation made life hard for the UEFA qualifiers.

Turkey even survived the 39th-minute sending-off of Ogulkan Gokce to advance to a last-eight meeting with Colombia, which takes place in Bauchi at 4pm on Sunday afternoon local time.

Should Turkey progress again, they will face either Switzerland or Italy in the semi-finals in the Nigerian capital, Lagos, on 12 November.

The progress of Mehmet's team has been impressive, especially when one considers that Turkey have only qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup once before, reaching the last-four in Peru in 2005.