THE gamer was up for Denmark within 35 minutes yesterday. The reigning champions bowed out of Euro `96 with a win but played in much the same mediocre fashion they had shown throughout the tournament. It was wholly appropriate that their exit should be signalled elsewhere.

The Danes had to hope that Portugal would lose to Croatia to have any chance of reaching the quarter finals but once the early news from Nottingham made it clear that was not going to happen, this game meandered to its logical conclusion.

The Danes had promised to give their supporters something to remember but apart from sporadic flashes from the Laudrup brothers, this was a game that will be soon forgotten.

The first half was a sequence of errors the most blatant of which was Brian Laudrup's volley over from six yards in the 41st minute that was at least eight feet too high. At the other end Turkey almost took an unexpected lead when Orhan Cikirikci's 19th minute shot deflected off Claus Thomsen, Peter Schmeichel diving backwards to claw the ball away.

The second half got off to a good start when Brian Laudrup put the Danes ahead. Erik Bo Andersen flicked the ball on and when Ogun Temizkanoglu's attempted clearance merely teed the ball up for the Rangers striker he strolled round Rustu Receber in the Turkish goal and rolled the ball into the net.

Turkish discipline evaporated and but for Rustu the score line might have been more emphatic. After 68 minutes, however, Allan Nielsen made it 2-0. Michael Laudrup picked up a rebound 25 yards out and slipped a delightful ball through to the Brondby midfielder who stabbed a shot past Rustu with the outside of his right foot.

With seven minutes remaining Brian Laudrup was given the freedom of the area, through a pass by Erik Bo Andersen and scored the third.