Turkish Football Report

Turkey’s Hiddink Dilemma

2011-06-05T21:15:00.001-07:00

Going into the Turkish national team match against Belgium this past Friday, much of the speculation was on how the Turks would do against Belgium. Turkey needed maximum points against the Belgians in order to consolidate second position in Group A of the Euro 2012 qualifiers. With Belgium to play three matches after their match against Turkey, and with Turkey having four matches left after the match against Belgium, the Turks needed maximum points. However, a draw away in the Roi Badouin stadium in Brussels wouldn't spell the end of the world for Turkey.

Turkey would get exactly that result in Brussels. In the fourth minute, a costly mistake from starting left back Caglar Birinci led to Belgium's first goal. Marvin Ogunjimi made the Turks pay for an egregious mistake in the defense by giving Belgium the 1-0 lead. Turkey did equalize in the 22^nd minute, as Arda Turan got behind the defense of Belgium, and passed the ball back to Burak Yilmaz to have him tie the match. Belgium would then take over the rest of the match. Turkey almost suffered a nightmare in the 75^th minute, when a penalty was called against them. Axel Witsel put the resulting penalty over the crossbar and Turkey and Belgium tied 1-1.

So Turkey did not get the necessary result, but got a result that doesn't spell elimination from Euro 2012 qualification. However, there was also speculation of a different kind for Turkey. Speculation that head coach Guus Hiddink moving to Chelsea as either their head coach or sporting director, depending on what rumors one has read, hounded Turkey before, during, and after the match against Belgium. Hiddink had come out on the %100 Futbol (100% Football) program on Turkish channel NTV and denied the possibility of him joining Chelsea. However speculation still remained on whether Hiddink would stay with Turkey or take a job with Chelsea.

Even the Turkish Football Federation became unsure of whether Hiddink would remain as head coach. TFF spokesman Turker Tozar said that Hiddink has not said anything concrete as to whether he will remain as Turkish national team head coach. Hiddink was also elusive when asked whether he would coach Turkey against after the match against Belgium, completely avoiding answering that question. Naturally this raised the ire of Turkish national team fans. Many of them would like to see the back of Hiddink and have him quit. Even with a hard earned draw against Belgium, Turkish fans are starting to call for Hiddink to leave. Even a Twitter account under the handle "@hiddinkistifa" or Hiddink resign has been created. But even if Hiddink were to leave at this very moment, it would create far more problems for Turkey than solutions.

How that is possible one may ask? For one, a new coach will have to adjust quickly as the next qualifier is in September. Another thing is that the new coach will immediately be pressured to produce results, and many of the potential candidates are not ready for such a job. If Hiddink were to take a dual role as Turkish national team head coach and Chelsea sporting director for example, he can still produce for the national team and help out Chelsea as well. This is a situation similar to the one he had a few years ago, when he was Russian national team head coach and Chelsea manager simultaneously. Most likely, this will be the situation that will manifest itself over the next few weeks.

Many Turkish fans are complaining about Hiddink's selections and basically have thought of him as a fraud. This is an example of the knee-jerk mentality that Turkish fans have become famous, or infamous, for. The selections though seem not to be coming from Hiddink. Assistant coach Oguz Cetin, a holdover from Fatih Terim's reign as Turkish national team head coach, seems to have influence over the selections. One such selection is that of Colin-Kazim Richards, who has not found his previous form with Galatasaray after transferring to the club this past winter. Another selection that can be argued as a Cetin-influenced selection is that of Selcuk Sahin, who started the match against Belgium, and has never been considered close to average, much less a good player. It seems that the Turkish national team is becoming more of a "good ol' boys" club rather than the best players available in Turkey or who are Turkish, but born outside of Turkey.

As for thinking of Hiddink as a fraud, that is complete bunk. Hiddink has had success wherever he has gone, his reign as Fenerbahçe head coach aside. With the mentality that Turkish fans have, they really don't deserve an established manager like Hiddink. Fans have clamored for change under the Hiddink regime, but when change comes, they complain about why certain players aren't selected. An example of this is Ersun Yanal, former head coach of Gençlerbirliği, Ankaragücü, and Turkey (during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign). Yanal once left off Hakan Sukur off a national team roster, and many fans were complaining about why Sukur wasn't taken on the roster. Even if Hiddink were to make a complete overhaul of the Turkish national team roster within the next few months, fans will still find a reason to complain of why certain players weren't selected.

Whether Hiddink stays or leaves the post of Turkish national team coach is still to be seen. Hiddink will still be under pressure to deliver qualification to Euro 2012 to Turkey. But if Hiddink were to leave, Turkey would be in a bigger hole than they would be if Hiddink stayed. Turkey is still in good shape even after the draw against Belgium. With four matches left compared to Belgium's three, Turkey has a better chance of finishing in second place in their group and advancing to the Euro 2012 qualifying playoff. Considering that Turkey still has a chance of qualifying for Euro 2012, and he produced success with other countries, Guus Hiddink should be given the benefit of the doubt, whether Turkish national team fans like it or not.

Infighting at Galatasaray?

2011-02-28T16:43:00.001-08:00

With Galatasaray having their worst season in Turkish top flight football, it seems that it can't seem to get any worse for them. Perhaps they haven't gone low enough yet in their season of futility. Galatasaray has now had to deal with some recent fights between teammates, with both fights involving Milan Baros. The Turkish sports media reported that Baros had fights with Emmanuel Culio and Juan Pablo Pino.

The first fight occurred after the 3-1 loss Galatasaray suffered at the hands of Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. After the match was over, Baros was complaining that he wasn't being fed the ball enough from the midfield. The target of Baros' ire was Culio. In the locker room after the match, words were exchanged, Baros reportedly punched Culio in the face and the two had to be pulled apart by teammates. This shocked the other players in the locker room. It was later revealed that Galatasaray club chairman Adnan Polat was angry at the situation.

As if that wasn't enough, Baros would then get into another fight. This time it was at a training session this past Sunday at the Metin Oktay training facilities, and Baros and Pino got into a scuffle. After the fisticuffs, Pino left the training ground and went home.

With the reports circulating of fights between teammates at Galatasaray, Culio, Baros, and Pino came on Turkish sports channel NTV Spor in order to clear the air as to what had happened. The cblub had put out a press statement beforehand that the media was basically lying about the whole thing, and blowing things completely out of proportion.

Baros quickly denied that he had attacked any player. He said that he was angry at the team and not the players, and said that "what they write in the paper is totally bull----". He went on to say that the media is spreading a lot of lies and that while he respects the media; he was disappointed that the media reported on what wasn't true.

Culio also denied the reports of a fight between him and Baros. Initially, he said that his face was proof that the stories released by the Turkish sports media were lies, as the camera could zoom in on his face and people can judge whether he was punched or not. Culio said that it was normal to feel frustration after a loss and that there were no problems between him and Baros. Baros was tense and so was he, Culio went onto say. Culio then said that he tried to calm Baros down and that there was nothing else they could do.

Pino also denied the reports of him having a fight with Baros. Pino said that when things are going bad, reports like this can come at anytime. He went on to say that he didn't get into a fight with any of his teammates or have any problems with them. Pino said the reason he left the training ground early was that he wasn't feeling well. He went on to say that he was feeling sick before training started and asked permission of manager Gheorghe Hagi in order to leave the training grounds early. The request was granted, and Pino went home and rested.

Whether the media reports, or what the players say, is true or not, it looks like Galatasaray is a soap opera. Their fans are definitely tired of how the team has performed this season. It seems as though it can't get any worse for Galatasaray. Then again, considering that the season is almost 2/3^rd of the way finished, it might.

Link to the interview with NTV Spor between Culio, Pino, and Baros: http://www.ntvspor.net/video-galeri/baros-culio-ve-pino-konustu

Galatasaray At The Abyss

2011-02-27T18:47:00.001-08:00

When one thinks of Galatasaray, one thinks of success. Galatasaray are one of the most successful clubs in Turkish football. Even if one knows nothing else about the sport in Turkey, people will most likely have heard of Galatasaray. With their success domestically and in Europe, it's hard to imagine Galatasaray having a bad season. But yet, this season has not been kind to Galatasaray.

For the first time since Turkish professional top flight football was established in 1959, Galatasaray has suffered eleven losses in a season. Previously, they had suffered ten losses in a season three times, occurring in the 1969-70, 1981-82, and 2003-04 seasons. But they have never suffered 11 losses until now, and the season isn't even two-thirds of the way finished.

It has been a hard fall for a club that has been associated with success. The woes of this season started with a Europa League qualifying round elimination by Ukrainian outfit Karpaty Lviv. It's been nothing but downhill from there. Frank Rijkaard, the previous manager of Galatasaray, only lasted eight weeks in this current Turkish Super League season, having been sacked before the derby match against Fenerbahçe. Galatasaray had a record of four wins and four losses at that time. Gheorghe Hagi was brought in to salvage the season. With Hagi being a Galatasaray legend, many expected that he would turn things around. He started off well getting a 0-0 draw against Fenerbahçe on the road. But things have not worked out since then.

Since Hagi took over managerial duties, Galatasaray has a record of six wins, two draws, and seven losses. It begs to be asked what would have happened if Rijkaard wasn't sacked so early in the season. Hagi had previously managed Galatasaray in the past, but without success. But there is far more to this than meets the eye.

Perhaps one of the worst kept secrets in Turkish football is that Galatasaray has been in massive debt for more than a decade. While their rivals have enjoyed success in the country, it seems that Galatasaray has fallen to the third best team in Istanbul, falling behind big 3 rivals Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş. Although Galatasaray won a UEFA Cup in 2000, capping off a run of four straight Turkish league titles, they are currently living off past glories. Sure Galatasaray has won three league titles between 2001 and 2010, but they are currently mired in debt. They had to have their new stadium, Turk Telekom Arena, built almost entirely with taxpayer money, funded by the Turkish Housing Development Administration.

So what is wrong with Galatasaray this season? Have the players not lived up to expectations? Is it because of player injuries? Is it the manager? There's a good argument to be made that Hagi should never have been hired in the first place, considering his last run with Galatasaray before this season never worked out. Is it the pressures of fans expecting a league championship every year? All of those are good answers. However, this season might have been expected if one were to take a long term look at the club. The real reason for Galatasaray's lack of success this season has been long-term mismanagement of the club. A season such as the one Galatasaray is going through currently, it can be argued, was bound to happen.

As noted earlier, Galatasaray is in major debt, and has been for more than a decade. This is due to the free-wheeling spending under the chairmanship of Faruk Suren. Galatasaray won four consecutive Turkish league titles between 1996 and 2000, and peaked with the UEFA Cup triumph in the year 2000. Galatasaray needed to spend a lot of money in order to stay at the top of the heap. After Suren stepped down as chairman, Mehmet Cansun succeeded him. Coming after a successful period was a hard act to follow, and Cansun was replaced by the late Ozhan Canaydin. Canaydin tried to stop the financial bleeding as much as he could, by limiting the transfer money spent on acquiring new players. He tried to do his best considering the financial restraints on the club. It didn't seem to work, as many fans had always complained about the way Galatasaray was run under his chairmanship tenure. The fans had called for him to resign many times due to the way he was running the club. Canaydin has to be given credit as he tried to assuage the financial bleeding, as much as Galatasaray fans hated him and his reign.

With current chairman Adnan Polat taking over in 2008 it seemed that Galatasaray was back to its free spending ways. Galatasaray spent more money than they should have been capable of spending. They had doled out much cash in order to acquire players to win them league championships and other trophies, and not selling players in order to keep the finances even. This season they decided to scale back on money and brought in players that were mediocre or above-average at best, and sold some players. Perhaps they tried to take a page out of the Bursaspor championship playbook, which was to spend less for quality players. When the start of the season turned out to be bad, they then decided to get a playmaker in Zvezijdan (sic) Misimovic, but that transfer has been nothing but a disaster. The way that transfer worked out is not Misimovic's fault by the way.

So how does this storied club end up the way it has? How did Galatasaray get to the point where they are a mid-table team with a record number of losses in a season? The club only has itself to blame. Mismanagement of the club for many years has now led up to this low point in the season, and the season isn't over yet. How low can Galatasaray go? It's scary to say, but relegation from the Turkish Super League could be a possibility in the coming years. This year they are safe, there's now way that Galatasaray will be relegated. Sadly for Galatasaray, it may take relegation from the Turkish Super League for the club to start over from scratch. That is the absolute worst case scenario. They should start over from scratch now, but considering that this is a Turkish club, and an Istanbul big 3 club to boot, that won't happen until their worst fears are realized. If it has to take relegation in order for Galatasaray to revamp the way they do business on and off the field of play, then that will have to be the necessary spark in order for Galatasaray to get their house in order.

Beşiktaş Are At A Crossroads.

2011-02-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

It wasn't supposed to be like this for Beşiktaş.

After stealing the transfer headlines in Turkey last summer and this past winter, Beşiktaş looked to have a team that would not only contend for the Turkish Super League title, but perhaps win the title by a very comfortable margin. After the transfers of Hugo Almeida, Simao Sabrosa, and the loan of Manuel Fernandes right before the second half of the season started, there was talk of Beşiktaş possibly winning every match in the second half of the season. Adding the three Portuguese players to an already stacked roster which included Ricardo Quaresma and Guti, and Beşiktaş might have possibly pulled it off. But reality soon set in.

Since the second half of the Turkish Super League season began, Beşiktaş have only won one out of four games. After demolishing Bucaspor 5-1 in week 18, Beşiktaş have results of a 2-1 loss to Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor at the Olympic stadium in week 19, a 1-1 draw at home against Karabükspor in week 20, and a 1-0 loss on the road to Ankaragücü in week 21. Not the way Beşiktaş or their fans imagining the rest of the season going. In fact, with a record of nine wins, five draws, and seven losses after 21 league matches, this is actually Beşiktaş worst season in the last 30 years. Only in the 1980-81 season did Beşiktaş have a worse record after 21 league matches, having seven wins, six draws, and eight losses at that time.

Injuries have taken a toll on Beşiktaş. Defender Ersan Gulum is out for the rest of the season with an ACL tear, which left the Beşiktaş defense with a huge hole to fill. Young goalkeeper Cenk Gonen is also out for 6-8 weeks with an injury, leaving Beşiktaş to call upon the very mediocre Hakan Arikan to fill in. Guti had not made the last two matches because of an injury, and that has proven to be a loss in terms of creativity, as well as some veteran leadership.

It got even worse after the Ankaragücü match. Longtime Beşiktaş player and club captain Ibrahim Uzulmez got released from Beşiktaş the day after the match after apparently punching teammate Ibrahim Toraman in the locker room at halftime. The two have had issues before, as there were reports of both of them getting into a fight with each other in a preseason camp and were suspended by the club for a period of time. With the punch to Toraman, Beşiktaş immediately said goodbye to Uzulmez, who had played for the club for 11 years.

Manager Bernd Schuster recently said to the media, after the match against Ankaragücü, that Beşiktaş plays against teams that play ten men behind the ball at all times, and that this is a problem. But he also went on to say that there are no excuses and that neither the referees nor their opponents are responsible for this run of poor form from Beşiktaş. The responsibility lied with the team and the team alone. Schuster is basically dead on with his statements. But, some Beşiktaş fans have started to make excuses about the team's poor form.

Many of them have placed blame varying from referee bias, to Schuster not having the team play to its full potential. The referee bias excuse is perhaps one of the most ridiculous statements that could be made at this point. Some fans have said that the only reason that Trabzonspor, Bursaspor, and Fenerbahçe are ahead of them in the standings in because of referee bias towards those teams. Perhaps the best example of how ridiculous the referee bias statement is, would be the in the match when Beşiktaş hosted Karabükspor. Ibrahim Toraman went with a studs-up tackle of Karabükspor striker Emmanuel Emenike early on in the first half of that match, and did not get a straight red card from that. While Turkish referees are, in fact, of a very poor standard, quality teams should be able to overcome the shortcomings of Turkish referees and win matches in spite of those shortcomings. It seems that Beşiktaş is not the quality team that everyone thought they were. As for Schuster not having the team playing to its full potential, his words after the Ankaragücü loss, mentioned earlier, are dead on. Some lower ranked teams in the Turkish Super League generally play with ten men behind the ball, and counter when necessary. This is usually seen when such clubs playing against the bigger clubs, such as Beşiktaş. Schuster probably has never experienced the sport played in such a manner, and it's hard to get used to that sort of style that opponents play.

Going back to the excuse about referee bias, Mahmut Özgener, the president of the Turkish Football Federation recently said that Beşiktaş were connecting their poor form to alleged referee bias. Beşiktaş chairman Yıldırım Demirören has recently come out and that Özgener was "a fascist" during a meeting of the Beşiktaş financial general assembly. Demirören said that "if you (Özgener) are saying that there is no democracy in football, then you are a fascist and a dictator." … "You are biased and not equal. Our stars have been crushed under." If the chairman is resorting to those sorts of statements, then he must be losing his mind.

Regardless of excuses, poor form, or however the opponents play (or not try to), Beşiktaş have only themselves to blame here. There is no team chemistry. With all of the signings made, they have not been able to really mesh together with the players already there. Bernd Schuster may be a good coach, and he is right about Beşiktaş can only blame themselves for their form. But considering all of the hype surrounding this team, Beşiktaş should have done way better than what their record after week 21 indicates. But perhaps there is old sports adage that can be applied to Beşiktaş at this point, "you can't buy success". Of course, there are exceptions to this adage, but in general, money does not fix everything. For Beşiktaş and club chairman Yıldırım Demirören, that is the lesson to be learned, and they better learn it fast.

Jozy Altidore & Freddy Adu Will Head to Turkey on Loan Deals.

2011-01-31T18:42:00.001-08:00

With the transfer window closing, many transfers and loans have been made to strengthen teams. In Turkey, teams have scrambled to strengthen their rosters in the four weeks of the winter transfer window. Two loan moves have particularly piqued the interest of American soccer fans. Before these loan moves, Brad Freidel was the only American soccer player that had played in Turkey, playing for Galatasaray for the 1995-96 season. In this transfer window, two more Americans will make their way to Turkey, but playing for two clubs in completely different positions. Freddy Adu will play for Rizespor in the Bank Asya 1^st division, and Jozy Altidore was loaned out to defending champions Bursaspor in the Spor Toto Super League.

It's rare to see American players to come to Turkey. Other than Freidel and the two players now mentioned, no other American soccer player have made their way over to Turkey in order to ply their trade. It is interesting to see Adu and Altidore get loaned out to Turkey to continue their careers. Turkey can be a placed where upcoming players can try to get noticed or where veterans can have an Indian summer for their careers. A recent example of the latter is Ricardo Quaresma of Beşiktaş. Quaresma has become really popular with Beşiktaş fans, but he has shown glimpses of the potential he had earlier in his career, where he was considered more technically gifted than Cristiano Ronaldo. Whether Altidore or Adu can continue or resurrect their careers will depend on whether they can get playing time.

Freddy Adu is a curious case. Once considered the savior of American soccer at the ripe age of 14, he has had problems in his career ever since leaving DC United. Spells in such countries as Portugal and Greece has not worked out for him well, although he showed glimpses of his talent during his career. Adu now heads on loan to Rizespor, in the northeast of Turkey near the Black Sea. Rizespor is currently second in the Bank Asya 1^st division after this week's matches. This seems like a step down for Adu. Then again, considering he has never lived up to the tremendous hype that was placed on him, this may actually be beneficial for him. He won't have a huge spotlight on him, considering Rizespor is in the second tier of the Turkish soccer pyramid. Rize is certainly not Istanbul, so outside distractions shouldn't be a problem for Adu as it may be if he was loaned out to an Istanbul based team. Should he contribute to a promotion to the Super League for Rizespor, he might be able to be signed on a permanent transfer and play in a league where his profile will be raised and other clubs, whether in continental Europe or Major League Soccer, can pay attention to his progress. Adu will have to work hard to get his profile raised. Another stop in his ever evolving career, Adu may have taken a step down. However, sometimes it is best to try out a club that isn't as well known so that Adu can work on his game and eventually get transferred to a better club.

Jozy Altidore, on the other hand, is going to a major club in Turkey. Confirming through his Twitter account, Altidore will play on loan for the rest of the season, and ply his trade for the defending Turkish Super League champions. He will be the first American to play for the club. Heath Pearce, currently of FC Dallas, would have been the first. But when he had signed for Bursaspor before the beginning of the 2009-10 season, the signing had occurred after the transfer deadline had passed. There had been interest from Bursaspor manager Ertugrul Saglam a few months ago, with Saglam even admitting that he had an interest in acquiring Altidore's services. Altidore isn't going to a major Istanbul club, but Bursaspor is now a club with ambition. With their league championship last season, Bursaspor is now looking to repeat as champions, and be known as the fifth biggest team in Turkey. But Altidore's move to Turkey raises a particular question that many American soccer fans have pondered.

That question is whether Altidore will get playing time while at Bursaspor. Bursaspor recently acquired Kenny Miller from Rangers, and is paying him about 50,000 quid per week. For a club like Bursaspor, that salary is steep, so Miller will almost have to start every match for the rest of the season. Also, Altidore will have to compete for the starting forward spot with not only Miller, but with Turgay Bahadir and Sercan Yildirim as well. Considering the foreigner cap the Turkish Football Federation implements, with a club can have up to six foreigners on the pitch at one time, Altidore will not be starting every game. It seems that Altidore is going from a situation where he was riding the bench for Villareal, to riding the bench for Bursaspor. Altidore is going to have to work hard in order to crack the starting lineup. He might be best suited at this point coming off the bench should Bursaspor be behind in a match, or to seal a win. He won't be starting right away, but if anybody can figure out a way to incorporate Altidore within Bursaspor, it will be manager Ertugrul Saglam. Saglam will have to make due with a wide variety of forwards. Altidore may be going into a situation where he will ride the bench again. But unlike at Villareal, Altidore will have a better chance at getting playing time at Bursaspor. Playing time will be crucial for Altidore's development, and benefit the United States national team should he get that playing time at Bursaspor.

These two loan moves are interesting moves due to the fact that it is extremely rare for American soccer players to play in Turkey. Both will have the opportunity to get time playing on the field, which can only benefit them and the United States national soccer team. But they will have to work for their playing time. Playing in Turkey may revitalize both of the careers of Altidore and for Adu. The question is, will they be able to play, and if so, can they be able to have consistent playing time?

On Kenny Miller & Bursaspor

2011-01-28T22:51:00.001-08:00

This past week, Scottish player Kenny Miller recently joined with defending champions of the Turkish Super League, Bursaspor. With Miller set to receive about 50,000 quid per week, this has to rank as one of the priciest transfers in Bursaspor's history. Bursaspor have had to take out sponsorships in order to afford Miller's salary. But the real question will be how Miller will fare in Turkey. There hasn't been much success stories in terms of Scottish players going to a country outside of the British Isles. Perhaps the question to be asked is why is he headed to Turkey, even if it is for the money?

Bursaspor may have been champions last season. But for the money that Miller is going to be paid, it seems that the salary is steep for a club that has only risen to the top in the last year or so. The salaray may be an issue in the future, as Gençlerbirliği player Michael Stewart quickly found out. Stewart had not been paid by his club for a good few weeks, and has recently appealed for the cancellation of the contract due to unpaid wages. While Bursaspor certainly has more money than the Ankara based club, the salary is still a question mark. Miller may have a good goal scoring prowess while in the Scottish Premier League, but he'll have to adapt to a physical league in Turkey.

The league has been known to be a very physical league at times. Players do complain about the physicality from time to time, or players not used to harsh tackles. Miller will be a target for defenders who will look to snuff out any Bursaspor attack going through Miller.

The fans of Bursaspor have been very warm in its reception of Miller. While Miller looked to be very dour when he had arrived in Istanbul, which could be attested to the fact that there were many reporters in his face looking for an interview or some sort of comment. After arriving in Bursa, he was greeted by thousands of Bursaspor fans and seemed to be more upbeat. The fans will love him if he keeps up the scoring rate he had at Rangers, but Bursaspor will have to adjust their attack with adding him to the squad. The atmosphere he will experience at Bursa can rival any of the big 3 Istanbul clubs. But whether Bursaspor fans will regard him warmly in the future will have to depend on how he performs on the field.

Miller recently made his debut for Bursaspor in a 0-0 draw against Konyaspor. Coming on in the 65^th minute, he attempted to get into space for Bursaspor's attack. However, in the end he didn't feature much. To be fair, this was his first appearance for Bursaspor. The real impact of Miller's signing with Bursaspor will come in the bigger games, with opponents such as Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, and Trabzonspor to name a few. Should Miller help his club to beat these clubs, Bursaspor fans will surely regard him as a great addition to the club.

Perhaps Miller's greatest adjustment will have to be to the country and city itself. Bursa is better known as a destination for skiers and winter sports aficionados. It may not have the flair of Istanbul, but it is the fourth largest city in Turkey. Compared to Istanbul, there isn't much in terms of nightlife. However, Miller's job will have to be a footballer first. Players going out for a drink at a bar or such isn't tolerated as much in Turkey as say Great Britain, as long as he doesn't drink too much. Also, heading into a majority Muslim country can affect some players who haven't seen a Muslim country. Bursa is one of the more liberal cities in Turkey so he shouldn't have a problem adapting there.

All in all, the move seems like it may work out. Should Miller adjust his game to adjust to the physical Turkish style, he should be able to score goals like he did at Rangers. Considering the amount being paid for Miller, Bursaspor fans are not going to be expecting less.

Five Questions to Ask for the 2nd Half of the Season

2011-01-13T17:45:00.001-08:00

With the second half of the Turkish Super League season on the horizon, there are many questions to ask. After a first half of the season featuring Anatolian teams leading the way for much of the season, it seems likely that the league title will stay outside of Istanbul for a second consecutive season. That hasn't happened since 1977, when Trabzonspor repeated as champions. So with that there are five questions to ask before the second half of the Turkish Super League begins.

1) Will the league title stay in Anatolia?

One of the stories during the first half of the Turkish Super League season was the performances of the Anatolian teams, particularly Trabzonspor, Bursaspor, and Kayserispor. Except for a freak loss to Manisaspor at home, Trabzonspor has been the class of the league. Trabzonspor has given up the least amount of goals so far with ten, and scored the most so far with forty. Manager Senol Gunes has created a squad that has come a long way since he initially took over at the beginning of 2010. The team may have suffered a heartbreaking loss in Europe to Liverpool, but Trabzonspor has not only been the class of the league, they have a healthy five point gap between themselves and Bursaspor at the top of the table. Defending champions Bursaspor have proven that they are not a fluke this season, as they had a string of eight consecutive weeks at the top of the table, only to be overtaken by Trabzonspor. Ertugrul Saglam's squad may have suffered a disappointing Champions League run, but that should be taken as a learning experience. They have been quiet during the winter transfer window. However, as the only team within reasonable striking distance of Trabzonspor at the top of the table, Bursaspor is able to overtake Trabzonspor should the leaders stumble. Bursaspor currently has 37 points, five points out of first place. Kayserispor has stumbled a bit at the end of the first half. A few injuries to some key players such as Franco Cangele and Marcelo Zayaleta have cost Kayserispor points as the first half of the season wound down. However, manager Shota Arveladze has done well even with the injuries and has Kayserispor within one point of overtaking Fenerbahçe for third place. This is an impressive job considering that this is Arveladze's first managerial job of any kind. With players recovering, it would not be surprising for Kayserispor to aim even higher. Considering that the big 3 Istanbul clubs have stumbled this season, an Anatolian champion is very likely.

2) Considering they have been in the transfer headlines, how will Beşiktaş do?

Beşiktaş have stolen the transfer headlines again. With the transfers of Hugo Almeida from Werder Bremen, Simao Sabrosa from Atletico Madrid, and the loan of Manuel Fernandes, there seems to be a Portuguese revolution occurring at Beşiktaş. With these moves, and considering Ricardo Quaresma and Guti are already on the club, Beşiktaş has retooled for what seems like a run at the Turkish league title and a deep run in the Europa League knockout rounds. Even with these transfers, team chemistry is the big question here. The three new players will have to get acclimated quickly because of tremendous expectations from the Beşiktaş fans, especially from the Çarşi supporters group. They will also have to get used to manager Bernd Schuster's system, and get used to their new teammates. In order to make room for them, Beşiktaş will have to release a few foreigners or send them out on loan. Beşiktaş is currently in fifth place with 28 points, 14 points out of first place. So it seems that the best that Beşiktaş can do is possibly get the second Champions League spot. However, a few bad results for the teams above them currently, and Beşiktaş could be right back in the championship mix. Unlike the other teams though, Beşiktaş will also have the Europa League knockout rounds to contend with. Should they make a deep run, fatigue could also be a factor not only in Europe, but domestically as well. It's very likely that Beşiktaş will not win the league title this year, but they can be considered a favorite for the league title next year.

3) How will Galatasaray recover from a disastrous first half of the season?

If someone asked a Galatasaray fan, before the season started, where they would be when the winter break came around, they'd most likely say either leading or within striking distance of the leader in the table. Ninth place at this point would have been unthinkable, but that is exactly where Galatasaray is at the moment. After getting off to their worst start in nearly twenty years, sacking previous manager Frank Rijkaard before the Fenerbahçe derby, and bringing in Gheorghe Hagi as the new manager, winning a league title this season for Galatasaray is near impossible. Add to the fact that the Zveijdan Misimovic transfer has been nothing short of a total disaster. Injuries have also taken their toll on Galatasaray as well, considering team captain Arda Turan's lengthy absence due to injury. Galatasaray will be opening up a brand new stadium and their fans are very antsy as to the team's performance in the previous seventeen weeks. They will expect Galatasaray to come right out of the gate and win, nothing else will suffice. They have made some moves during the transfer window, most notably bringing in Fenerbahçe outcast Colin Kazim-Richards and Juan Culio from CFR Cluj. But considering that the first half of the season was a disaster, Galatasaray will need to have a lot of results to go their way in order for them to even get near the European spots in the table.

4) Is Fenerbahçe going to contend for the league title?

Fenerbahçe is probably the only team out of the Istanbul big 3 that can consider their first half of the season to be somewhat successful. While third place and a nine point gap between them and the top might not look like a success, considering the comparative performances of their inner Istanbul rivals, Fenerbahçe looks in better shape. Manager Aykut Kocaman has done well considering that Fenerbahçe has the toughest start to the season, playing Kayserispor, Trabzonspor, and Beşiktaş within the first five weeks. The start to the second half of the season will be extremely rough for Fenerbahçe. They have an away match to Antalyaspor to start off, host both Trabzonspor and Kayerispor in weeks 19 and 21 respectively, and have to travel to Inonu stadium to play Beşiktaş in week 22. Manisaspor is sandwiched between the Trabzonspor and Kayserispor matches, and Manisaspor is not a club to be taken lightly. So the first five weeks of the second half for Fenerbahçe is possibly the toughest schedule in the league. Fenerbahçe recently lost to TFF 2^nd division (third tier) outfit Yeni Malatyaspor in the Turkish Cup group stages, thereby eliminating them from the competition entirely. However, with one less competition to worry about, Fenerbahçe can concentrate on climbing the ladder and potentially contend for the league title. Fenerbahçe has been quiet on the transfer front, not making any transfers to bolster their roster. Either Aykut Kocaman knows something that Fenerbahçe fans don't, or the second half of the season will be a long one for Fenerbahçe fans.

5) Who will win the Turkish Super League championship?

The question everyone wants answered. The only reasonable answer to this question is to find out by watching. A lot of interesting stories will develop in the second half of the season. This may be another year where the championship will be raised by a club outside of Istanbul. Or the championship will return to Istanbul after a freak occurrence in the Turkish football landscape. Regardless, it should be a second half to watch.

Hooliganism Rears Its Ugly Head, Again.

2010-12-06T14:13:00.001-08:00

It was supposed to be another match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor. With Beşiktaş needing a win to climb to contention for the Turkish Super League title, and Bursaspor needing a win to keep pace with Trabzonspor at the top of the standings, this match was important for both clubs. Beşiktaş won the match 1-0. However, the big news from this match wasn't the result itself, but what happened before the match got started.

A fierce rivalry between the two clubs resulted in hooliganism rearing its ugly head in Turkey. Two Bursaspor fans were stabbed by Beşiktaş fans and had to be hospitalized. Another Bursaspor fan was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries and a Beşiktaş fan was left bleeding after being hit with a water bottle. Five people have been detained by police due to these events.

Fans of the two clubs had been banned from travelling to the away matches for five years. This is due to the fact that Bursaspor fans blame Beşiktaş for, what they thought was intentionally losing matches against Bursaspor's rivals to have Bursaspor relegated to the 1^st division. This happened at the end of the 2003-04season. Bursaspor fans weren't happy about it and took out their frustrations on Beşiktaş fans. Sunday's match marked the first time that Bursaspor fans could travel to Beşiktaş' Inonu stadium to watch their club face Beşiktaş, as the ban was lifted for the supporters of both clubs.

The security detail for the match only was at about 1,600 policemen. Selim Kurtulan, the head of the Bursaspor Teksas supporters group, blamed the police for not providing enough security. Kurtulan told Dogan News Agency that the crowd trouble "was due to the malevolent attitude of the police and a few rotten apples in a 1,600 strong group."

Regardless of whether the police or the supporters led to the violence, these sorts of events have reared their ugly head yet again in Turkey. It was only a few months ago when Gaziantepspor had to forfeit a match due to crowd trouble. Yet again, supporters seem to think they are the show and the football match is only a backdrop for their shenanigans.

So what should be done? Should there be more security for these high tension matches? Should the ban be reinstated? Should the TFF fine both clubs a hefty amount of cash for these events?

It seems that no matter what the punishment handed down may be, there will be cries of favoritism to one club depending on what side of the fence one's support lies. The TFF should make an example of both clubs, but then there could be conspiracy theories on how the TFF shows favoritism.

This incident at the Inonu stadium has highlighted a problem which has only been swept under the rug by Turkish football officials and fans. On Sunday, blood was spilled, fights were fought, and four people had to go to the hospital. For what was the point, because of the "my team is better than yours" argument? This problem has become almost a norm in Turkey and it has to stop. Something has to change within Turkish football and supporter mentality.

Then again, who's to say when this will happen again? And if instead of people sent to the hospital, people will be attending a funeral for a dead supporter?

Anatolia Rising

2010-11-23T16:23:00.001-08:00

The Turkish Super League has played a third of its season. Go ahead and take a look at the standings. You can find them at this link. For the first time in Turkish top flight football, going back to the establishment of top flight professional football in 1959, none of the Istanbul big 3 clubs are in the top 3 spots this far into a season. People may not have noticed due to the fact that, here in the United States, the Turkish league is noticed by Turkish Americans or hardcore fans of the sport.

So what has gotten into the league this year? Considering all the big transfers that are hyped to the moon for the big 3 Istanbul clubs, and the fact that the money the big 3 Istanbul clubs have is far greater, one would think that the big 3 would have no trouble taking care of business against the smaller Anatolian sides. With players such as Guti and Ricardo Quaresma of Beşiktaş, Juan Pablo Pino, Milan Baros, and Arda Turan for Galatasaray, and Alex, Miroslav Stoch, and Emre Belozoglu for Fenerbahçe, the big 3 Istanbul clubs have players far better in quality. So why is there the changing of the guard?

Perhaps this is a residual effect of Bursaspor's historic league title last season. Nobody had expected that Bursaspor of all clubs would win the league title, much less get into a European spot. But considering that an Anatolian club won the league for the first time since 1984, it has perhaps given the impression that other Anatolian clubs can not only compete with the big boys, but can beat them at any given chance.

The current leaders, Trabzonspor, have had a championship tradition going back to their golden generation of the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The goalkeeper from that time and current manager, Senol Gunes, has a team that looks like they might contend for their first title since the 1983-1984 season. With a gem of a goalkeeper in Onur Kivrak, a backline anchored by the venerable Egemen Korkmaz, a creative dynamo in Gustavo Colman, and finishers in Umut Bulut and Jaja, Trabzonspor looks like they have the necessary tools to finally break their championship drought. Players that should also be mentioned are the speedy Ibrahima Yattara, and the defensive midfielders Ceyhun Gulselam and Selcuk Inan, who can transition the team from defense to offense with relative ease. There's a reason why Trabzonspor gave Liverpool a scare in their Europa League qualifying tie, and if Trabzonspor got another chance, they'd most likely be in European competition. Gunes has a reputation for being one of the more intelligent coaches in the league. Ever since coming back from a stint at FC Seoul in the K-League, Gunes has built Trabzonspor into a contender, even winning the Turkish Cup last season. With many weapons at their arsenal, Trabzonspor look to be the favorites to take the Turkish league title this season and ends their league title drought.

Bursaspor have proven this year that they are not a fluke. Regardless of their Champions League performances, in which they haven't scored a goal, much less win a match, their league play has been stellar. While their only loss of the season came at home against Trabzonspor, Bursaspor is still keeping pace and look like they can get the lead at any time should the other contenders slip. Bursaspor can count on their "big 3" of Volkan Sen, Sercan Yildirim, and Ozan Ipek to create chances for goals. While all three of those players have not been on the pitch together as much as last season, those three have proved that they are players of quality, and should be on the radar for other European leagues. Omer Erdogan, an ageless wonder in his early 30s, anchors a back line that has only given up seven goals so far this season. While some players such as Leonel Nunez and Frederico Insua are still adapting to the league, Bursaspor are proving their mettle in the league. While many point to their Champions League failures, to be fair, Bursaspor have never been in a competition of that sort of prestige before. No team seems to do well in their first season of Champions League play, and Bursaspor is no exception to that rule. As for the Turkish league, Bursaspor are proving that they want another title and destroy the notion that only the Istanbul big 3 should have a stranglehold on the title.

While it may be surprising to those who follow Turkish football in Turkey, and elsewhere, but not surprising to those who follow the sport far more closely, Kayserispor is becoming a legitimate title contender. While his experience as a manager has only been with Kayserispor, Shota Arveladze has built on the foundations left by former Kayserispor managers Ertugrul Saglam (currently Bursaspor manager) and Tolunay Kafkas (currently Gaziantepspor manager) and has gotten Kayserispor to play to their potential. Kayserispor is considered to be a dark horse in the running for the title. Kayserispor can boast the best defense in the Super League so far, as they have given up only six goals so far in the campaign. Perhaps if lady luck had smiled on them a few more times, they'd most likely lead the league. What's more amazing is that they have been playing well without highly regarded striker Franco Cangele, who has been out of action since tearing his ACL against Fenerbahçe in week 4 of the season. Kayserispor can also boast stellar Turkish players, such as Serdar Kesimal (recently called up for the national team match against the Netherlands), Selim Teber, and Omer Sismanoglu. Sismanoglu is one to watch for down the right wing, as his performance against Galatasaray this past week have put people on notice. Their foreign contingent consists of players who fill in key roles for the club. Alexsandre Amulashivili is a good compliment to Kesimal in the central of defense. Marcelo Zayaleta is a finisher in the mold of what Ariza Makukula provided for Kayserispor on loan last season, in that he can finish off attacks by banging the ball into the back of the net. Jonathan Santana is an attacking midfielder that can create plays and score when needed. Kayserispor is a team to watch out for, and probably one of the more complete teams at the moment.

This season has been a weird season for those following Turkish football. People are used to seeing the big 3 Istanbul clubs occupy the top of the table. But now the league has become more competitive. With Trabzonspor back into prominence, Bursaspor looking to repeat, and Kayserispor looking to make history of their own, it will not be a surprise to see any of the three Anatolian clubs currently occupying the top three spots to win the league title. Fans of the big 3 Istanbul clubs will complain that their teams should be doing better. However, this should be a wake-up call for everyone following Turkish football that there is other teams ready and hungry to become champions. The big 3 should not be resting on their laurels, and this season has proved it.

Derby of Turkey: Fenerbahçe & Galatasaray Play To 0-0 Draw.

2010-10-24T16:10:00.001-07:00

With many storylines coming into this Sunday, this was one of the most interesting matches between eternal rivals Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray in quite some time. How would Gheorghe Hagi do in his first match back in charge of Galatasaray? Could Fenerbahçe be peaking at the right time in the season? How would Galatasaray recover from a two match losing streak? Could Fenerbahçe keep the winning streak against Galatasaray at the Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium going?

The match started out with Fenerbahçe kicking off. A quick corner in the first minute led to Fenerbahçe's Mehmet Topuz attempt a header on goal, but ended up in Galatasaray goalkeeper Aykut Ercetin's hands. Galatasaray almost had a goal in the fourth minute. After a pass from Elano, Juan Pablo Pino had a shot that only got saved off the goal line by the effort of Gokhan Gonul. Volkan Demirel came out of his goal to cover Pino, but Pino got off the shot that was prevented from going into the goal by Gonul. Pino would get another chance in the 12^th minute. His shot was saved by Fenerbahçe's Volkan Demirel, and the ball would just barely miss the goal going out. Fenerbahçe had a chance in the 19^th minute. Mamadou Niang's volley was blocked by Galatasaray's Lorik Cana. Emre Belozoglu's attempt was also blocked by Cana, and Galatasaray cleared the danger. In the 23^rd minute, Lucas Neill's volley was brilliantly saved by Volkan Demirel. Neill would get a yellow card one minute later for a rough foul. The 29^th minute found Juan Pablo Pino with another attempt on goal, but missed. His shot didn't miss by much. Emre Belozoglu got a yellow card for a tactical foul in the 35^th minute, as Galatasaray went on a counterattack. A rough foul from Galatasaray's Ayhan Akman in the 42^nd minute resulted in a yellow card, and Akman will miss Galatasaray's match next week against Antalyaspor. The first half ended with the score at 0-0.

Galatasaray kicked off the second half. In the 47^th minute, a cross by Fenerbahçe's Miroslav Stoch resulted in Alex heading the ball out. In the 51^st minute, Mamadou Niang almost had a goal but his shot was saved by Ercetin. Servet Cetin tried to clear the ball after the shot, but the clearance went off Ercetin by accident and was out for a corner. In the 57^th minute, Stoch decided to try a long range shot that went over the bar by about two feet. In the 64^th minute, Alex's corner was headed out by Mehmet Topuz, as Fenerbahçe continued to have frustration in front of the Galatasaray goal. In the 68^th minute, Fenerbahçe's Diego Lugano picked up a yellow card, and he will miss Fenerbahçe's match next week against Bursaspor due to yellow card accumulation. In the 74^th minute, Stoch laid off a pass to Semih Senturk, but Senturk's effort went out. Galatasaray had two efforts to win the match right at the end of the match. In the 90^th minute, Emre Colak's long range effort was a weak effort and ended up in the hands of Volkan Demirel. In the third minute of three of stoppage time, PIno nearly had the winner for Galatasaray. It took a clutch save from Volkan Demirel to prevent Galatasaray from stealing the match. The match ended without a goal from both Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, but provided good entertainment for the casual fan. Galatasaray got a point, and this was their first points of any kind on the road against Fenerbahçe since 1999, the last time Galatasaray won at the Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium.

There were perhaps two observations from this match. One was the effort of Juan Pablo Pino serving as the lone forward for Galatasaray. Pino, normally a wing player, was one of the men of the match. His play as the lone forward gave Fenerbahçe's defense much to think about. Without the services of Milan Baros to injury, and without Mehmet Batdal being used, Pino was a makeshift forward. But Pino did so well that perhaps Galatasaray manager Gheorghe Hagi may use him until Milan Baros returns from his injury. The second observation is the terrible job referee Bulent Yildirim did in refereeing this match. Yildirim let many harsh fouls go uncalled and, while he did give out some yellow cards, didn't whistle enough fouls. He basically let the match get out of hand and got intimidated by the match atmosphere and the players. His treatment of Lucas Neill in particular was disturbing. Neill, regardless of a yellow card in the first half, played very harshly and some of his tackles were dangerous. Yildirim let him gets off with warnings, when it would have better suited to give a card, and Neill should have been ejected from this game because of his play.

Regardless, another derby has come and gone in Turkey. Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray will meet again in the spring, and the anticipation for the derby will begin again. What will be unique about the return leg is that it will be the first derby in the brand new Turk Telekom Arena. The stadium is in the Seyrantepe district and Galatasaray will start playing at their new stadium tentatively in January. Galatasaray fans will be happy that their team got a point against their fiercest rivals in their stadium, their first point of any kind at Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium since 1999. The second Gheorghe Hagi era didn't get off to the best start for Galatasaray, but a point will be welcome after two consecutive losses. For Fenerbahçe, it seems that they were lucky to get the draw, due to Galatasaray being the better team for much of the match. Fenerbahçe still is ahead of their rivals in the standings, but will be disappointed that they couldn't get the three points needed to keep pace with the leaders in the Turkish Super League table.

Gheorghe Hagi Appointed Galatasaray Manager

2010-10-21T09:43:00.001-07:00

Galatasaray has reached an agreement with Gheorghe Hagi to become their new manager, replacing Frank Rijkaard. Hagi, who previously played for Galatasaray from 1996 to 2001, signed a contract for 1.5 years. This will be Hagi's second stint as manager of Galatasaray, as he previously was in charge in the 2004-05 season, coming over from Bursaspor. Hagi led Galatasaray to the Turkish Cup that season, beating Fenerbahçe in the final 5-1.

Hagi's assistant will be Tugay Kerimoglu. The former Galatasaray, Rangers, and Blackburn Rovers player was the consultant with the Galatasaray youth teams. Kerimoglu played with Hagi from 1996 to 1999.

The Galatasaray sports club put out this statement:

"The Galatasaray Professional Football A Team has agreed with Gheorghe Hagi to become the technical director, and agreed with Tugay Kerimoglu as the assistant.

At 3:30pm on October 22, 2010, Hagi will be presented at a signing ceremony at the Metin Oktay Facility Turgay Vardar press conference room."

Frank Rijkaard Leaves Galatasaray

2010-10-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

Frank Rijkaard has been let go as the manager of Galatasaray by what the club claims as a contract termination by "mutual consent".

Rijkaard was signed to a two year contract in June of 2009, succeeding interim manager Bulent Korkmaz. His first year at the Istanbul club saw Galatasaray place third in the 2009-10 season.

A statement from Galatasaray said that as of October 20, 2010 "manager Frank Rijkaard, assistant manager Johan Neeskens, and other assistants have had their contracts terminated by mutual consent. We thank Frank Rijkaard for his efforts and work to date, and sharing with us his know-how and experience."

Rumors around the club are that Fatih Terim is set to take over for his third stint with the club. Tugay Kerimoglu, who had previously played for the club as well as Blackburn Rovers, and is currently the manager of the youth teams, takes over on an interim basis.

Galatasaray currently are ninth in the Spor Toto Super League standings with a record of four wins and four losses, giving them 12 points. Galatasaray currently is on a two game losing streak, and play fierce rivals Fenerbahçe this Sunday.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 8 Recap

2010-10-19T19:28:00.001-07:00

After a disappointing weekend involving the Turkish national team, fans were looking forward to Spor Toto Super League action. With the always anticipated Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray derby coming next week, both of those teams would look to get wins to gain momentum towards the showdown next week. This week would see upsets for two of the big three Istanbul clubs, and the leaders starting to stumble.

Bursa's Ataturk stadium has been a fortress for the defending champions Bursaspor. While Bursaspor hasn't lost a match in their home for almost a year, they got tested by one of the season's surprise packages in Karabukspor. Bursaspor had to do without the services of Volkan Sen, who was left off the roster due to disciplinary reasons. The match started off hot and goals were coming in early. A penalty in the 10^th minute for Bursaspor was scored by Turgay Bahadir, putting Bursaspor in the lead. Karabukspor won a penalty of their own in the 13^th minute, and Florin Cernat converted the spot kick to tie the match. Turgay Bahadir struck again for Bursaspor in the 24^th minute to give Bursaspor the league again. Ten minutes later, Florin Cernat brought the score back level for Karabukspor. Cernat later suffered an injury in the first half leading to his substitution. Cernat was thought to be out for the rest of the first half of the season, but his downtime was later reduced to four weeks. The second half saw the same level of furious play from both clubs, but the match ended 2-2. Bursaspor played to their second draw in two consecutive weeks of league play.

With a new manager in Bulent Uygun, Eskişehirspor hosted Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor looking to gain their first win in league. The municipal team from Istanbul looked to consolidate their mid-table position. Batuhan Karadeniz scored in the 33^rd minute for Eskişehirspor to lead Eskişehirspor to victory. Eskişehirspor had to play much of the match with ten men due to Koray Aslan's red card in the 33^rd minute. Eskişehirspor got the Bulent Uygun era off to a winning start, but they have a lot of work to do to climb back up the table.

Gaziantepspor hosted Bucaspor in the January 5^th stadium in Adana. This match was played behind closed doors due to the events from week 5 in which Gaziantepspor's match against Bursaspor was abandoned. The hosts got a penalty in the 9^th minute, in which Sume El Yasa was brought down in the box. Ismael Sosa converted the spot kick to put the hosts up 1-0. Ivelin Popov doubled the lead in the 44^th minute, as he converted a cross from Sosa to a goal. Bucaspor tried to make a comeback in the second half, but Gaziantepspor went on to win the match 2-0.

With Beşiktaş losing to Trabzonspor 1-0 in week 7, the match in week 8 against Manisaspor looked to be a cakewalk. Even without Ricardo Quaresma and Guti in the lineup, and with this match in Inonu stadium, Beşiktaş was expected to beat Manisaspor. It didn't start out that way as Manisaspor took a shock lead through Promise Issac in the 9^th minute. Beşiktaş responded with a goal of their own as Bobo tied the match in the 14^th minute. The halftime break saw the match tied at one goal apiece. Manisaspor regained the lead in the 52^nd minute, as Jimmy Dixon scored. Beşiktaş' chances to win the match took a blow two minutes later, when Rodrigo Tabata picked up a second yellow card for a tactical foul. Tabata previously picked up a yellow near the end of the first half for simulation. Manisaspor then scored again in the 69^th minute through Yigit Gokoglan, who had come into the game five minutes earlier replacing Ariza Makukula, shocking the Inonu crowd. The match evened out from a player standpoint in the 81^st minute, as Manisaspor's Eren Aydin picked up his second yellow card of the match, leading to his ejection. There came a glimmer of hope for a draw for Beşiktaş in the 89^th minute, as Fabian Ernst scored to pull the deficit back to one goal. Stoppage time saw missed opportunities from Mert Nobre, Filip Holosko, and Roberto Hilbert as Beşiktaş were desperate to get the draw. Manisaspor pulled off the upset 3-2 to give Beşiktaş a shock result going into Beşiktaş' Europa League match against FC Porto.

Gençlerbirliği hosted Antalyaspor in a match between mid-table sides in Ankara. Billy Mehmet got the scoring started in the 7^th minute, giving Gençlerbirliği the quick lead. Kerem Seras tied the match for Antalyaspor in the 30^th minute and the first half ended 1-1. Antalyaspor came out quickly in the second half, but Ermin Zec scored in the 62^nd minute to put Gençlerbirliği back ahead 2-1. Antalyaspor would get quick scores from Tita in the 79^th and 82^nd minutes in order to give Antalyaspor the lead and eventually the win 3-2. Antalyaspor continued their slow climb up the standings by winning four out of their last five matches, including this match. After the match, it was announced that Gençlerbirliği manager Thomas Doll was sacked.

With Bursaspor dropping points, Trabzonspor looked to close the gap between first and second places. They travelled to Istanbul to face Kasımpaşa, dead last in the standings. This match basically turned into the Trabzon goal show. Alanzinho scored in the 1^st minute to give Trabzonspor the lead, and it basically went downhill for Kasımpaşa from there. Burak Yilmaz scored in the 33^rd and 46^th minutes. Umut Bulut, starting in the place of Teofilo Gutierrez, scored in the 44^th and 81^st minutes. Jaja, who came into the match replacing Alanzinho in the 62^nd minute, scored in the 66^th and 83^rd minutes. Trabzonspor thrashed Kasımpaşa 7-0, and continued the misery for Kasımpaşa as they continue to occupy the bottom of the league standings.

Also looking to gain points on leaders Bursaspor is dark horse contenders Kayserispor. Kayserispor hosted Sivasspor in the Kadir Has stadium looking to close the point gap with Bursaspor and keep pace with Trabzonspor as well. Without the services of Mehmet Yildiz and Souleymane Keita, left off the roster due to disciplinary reasons, it was a tall order for Sivasspor to at least get a draw on the road. Sivasspor took the lead in the 20^th minute with a goal from Bruno Zita. Kayserispor responded in the 28^th minute as Serdar Kesimal tied the match. The second half saw Kayserispor come out aggressive. Aleksandr Amisulashivili gave Kayserispor the lead in the 52^nd minute. Sivasspor would see the deficit increase to two goals as Mamadou Diallo scored an own goal to give Kayserispor a 3-1 lead. Marcelo Zayaleta put the game out of reach in the 83^rd minute as Kayserispor went on to win the match 4-1.

After a shock loss on the road to Karabukspor, Galatasaray came home to the Ali Sami Yen stadium in order to recover before the important derby next week against Fenerbahçe. Facing Ankaragücü, Galatasaray looked to give their fans a victory to give them momentum going into the derby. It didn't look good for Galatasaray in the 3^rd minute. Metin Akan scored off an Ankaragücü counterattack to give the visitors a shock 1-0 lead. The score going into the halftime break was Ankaragücü leading 1-0, and the fans of Galatasaray looked frustrated. Ankaragücü struck again in the 51^st minute, as Ozgur Cek doubled the lead. Galatasaray got back into the match in the 57^th minute, as Milan Baros scored. But hope for a Galatasaray comeback faded three minutes later, as Stanislav Sestak gave Ankaragücü a 3-1 lead. Two minutes after that, Galatasaray goalkeeper Ufuk Ceylan received a direct red card for handling the ball outside his box in a one-on-one situation, leaving him out for next week's derby. Milan Baros reduced the deficit for Galatasaray to one goal as he scored in the 65^th minute. However, if getting reduced to ten men wasn't bad enough, Baros left the match in the 85^th minute, as he picked up an injury leaving him doubtful for the derby next week. Two minutes into stoppage time, Ankaragücü sealed the win with Turgut Dogan Sahin scoring to make the final score 4-2 to Ankaragücü. A second consecutive loss for Galatasaray now leads to questions about the team's future, as it was rumored after this match that Frank Rijkaard may be sacked either before or after the derby.

Fenerbahçe looked to continue a recent run of good form. Going on the road to face Konyaspor it seemed as if that Fenerbahçe would be going into the derby next week on a high note. It didn't look good for Fenerbahçe in the 14^th minute, as Ozer Hurmaci, starting in place of Alex de Souza, was injured and was replaced by Semih Senturk. Hurmaci later was listed as doubtful for next week's derby. Emre Belozoglu got the scoring started in the 26^th minute, as Fenerbahçe took a 1-0 lead. Konyaspor got a tying goal through Peter Grajciar in the 31^st minute. But Fenerbahçe took over the match three minutes later, as Semih Senturk made the score 2-1 to Fenerbahçe. Miroslav Stoch added a third goal for Fenerbahçe in the 41^st minute, and Fenerbahçe went into the halftime break up 3-1. Diego Lugano added a fourth goal off a header and Fenerbahçe cruised to a 4-1 victory.

After the matches this week, it is striking to see that, currently, five out of the top six positions in the Spor Toto Super League are occupied by Anatolian teams. The places from 1^st to 6^th are occupied by Bursaspor, Trabzonspor, Kayserispor, Fenerbahçe, Karabukspor, and Antalyaspor. Next week features the most anticipated date of the Turkish football calendar, as Fenerbahçe hosts Galatasaray on Sunday October 24^th. Also featured next week is an important clash on Monday October 25^th, as Beşiktaş travels to the Kadir Has stadium to face Kayserispor. But the eyes of Turkey will be at the Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium for one of the biggest derby matches in the world.

Turkey Announces Roster For October Euro 2012 Qualifiers

2010-10-02T12:06:00.001-07:00

The roster for the Turkish national team was announced for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Germany and Azerbaijan. The roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe), Hakan Arıkan, Cenk Gönen (Beşiktaş), Onur Recep Kıvrak (Trabzonspor)

Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe), Sabri Sarıoğlu, Servet Çetin, Hakan Kadir Balta (Galatasaray), Ömer Erdoğan (Bursaspor), İbrahim Toraman, İsmail Köybaşı (Beşiktaş), Ceyhun Gülselam (Trabzonspor)

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Bayern Münih), Mehmet Aurelio, Necip Uysal (Beşiktaş), Selçuk Şahin, Emre Belözoğlu, Özer Hurmacı (Fenerbahçe), Nuri Şahin (Borussia Dortmund), Selçuk İnan (Trabzonspor),
Arda Turan (Galatasaray)

Forwards: Tuncay Şanlı (Stoke City), Halil Altıntop (Eintracht Frankfurt), Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe), Mevlüt Erdinç (Paris Saint Germain), Nihat Kahveci (Beşiktaş), Sercan Yıldırım (Bursaspor)

There are a couple of interesting call-ups for Turkey with this roster. Although the roster is nearly the same as it was for the matches last month, two call-ups particularly stand out.

Cenk Gönen is the first standout call-up. Gönen has proven himself to be a goalkeeper who has made fewer mistakes than his counterpart on Beşiktaş, Hakan Arikan. Arikan has been at the wrong end of mistakes made in the Beşiktaş net in the previous two weeks of matches. Arikan was saved in the previous week against Antalyaspor with a potent Beşiktaş offense. But it seems that this might be Gönen's time at Beşiktaş. Gönen has certainly earned his call up here, although it's highly doubtful he will play against either two countries.

The other interesting call-up is Özer Hurmacı. Hurmacı has barely featured for Fenerbahçe this season. Most of the time, Hurmacı has been featured coming off the bench. He has barely featured in the last few weeks for Fenerbahçe. He has a lot of potential, but it is still yet to be seen whether that potential is to be realized.

Perhaps the most glaring omission is Mehmet Topal of Valencia. From reading reports from blogs and watching highlights, it seems as if Topal has been one of the key acquisitions for Valencia this season. Topal has been quiet, but does his job effectively, and is starting to become a key player in the Valencia squad. Topal would be a far better choice than the ageing Mehmet Aurelio or the mediocre Selcuk Sahin.

Turkey is scheduled to play Germany in Berlin on Friday, October 8^th and Azerbaijan on Tuesday, October 12^th. The match against Germany will pit both nations who have not dropped points so far in the qualifying campaign. One of the interesting stories coming out of that match will be the crowd make-up, as Turks make up the largest minority group in Germany. The match has the possibility to become a "home" match for the Turkish national team. Four days later, Turkey will travel to Baku to face Azerbaijan. This is more of a battle of brotherly nations, as both countries share similar cultures and speak different dialects of the same language.

Turkey will have a huge test coming up against the third place team from the most recent World Cup. Even if Turkey does not win against Germany, they can't let that potential loss affect them against Azerbaijan. Turkey has been known as the most erratic national team on earth, and they will have to be on their A game to get maximum points in perhaps their biggest challenge early on in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 6 Recap

2010-09-27T15:47:00.001-07:00

The week after a derby match gets people to catch their breath, and back to normal business when it comes to Turkish soccer. Week 6 of the Spor Toto Super League was more of a "carry on" when it came to play and the results. One team needed to get a win to placate their fans, one team has come roaring back four weeks after panic was setting in, and the leaders continued their fast start.

The week opened in Bursa Ataturk stadium as Bursaspor hosted Bucaspor. Bursa Ataturk stadium has been a fortress for the defending champions, as they haven't lost at home in league play since November. Bursaspor got off to a fast start in the fourth minute. Turgay Bahadir's header came off the post and Huseyin Cimsir scored to put Bursaspor up 1-0. Bursaspor continued to find opportunities to get their second goal. In the 49^th minute, Gokcek Vederson's cross was headed off the post by Omer Erdogan. Sercan Yildirim missed chances in the 61^st and 79^th minutes. Frederico Insua missed a chance in the 83^rd minute off a counterattack. Regardless of the missed chances, Bursaspor will go into their Champions League match against Rangers with much momentum after this 1-0 victory.

The Ankara derby would be the featured match on Saturday. Both Gençlerbirliği and Ankaragücü would be looking for the win after disappointing starts to their seasons. In the 18^th minute, Gençlerbirliği goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge was injured in a collision with Ankaragücü's Roguy Meye, and couldn't continue. He left his spot to backup goalkeeper Ozkan Karabulut. In the 44^th minute, Ankaragücü's Muhammet Hanefi tripped Gençlerbirliği's Serkan Calik in the penalty box, and referee Suleyman Abay pointed to the spot. Shane Smeltz converted the penalty, and Gençlerbirliği got the lead 1-0 going into halftime. Smeltz became the first New Zealand native to score in the history of the Turkish Super League. Ankaragücü tried to make a comeback in the second half, but victory this day went to Gençlerbirliği. Some Ankaragücü fans reacted angrily to the result, and were chanting for the board or head coach Umit Ozat to resign.

After a 1-1 draw last week on the road against Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş were in good spirits. Coming home against Antalyaspor, Beşiktaş looked to get another three points to continue their climb up the standings. Guti did not play in this match due to an injury, but Fabian Ernst was a more than capable replacement. In the 55^th minute, Ernst passed a through ball to Bobo in the box and Bobo converted the chance to put Beşiktaş up 1-0. But it seemed that Beşiktaş was going to be set up for disappointment, when in the 68^th minute, a mistake from Beşiktaş goalkeeper Hakan Arikan led to Tita scoring the tying goal for Antalyaspor. This was the second gaffe in two weeks from the goalkeeper. Arikan would not become the goat in this match, as in the first minute of stoppage time Ernst hooked up with Bobo again, and Bobo scored to make the match 2-1 to Beşiktaş. Antalyaspor's Deniz Baris had a chance in front of the goal at the tail end of the game, but missed wide, and Beşiktaş won 2-1.

Eskişehirspor has been disappointing so far this season, and it seemed that Gaziantepspor gave the Eskişehirspor fans more pain. Eskişehirspor fans protested with five minutes of silence due to their team's poor form. In the 20^th minute, Serdar Kurtulus scored to give Gaziantepspor the lead 1-0. During the last ten minutes of the match, the Eskişehirspor fans chanted for the board and head coach Riza Calimbay to resign. Gaziantepspor won the match 1-0 and gave Eskişehirspor even more misery. Two days after the match, it was announced by Eskişehirspor that Riza Calimbay was sacked as Eskişehirspor head coach.

The match of the week this week featured Kayserispor hosting Trabzonspor at Kadir Has stadium. Before the match, Kayserispor head coach Shota Arveladze saluted the Trabzonspor fans that made the trip to Kayseri. Arveladze previously played for Trabzonspor in the mid-1990s and is considered a legendary figure with the Trabzonspor faithful. The match itself was disappointing. A potential goal from Kayserispor's Onder Turaci in the 51^st minute was called back because of an offside. Cards were abundant in this match as five Kayserispor players received yellow cards, and Trabzonspor's Giray Kacar received his second yellow card and was sent off with 10 minutes to go in the match. The match ended 0-0 and both teams had to do with a point each.

Konyaspor hosted Karabukspor this week in a battle of promoted teams. Ivan Lietava got the scoring started in the second minute as he put Konyaspor in the lead. The 15^th minute saw Florin Cernat tie the match for Karabukspor, and the teams went into halftime tied 1-1. In the 52^nd minute, Karabukspor's Hakan Ozmert gave Karabukspor the lead. But Konyaspor scored in the 68^th minute through Peter Grajciar, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

After starting the season with two consecutive losses, Galatasaray recovered from that start by winning three straight. They hosted Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor, which has given the other two Istanbul giants trouble during their match. Galatasaray got the scoring started in the 5^th minute, as Milan Baros put the ball into the back of the net from a cross from Serkan Kurtulus. In the 13^th minute, a handball was called against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor's Rizvan Sahin in the box and referee Bulent Yildirim pointed to the spot. Baros converted the penalty to double Galatasaray's lead. Baros got the hat trick in the 41^st minute. A pass into the box from Aydin Yilmaz found Baros and Baros finished off the chance. Galatasaray played more conservatively in the second half, as their three goal lead seemed a mountain to climb. Herve Tum got a consolation goal for Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor in the 66^th minute. But it was too big of a hill to climb for the municipal team, as Galatasaray won their fourth straight match with a 3-1 score.

With a win last week, Manisaspor got the Hikmet Karaman era off to a good start. Milan Baros may have gotten a hat trick for Galatasaray, but Canadian international Josh Simpson also got a hat trick himself. Simpson scored in the 14^th, 90^th, and the 90+2 minutes to give Manisaspor a 3-0 victory over Sivasspor. Manisaspor wins their second straight match after starting the season with four straight losses.

The immense expectations placed upon Fenerbahçe by their fans leave little to no room for error. This week Fenerbahçe faced a must win game on the road to Kasımpaşa. This match was played at Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen stadium due to renovations at Kasımpaşa's Recep Tayyip Erdogan stadium, and it would be the final time Fenerbahçe would play at the home of their hated rivals. It didn't look good for Fenerbahçe to start off. Kasımpaşa's Sahin Aygunes scored in the 6^th minute to put Fenerbahçe on the ropes early. Fenerbahçe got their opportunity to tie the match in the 15^th minute. Ersen Martin handled the ball in the penalty box, and Alex de Souza converted the penalty to tie the match 1-1. Fenerbahçe got the lead through Emre Belozoglu in the 21^st minute, and Mamadou Niang padded the lead in the 24^th minute. But Kasımpaşa scored through Ersen Martin one minute later, and it seemed that if Fenerbahçe was to win, it would have to be in a dogfight, as the halftime score saw Fenerbahçe up 3-2. Mamadou Niang scored again in the 64^th minute to give Fenerbahçe a 4-2 lead. It seemed that Fenerbahçe would cruise to the win, and they would emphatically win in stoppage time. Mamadou Niang scored in the 90^th minute to give himself a hat trick, and five minutes into stoppage time, Alex de Souza scored the final goal of the match to give Fenerbahçe an emphatic 6-2 victory over Kasımpaşa. Kasımpaşa's poor start to the season continued, and they continue to occupy last place in the Spor Toto Super League.

As of the posting of this article, it is still unknown whether the Turkish Football Federation will award three points to Bursaspor in a default victory due to the events in the match against Gaziantepspor last week. Bursaspor continues to lead the league as they have not dropped points.

Gaziantepspor Issued Stadium Ban

2010-09-24T12:25:00.001-07:00

Due to the abandoned match against Bursaspor, in which Gaziantepspor fans were throwing objects onto the field, the TFF handed down its punishment earlier today against Gaziantepspor. Gaziantepspor is to play their next home match, which will be in week 7 against Bucaspor, behind closed doors. The match against Bursaspor was abandoned by TFF referee Deniz Coban when one of the linesmen was hit by an object, reportedly a wristwatch, in the back of the head. The linesman, Muharrem Yildiz, required two stitches. It is unknown as of this point what the result of the match will be, whether Bursaspor gets a default 3-0 victory and the three points, or the match will pick up where it left off. Should previous precedent hold, Bursaspor will likely get the 3-0 default victory and three points in the standings.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 5 Recap

2010-09-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

Whenever there is an Istanbul derby, there's always great anticipation. Words are exchanged between supporters, players get psyched, and the country comes to a stop for about two hours. This week was no exception. But there were other matches in week 5 in the Spor Toto Super League that were just as important as the season's first edition of the Istanbul derbies.

The week opened up with Trabzonspor hosting Manisaspor at the Huseyin Avni Aker stadium. With Manisaspor's bad start to the season, and a new head coach, people might have expected Trabzonspor to run roughshod over the bottom dwellers. It certainly looked that way in the 9^th minute, as Selcuk Inan put the hosts ahead in the match. Manisaspor had other ideas. Ariza Makukula made his triumphant return to the goal scoring charts of the Turkish Super League, scoring in the 41^st minute. Josh Simpson scored a goal at the 45^th minute right before the halftime whistle, and Manisaspor were up 2-1 at the break. Makukula added a second goal in the 69^th minute and Manisaspor gained their first victory of the season, beating Trabzonspor 3-1.

Ankaragücü hosted Kasımpaşa at the May 19^th stadium in a match between two clubs off to slow starts. Ankaragücü got the scoring started just before halftime with a goal from Metin Akan. With Kasımpaşa's Gustavo Bebbe getting a direct red card in the 56^th minute, Ankaragücü took advantage and scred in the 58^th minute with a goal from Marek Sapara. The night would turn into misery for Kasımpaşa as Luiz dos Santos scored into his own net in the 67^th minute. Ankaragücü went on to win by the score of 3-0.

Sivasspor hosted Eskişehirspor in a battle of lower table sides. In the 25^th minute, Ceyhun Eris scored off a cross from Mehmet Yildiz to give Sivasspor the lead. It seemed as if that would be the only goal of the match. But there's an old saying, "football is a game of 90 minutes", and it would prove true in this match. In the third minute of three of stoppage time, Adem Sari of Eskişehirspor scored to make the final score 1-1.

Kayserispor looked to continue their run of good form, and they went on the road to Antalya. With the start Kayserispor has had, it looked to be a continuation of their good start. Antalyaspor had other ideas. Serge Djiehoua got the scoring started in the 15^th minute as Antalyaspor went up 1-0. In the 42^nd minute, Marcelo Zayaleta tied the match for Kayserispor as both teams went into the halftime break with the match tied 1-1. Sedat Agcay scored in the 59^th minute to put Antalyaspor in the lead. Kayserispor tried to tie the match by increasing their attacks at the Antalyaspor goal. Antalyaspor held on to win the match 2-1 and gave Kayserispor their first defeat of the season.

With two straight wins to even out their two straight losses to start the season, Galatasaray were ready to make their run towards the title. They had to do it without influential Arda Turan, who continued his recovery from his ankle injury suffered in the national team match against Belgium. They went to the Izmir Ataturk stadium to face Bucaspor. This would serve as a virtual home game for Galatasaray since the Galatasaray fans outnumbered the Bucaspor fans, like the first week of the season when Bucaspor hosted Beşiktaş. Ayhan Akman scored the only goal in this match, as that goal was enough to give Galatasaray the 1-0 win. Galatasaray got their third straight win after losing their first two matches.

Kardemir Karabukspor has defied expectations so far and got their season off to a good start. Hosting Gençlerbirliği, Karabukspor continued to show good form with a 3-0 victory. Emmanuel Emenike, who lit up the goal scoring charts in the Bank Asya 1^st division, scored two goals in the 23^rd and 82^nd minutes. Hakan Ozmert was the other goal scorer for Karabukspor as they won comfortably.

Anytime an Istanbul derby is scheduled, the eyes of Turkey are focused on that match, and with Fenerbahçe hosting Beşiktaş, this was no exception. The Fenerbahçe fans would be happy in the 26^th minute. With slack defending by Beşiktaş, and bad positioning by Beşiktaş goalkeeper Hakan Arikan, Mamadou Niang scored his third goal of the season to put the hosts up 1-0. Further chances by Gokhan Gonul, Niang and Issiar Dia failed to find the net, and Fenerbahçe would only be up by one goal at the halftime break. Beşiktaş took control of the match in the second half. Guti was the midfield maestro, providing passes that set up chances for Beşiktaş. In the 86^th minute, Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel tripped Beşiktaş striker Bobo in the penalty area in a one on one situation, leading to a Beşiktaş penalty. Guti stepped up, and although Demirel got the direction right and got a hand to the ball, the ball went into the back of the net. The match would end in a 1-1 tie and it was obvious that Beşiktaş were the happier side after the match. Fenerbahçe's early season misery continues and fans of the club were calling for head coach Aykut Kocaman to resign.

While the derby was going on, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor hosted Konyaspor. Ali Sami Yen stadium hosted this match, and the first half ended with a 0-0 score. Herve Tum scored in the 63^rd minute for the hosts to give Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor the win 1-0.

Gaziantepspor hosted defending champions Bursaspor in the final match of the week. The halftime score ended with both teams failing to score. In the 56^th minute, Bursaspor got a goal through captain Omer Erdogan. At around the 53^rd minute, Gaziantepspor fans threw objects onto the field, mostly water bottles. In the 63^rd minute, linesman Muharrem Yilmaz was hit in the back of the head, reportedly by a wristwatch, and had to get two stitches to close the wound. Referee Deniz Coban halted the match after the linesman got hit. This isn't the first time that a Bursaspor match has been halted early in this calendar year. Last season, a match in which Bursaspor played Diyarbakirspor in Diyarbakir was halted in the 17^th minute as constant objects thrown from the stands and a rock from the stands hit a linesman. If previous precedent holds, Bursaspor will most likely be awarded a 3-0 victory by default and Gaziantepspor will have to play two to three games behind closed doors.

Turkish National Team Off To Flying Start In Euro 2012 Qualifying

2010-09-07T23:30:00.001-07:00

A new era started for the Turkish national team on August 1^st of this year. It was the day when highly regarded coach Guus Hiddink would officially begin his duties as head coach of the Turkish national football team. Many were looking forward to how Hiddink would handle being a national team coach in a country where emotions run high and expectations are great. After the disappointment of not making the World Cup in 2010, the Turkish national team would have to begin from scratch as they looked to qualify for European championship in 2012. While winning against Romania in August, that match was only a friendly, and the national team got their first real tests in games that matter this past Friday and Tuesday, against Kazakhstan and Belgium respectively.

The first match for the Turkish national team happened this past Friday, as the team flew to Astana to face Kazakhstan. While not the most glamorous opponent to start off, Kazakhstan would not let the Turks take it easy. But Turkey got the goal scoring started in the 24^th minute. A pass through the air into the penalty box was headed towards goal by Omer Erdogan, who made his first international start for Turkey. The ball came off the post, but Arda Turan was in front of the goal and and tapped the ball into the net. Two minutes later, Hamit Altintop scored off a volley from a corner. It was considered one of the best goals of the night in all of the qualifiers. With Turkey going into the halftime break up 2-0, it seemed as though the Turks would cruise through to victory. Kazakhstan did give Turkey some trouble during the second half. However, Nihat Kahveci would score in the 76^th minute to make the final score 3-0.

The real test of Turkey under Guus Hiddink would come in their home match against Belgium this past Tuesday, which took place at the Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium in Istanbul's Kadikoy district. History was against the Turkish national team here, as the last two times they played against Belgium, they drew and lost. Both of these matches came in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, with the draw coming in the second match of the campaign and the loss coming in the second to last match of the qualifying round. While Kazakhstan isn't a formidable opponent, Belgium has been a thorn in the side of the Turkish national team in recent memory. This match would either provide Turkey with a spark going into the October clash against Germany, or provide the Turks with another Belgian jinx.

The match itself had fireworks before and during the match. Eden Hazard, one of the star players for the Belgian national team, would not be in the starting lineup due to injury. The match went back and forth, with captivating football being played from both teams. In the 28^th minute, Belgium would take the lead through Daniel Van Buyten, heading a ball home from a corner taken by Toby Alderweireld. The halftime score saw Belgium up 1-0 and Turkish fans wondering if history would be repeating itself. Three minutes after the second half kicked off, Turkey responded. Ismail Koybasi attacked from the left flank, and his pass would eventually find Hamit Altintop. Altintop's first shot was saved, but he put in the rebound to tie the match at one goal apiece. In the 64^th minute, Vincent Kompany picked up his second yellow card with a harsh foul on Hamit Altintop, leaving Belgium to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. His first yellow came in the first half with a foul on Tuncay Sanli. In the 66^th minute, Hamit Altintop's through ball found Semih Senturk alone on front of the goal, and Senturk converted the chance to a goal to put Turkey in the lead 2-1. Belgium would answer back two minutes later. Van Buyten headed the ball into the net after Turkey goalkeeper Onur Kivrak came off his line to try and clear a Belgium free kick from Kevin Mirallas. Romelu Lukaku headed the ball toward Van Buyten and Van Buyten put the ball into the empty net. In the 78^th minute, Gokhan Gonul's cross found Arda Turan, and Turan scored with a shot taken close to the penalty spot to put Turkey up 3-2. Turan's shot took a defelection off Marouane Fellaini and ended up in the goal to send the stadium into bedlam. Belgium had one last ditch effort in stoppage time, but Turkey went on to win 3-2, winning two straight matches to get their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign off to a flying start.

The Turkish national team and their fans are relieved to see two straight victories to start off. But a tremendous test will be against Germany in Berlin. It will be interesting to see Mesut Ozil, the celebrated German player of Turkish descent, playing against Turkey. Also of Turkish descent playing on the national team is Serdar Tasci, a very capable central defender. Even with Ozil and Tasci, the German team is exceptionally strong, with names such as Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, and Thomas Muller. It will especially be interesting to see the crowd makeup for this match, as Turks comprised the largest minority in Germany. For now though, Turkey will be relieved that they have achieved maximum points so far.

Turkish National Team Roster Announced For Euro 2012 Qualifiers

2010-08-30T17:27:00.001-07:00

The roster for the Turkish national team was announced earlier this week for the Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Belgium. The team is already training for the matches as of the writing of this piece. The roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Cenk Gönen, Onur Kıvrak, Sinan Bolat

Defenders: Gökhan Gönül, Sabri Sarıoğlu, Ömer Erdoğan, Servet Çetin, İbrahim Toraman, Gökhan Zan, Hakan Balta, İsmail Köybaşı

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop, Kazım Kazım, Mehmet Aurelio, Selçuk İnan, Selçuk Şahin, Emre Belözoğlu, Nuri Şahin, Arda Turan, Özer Hurmacı

Forwards: Tuncay Şanlı, Semih Şentürk, Sercan Yıldırım, Nihat Kahveci, Halil Altıntop

Looking at the roster it seems that there are several call-ups that are puzzling. For example, Gökhan Zan has not played a match for Galatasaray this season. While Turkey is not particularly deep in the center back position, Zan is known for being injury prone and not in form at all. Another puzzling call up is Kazim Kazim, who has had displinary problems with Fenerbahçe and has not featured this season either.

One interesting call up here is Ömer Erdoğan of Bursaspor. Although his age is an issue as he is 34 years old, his play for Bursaspor has attracted attention from Turkish fans. His defensive prowess was one of the factors behind Bursaspor winning the Turkish Super League championship last season.

Some glaring omissions are obvious. It is a mystery why Bursaspor's Volkan Şen did not get called up. His play in the league has been stellar and he should have gotten a look. He has only made one appearance for the national team so far, and that was in a friendly. Also not called up is Trabzonspor's Egemen Korkmaz, who could be used as the other central defender next to Servet Çetin. He has been a very capable defender for Trabzonspor this season and with Turkey not having depth at the central defender postion, Korkmaz could be a more than dependable player for that position.

Regardless of the roster call-ups, it will be interesting to see what kind of football the national team of Turkey will play under Guus Hiddink in a match that actually matters. Hiddink has been known not to change things too much starting out. So the roster seems more like a default roster at this point. But the players will have to play for their jobs, because Hiddink will not be afraid to drop anyone who isn't up to snuff.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 3 Review

2010-08-30T16:12:00.001-07:00

Before the international break next week, week 3 of the Spor Toto Super League would be played. With three of four Turkish clubs failing to qualify for the Europa League, the league took priority. Fans would have to settle for Beşiktaş and Bursaspor to fly the Turkish flag in the Europa and Champions Leagues respectively. The three eliminated teams, Trabzonspor, Fenerbahçe, and Galatasaray, would only have the league to worry about. While it is still early in the season, the matches featured interesting action, a good amount of goals, and a blackout.

Friday's matches saw Kayserispor looking to win three straight against Ankaragücü, and Gaziantepspor hosting Konyaspor.

The second of two matches to be played behind closed doors due to fan issues in Ankara, Ankaragücü hosted Kayserispor. Kayserispor won their first two matches under manager Shota Arveladze, and drew first blood through Serdar Kesimal in the 24^th minute. But Ankaragücü equalized through Mehmet Çakır, who came on as a substitute at the beginning of the second half, in the 57^th minute. The match ended in a 1-1 draw and Kayserispor remains without a loss to begin the season.

Konyaspor travelled to the Kamil Ocak stadium to face Gaziantepspor. Mehmet Yilmaz put Gaziantepspor up 1-0 in the 5^th minute. Konyaspor looked like they were going to go into the halftime break down a goal, but Johnnier Montano gave Konyaspor a tying goal before the break. Emre Toraman put the visitors up 2-1 in the 61^st minute. It looked bad for Gaziantepspor as Murat Ceylan got a red card in the 75^th minute, but Gaziantepspor would get a lifeline. Gaziantepspor won a penalty in the 85^th minute, and Julio Cesar de Souza converted from the spot to make the final score 2-2.

Saturday's matches saw the defending champions in action, as well as a local Istanbul derby, and Bucaspor hosting Gençlerbirliği.

With a shocking victory over Beşiktaş last week, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor looked to continue the good run of form against Kasımpaşa. Iskender Alin and Ibrahim Akin, whose goals took down Beşiktaş the previous week, continued their goal scoring ways. Alin scored in the 12^th minute, and Akin scored in the 50^th minute. Herve Tum put the game out of reach with a goal in the 68^th minute, five minutes after coming into the game as a substitute. Kasımpaşa would get a consolation goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

Bursaspor has not given up a goal so far this season, and with the champions finding out who they would face in the Champions League, they would want to send a message to their opponents that they would not be pushovers. Bursaspor travelled to the September 4^th stadium to face Sivasspor. While the home team did a good job keeping Bursaspor off the scoreboard for the majority of the match, Bursaspor proved too much in the last ten-plus minutes of the match. Volkan Sen scored in the 81^st minute to put Bursaspor ahead. With Sivasspor looking to tie the match in the last minute, all the Sivasspor players, including goalkeeper Sead Ramovic, crowded the box for a corner. Bursaspor goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov caught the ball, threw it out to Ali Tandogan, and Tandogan scored into an empty net to make the final score 2-0 to Bursaspor. Sivasspor lost for the first time under the reign of manager Mesut Bakkal.

Bucaspor came back to Izmir looking to gain their first win in the Turkish top flight. They would have to do so against Gençlerbirliği. Orhan Ak put Bucaspor up 1-0 in the 24^th minute. Gençlerbirliği tied the match in the 55^th minute via Ermin Zec. But Bucaspor got goals by Koray Çölgeçen and Manucho in the 63^rd and 90^th minutes respectively to get the 3-1 victory.

The Istanbul big three were all in action on Sunday. Fenerbahçe looked to recover from a disappointing elimination in the Europa League. Beşiktaş looked to put the loss last week to Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor behind them. Galatasaray looked to avoid the worst start in their history of league play, trying to avoid three consecutive losses to start the season.

Fenerbahçe came home to host Manisaspor, the second of two home matches played behind closed doors due to the events at the end of last season. Alex de Souza put Fenerbahçe up 1-0 in the 17^th minute, after Manisaspor goalkeeper Ilker Avcibay mishandled a cross by Fenerbahçe youth product Okan Alkan, who was making his first start at right back in place of Gokhan Gonul. Promise Issac tied the match for Manisaspor in the 48^th minute. Diego Lugano put Fenerbahçe back into the lead in the 62^nd minute off a free kick by Alex de Souza. Okan Alkan made another good cross into the box in the 69^th minute, and Mamadou Niang scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe off a header to extend Fenerbahçe's lead to 3-1. Niang struck again in the 73^rd minute to give Fenerbahçe a 4-1 lead. Manisaspor got a consolation goal in the 76^th minute though Josh Simpson, but it was too little, too late. Fenerbahçe beat Manisaspor 4-2 and seemed to get their swagger back.

Beşiktaş travelled to Karabuk to face Karabukspor. With Beşiktaş the only Turkish club this season to make it to the Europa League; Beşiktaş looked to get another victory to continue their run of good form. It didn't look for them early on, as in the 2^nd minute, Emmanuel Emenike scored to put Karabukspor up 1-0. Beşiktaş responded in the 10^th minute, as Mert Nobre scored off the result of a Rodrigo Tabata corner kick. Nobre struck against for Beşiktaş in the 26^th minute to put Beşiktaş up 2-1. Beşiktaş kept the goals coming in the 76^th minute, when Guti scored off a penalty as a result of Armand Deumi brought down Ricardo Quaresma in the 18 yard box. Quaresma would score in the 83^rd minute to make the final score 4-1 to Beşiktaş.

If there was one team that had to win this week, it was Galatasaray. Off to their worst start to a season in 20 years, and with a disappointing exit in the Europa League, Galatasaray faced a must win situation against Eskişehirspor. Otherwise, it seemed that heads would explode at Galatasaray. Galatasaray breathed a temporary sigh of relief in the 4^th minute, as Milan Baros scored off a botched clearance by Eskişehirspor goalkeeper Vanja Ivesa. Luka Vucko tied the match for Eskişehirspor in the 37^th minute and it seemed that Galatasaray was set up for more misery. But Arda Turan put a smile on the face of Galatasaray supporters in the 68^th minute, as he went one-on-one with Ivesa and Turan's attempt was mistakenly put into the net by Eskişehirspor's Volkan Yaman, ironically a former Galatasaray player. Galatasaray got the clinching goal by Servet Cetin in the 71^st minute to make the final score 3-1 to Galatasaray.

Only one match was played on Monday, and it matched up Antalyaspor against Trabzonspor. Recent transfer Jaja made his Trabzonspor debut in this match. The only highlight in the match was the electricity going out 39 minutes into the match, leading to a 30 minute delay while everyone waited for the lights to come back on. No goals were scored and both teams had to settle with a point.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 2 Digest

2010-08-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

Week 2 of the Spor Toto Super League featured two important matches that pitted previous champions against each other. With the excitement of the opening weekend gone, the second week featured matches that normally would happen later in the season. With the way that the schedule came out, week 2 would whet the appetite of the Turkish football fan.

Friday's action saw a newbie beat a dark horse, and an Anatolian team continue its good fortune early in the season. Konyaspor had their home opener against Eskişehirspor, and got off to a good start when Ivan Lietava scored in the 2^nd minute. Eskişehirspor attacked more frequently after the goal but went into the half down 1-0. Pele would equalize for the visitors in the 51^st minute. But Konyaspor took the lead for good in the 78^th minute, when Adnan Gungor scored off a free kick from Ramazan Kahya.

Kayserispor had their home opener against Karabukspor. Kayserispor looked to give their home fans something to cheer about after they opened with a win against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. Kayserispor didn't disappoint. In the 26^th minute, Selim Teber made a cross from the left wing, and the cross was headed home by Franco Cangele. Kayserispor nearly made it a two goal lead when in the 30^th minute, Cangele made a cross to James Troisi from the right flank, but Troisi's header barely missed. Karabukspor tried to make a comeback through their star Emmanuel Emenike, who had several opportunities, but Kayserispor held on for the win 1-0.

Saturday's matches saw a draw and an upset. Antalyaspor and Sivasspor played to a 1-1 draw after goals by Tita of Antalyaspor and Sedat Bayrak of Sivasspor. As for the other match, Beşiktaş had their opener against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. With a strong victory the previous week, it seemed that the fans of Beşiktaş would be well on their way to win again. Somebody should have given Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor the message. The municipal club went on to defeat Beşiktaş by a score of 2-0 with goals from Iskender Alin and Ibrahim Akin. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor has received a reputation for upsetting the big 3 Istanbul clubs on occasion, and this was no exception.

Anatolian matches on Saturday resulted in the following: Gençlerbirliği and Gaziantepspor played to a 0-0 draw, and Ankaragücü thrashing Manisaspor in Manisa 3-0 with goals from Stanislav Sestak, Ozgur Cek, and Guven Varol.

Galatasaray had their home opener against defending champions Bursaspor. With some poor results in the last two competitive matches, Galatasaray looked to get back on track against Bursaspor. Bursaspor had other ideas. In the 15^th minute, a Volkan Sen cross was punched away by Galatasaray goalkeeper Ufuk Ceylan, making a rare start. The cross ended up with Ivan Ergic, and Ergic scored to put Bursaspor up 1-0. A bit of controversy happened in the 45^th minute. After Volkan Sen went down, Sen touched the ball with his right hand. Sen had previously received a yellow card in the 19^th minute. Referee Abdullah Yilmaz did not make the call, leading to a flurry of protests from the Galatasaray players. Ayhan Akman and Milan Baros would both receive yellow cards resulting from this missed call. Bursaspor cemented their lead in the 83^rd minute. Ivan Ergic shot the ball from outside the penalty area, the ball took a deflection, and there was nothing Ufuk Ceylan could do to save it. Bursaspor won the match 2-0 and won at Ali Sami Yen stadium for the first time in 18 years.

Monday's featured match was Trabzonspor playing their home opener against Fenerbahçe. While this was going on, Kasımpaşa and Bucaspor played to a 0-0 draw. But everyone had their eyes on the Huseyin Avni Aker stadium for this big match. Trabzonspor would strike first, sort of. A 14^th minute Selcuk Inan free kick was attempted to be cleared by Fenerbahçe's Mehmet Topuz. The ball would end up at the back of Fenerbahçe's goal, giving Trabzonspor the 1-0 lead. Trabzonspor scored again two minutes later, when Ibrahima Yattara got through the Fenerbahçe defense and lobbed the ball over Mert Gunok to double Trabzonspor's lead. Gunok was starting in place of the injured Volkan Demirel. Fenerbahçe got one back in the 28^th minute, when a Semih Senturk cross was headed home by Diego Lugano. Trabzonspor fired back immediately in the 29^th minute, when Arkadiusz Glowacki headed in a Yattara free kick. It seemed that Trabzonspor would cruise to victory. Fenerbahçe got a second goal from Mehmet Topuz, after receiving a pass from Miroslav Stoch. Fenerbahçe attacked more often in the second half, while Trabzonspor seemed to lay back and attack on the counter. Trabzonspor held on for the 3-2 victory and gain momentum going into their 2^nd leg UEFA Europa League playoff round match against Liverpool.

Spor Toto Super League – Week 1 Digest

2010-08-16T22:49:00.001-07:00

After a long wait in the summer, the Turkish Super League got back to business. With a new sponsor in government-run betting company Spor Toto, and new transfers, and with two Anatolian teams as defending league and cup champions, this may be the most interesting season in quite some time. While the excitement of last season won't be forgotten soon, it's time for a new season to begin. Will another champion come from Anatolia or will the league go back to the status quo with one of the Big 3 Istanbul teams winning it all?

Anatolian matches on Saturday were fit to be tied. Both Gaziantepspor – Kasımpaşa and Eskişehirspor – Gençlerbirliği ended in a 0-0 score. One of the more interesting highlights was from Eskisehir, where the floodlights went out in the stadium. In the stands, the Eskişehirspor fans decided to put on their own lights show before the floodlights came back on. Ermin Zec of Gençlerbirliği had a chance at the end of the match to steal the win for Gençlerbirliği, as he went one on one with Eskişehirspor goalkeeper Vanja Ivesa. Zec's effort was wide.

Galatasaray came into this season with high hopes for this season. Coming off a disappointing season in Frank Rijkaard's first year, mostly due to injuries, Galatasaray looked to start off this season off on a high note. They went to the September 4^th stadium to take on Sivasspor, who avoided relegation last season by the skin of their teeth. It looked good for Galatasaray in the 7^th minute as Mustafa Sarp scored from a cross from Arda Turan. In the 43^rd minute, Lucas Neill pulled down Sivasspor's Mehmet Yildiz near the penalty area. After arguments from the Galatasaray players and coaches, the free kick by Ceyhun Eris was headed home by Bruno Zita to tie the match. Sivasspor took the lead for good in the 60^th minute, when Ceyhun Eris made a run toward the penalty area, and laid off a pass to Cihan Yilmaz. Yilmaz put it home to make the final score 2-1 to Sivasspor. Sivasspor manager Mesut Bakkal continued a streak of sorts continuing from last season. Sivasspor has not lost a match in their past seven league matches, including this match, since Bakkal took over the reins with six weeks to go last season. It was a disappointing start to the season for Galatasaray, while it may provide a spark to Sivasspor, picked by some to be a relegation candidate for this season.

The most anticipated match Saturday was Bucaspor against Beşiktaş. The match was held at the Izmir Ataturk stadium because Buca Arena would've been too small to hold this match. Both teams made many transfers during the offseason, but many wanted to see how Beşiktaş' star signings, Ricardo Quaresma and Guti, would do in league play. Guti was mostly invisible during the match, which Quaresma had many opportunities on goal, but couldn't find the back of the net. Bucaspor held Beşiktaş to a 0-0 score at halftime. But in the first minute of the second half, Guti delivered a through ball to Bobo and Bobo put it home to give Beşiktaş the lead 1-0. Only 14 seconds had elapsed from the start of the second half and the goal. Bucaspor tried to come back, but their fate was sealed in the 75^th minute when Ediz Bahtiyaroglu received a direct red card. Beşiktaş got their season off to a good start, while Bucaspor will have to recover for next week.

Kardemir Karabukspor practically ran away with the Bank Asya 1^st division championship last year. Retaining last year's manager Yucel Ildiz, and making many transfers to beef up the squad, Karabukspor looked to get their Super League season off to a winning start at home against Manisaspor. Manisaspor escaped relegation last year, and hoped to get off to a good start as well. Although starting only three starters from the previous season, Karabukspor were the victors with a 2-1 score. Emmanuel Emenike picked up where he left off last season, where he led the 1^st division in goals scored, and scored in the 46^th minute. Emil Angelov, transferred from Denizlispor, scored the second goal in the 82^nd minute. In an ironic twist, Angelov came on for Emenike in the 73^rd minute. Manisaspor got a consolation goal from Kahe in the 90^th minute, but it was too little, too late.

After winning the Turkish Super Cup the previous week against Bursaspor, Trabzonspor looked to continue their recent run of form, starting off their season against Ankaragücü at the May 19^th stadium in Ankara. Due to crowd trouble in the previous season, Ankaragücü have to play their first two home matches behind closed doors. Both teams seemed to feel each other out in the first half, and the first half ended 0-0. Trabzonspor turned up the pressure in the second half. Teofilo Gutierrez scored both goals in the 70^th and 82^nd minutes. Both goals were set up by Gustavo Colman's through ball passing and the resulting crosses from Umut Bulut. With a UEFA Europa League playoff round date against English giants Liverpool this coming Thursday, Trabzonspor got off to a flying start, and Gutierrez may be finding his scoring touch at the right time.

With an embarrassing elimination by Swiss side Young Boys from the UEFA Champions League still fresh on their minds; Fenerbahçe looked to put that behind them as they would open the season at home against Medical Park Antalyaspor. The match was played without spectators as punishment for the events that took place at the Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium at the end of last season. Fenerbahçe's newest transfer Mamadou Niang would observe the match from the VIP box as Fenerbahçe looked to start their season off on a winning note. It wouldn't take long as Semih Senturk, starting over Gokhan Gonul and Dani Guiza, scored in the 8^th and 13^th minute to give Fenerbahçe a quick 2-0 lead. Alex de Souza would make it 3-0 in the 24^th minute and the rout was on. Gokhan Gonul scored in the 28^th minute with a chip over the Antalyaspor goalkeeper to make the score 4-0. Fenerbahçe took it easy the rest of the game and won 4-0. One highlight of the match that wasn't goal scoring related was Volkan Demirel being substituted at the beginning of the second half, replaced by Fenerbahçe youth product Mert Gunok. It was later revealed that Demirel has a slight tear in his right quadriceps, making his status questionable for the 1^st leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff round against PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece.

With a new coach in Shota Arveladze, Kayserispor looked to improve on their eighth place finish last season by getting off to a winning start. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor also wanted to get off on the right note, and potentially contend for a European spot this season improving upon their finish of 6^th last season. The first half was nothing to write home about, as Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor practically didn't have a right flank, and Kayserispor didn't get off the blocks either. Kayserispor would takeoverin the second half. Franco Cangele put Kayserispor up 1-0 in the 66^th minute. One of Kayserispor's newest transfers, Jonathan Santana of Paraguay, put the match out of reach in the 82^nd minute, making the final score 2-0 in favor of Kayserispor.

Bursaspor, the defending champions, started off their season at home at the recently renovated Bursa Ataturk stadium. The opponent for the defending champions was Konyaspor, the Bank Asya 1^st division playoff winners. Bursaspor was on the attack for most of the first half, but couldn't find the back of the net. But in the 41^st minute, Sercan Yildirim, who came into the match in the 17^th minute when Turgay Bahadir picked up an injury, scored to put the home side up 1-0. Bursaspor kept up the offense during the second half. Although Konyaspor had their chances, the final score ended up with the champions getting the three points with a 1-0 victory. The central defense of Milan Stepanov and Omer Erdogan impressed many in this match, while recent transfer Leonel Nunez also impressed with his attacking prowess, hitting the woodwork in the 63^rd minute.

Next week features some important matches. Fenerbahçe travels to Trabzon to face Trabzonspor in a featured match next Monday. Next Sunday, Bursaspor travels to the Ali Sami Yen stadium to face Galatasaray in Galatasaray's home opener.

News around Turkish football including Fenerbahçe’s punishment

2010-05-21T16:39:00.001-07:00

The images of the aftermath in Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium after the events of this past Sunday sickened and shocked many Turkish football fans. With Fenerbahçe supporters burning seats and getting into scuffle with the police while chanting for the Fenerbahçe board to resign, many seemed to shake their heads and some fans of rivals Galatasaray and Beşiktaş mocked them. The TFF handed down Fenerbahçe's punishment on Friday. Fenerbahçe will be playing their first two home games next season behind closed doors. With schedule's alternating week to week between home and away matches, Fenerbahçe now runs the risk of playing a derby match between Galatasaray, Beşiktaş or possibly both, behind closed doors. This sort of punishment harkens back to the 2007-08 season. That year, Galatasaray had to play their first five home matches behind closed doors. This was because of Galatasaray fans throwing foreign objects onto the field against Fenerbahçe at the Ali Sami Yen stadium. This match happened the week after Fenerbahçe had clinched the title in the 2006-07 season the previous week before the derby. Some may see this as a slap on the wrist punishment, but considering that this deals with an Istanbul big three club, and that none of the players were on the receiving end of the anger of the Fenerbahçe fans, it's not surprising that the TFF may have let Fenerbahçe off easy.

There have been some coaching changes for Turkish teams this past week. Gaziantepspor released their manager Jose Couceiro from his contract. While it was a disappointing season for Gaziantepspor, Couceiro tried to make due with what he had at his disposal. But with a disappointing 13^th place finish in the standings, Gaziantepspor decided to make a change. The man replacing Couceiro is former Sivasspor manager Bulent Uygun, signing a two year contract with Gaziantepspor. Uygun may be best known for leading Sivasspor to second place in the 2008-09 season, in which Sivasspor slipped from title contention in the waning moments of that season, after holding the lead for many weeks. The previous season before that, he led Sivasspor to fourth place. In the 2009-10 season, Sivasspor did not get off to a good start, and he resigned on October 4, 2009 after a 2-0 win against Antalyaspor. Uygun is known for being a bit of a hothead, and he'll have to keep his temper in control because he will experience growing pains while with a new club. After Tolunay Kafkas left his post with his contract expiring, Shota Arveladze signed a two year contract with Kayserispor, who finished 8^th this season, to become their new manager. Arveladze, who previously was the assistant coach at AZ Alkmaar, takes over his first managerial job on July 1^st. This is an interesting hire for Kayserispor, considering that Arveladze is still popular in Turkey, especially in Trabzon where he played for Trabzonspor, and that he is inexperienced when it comes to the top job. Kayserispor should be looked upon as one of the teams to watch in the upcoming season, for either the right or wrong reasons. This will depend on their transfers for the upcoming season.

The Turkish national team recently arrived in the United States for their three friendly matches. Emre Aşık ve Okan Buruk will be making their final appearance in a Turkish national team uniform against the Czech Republic on May 22^nd. Both men were part of the 2002 World Cup team that finished in third place. The match, to be held in Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ, will have about 18,000 Turkish fans attending. This is due to the Fenerbahçe USA fans association buying those tickets and distributing them to fan associations of Galatasaray and Beşiktaş located in the US. This marks, according to Major League soccer and its marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, the largest group purchase of tickets associated with the league and its marketing group. This also coincides with the annual Turkish Day Parade and Festival in New York, organized by the Federation of Turkish American Associations, which the players will attend.

In concordance with the USA-Turkey connection, according to Turkish sports daily Fanatik, that Heath Pearce, currently playing for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer, is rumored to be watched, and potentially signed, by current Turkcell Super League champions Bursaspor. Pearce had been previously signed by Bursaspor last year. However, the FIFA transfer deadline had passed when the contract was signed, and in turn, Pearce signed with FC Dallas. In the same article, Fanatik also reports that Pearce himself is interested in signing. Pearce could potentially shore up a good defensive line for Bursaspor, and be able to play in at least six games in the Champions League group stages. He'd be joining a club in which the league they play in is pretty physical, but has the opportunity to establish a new revolution in Turkish football, if Bursaspor's historic championship hasn't done that already.

Turkish Football Weekly - Episode 16

2010-05-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Turkish Football Weekly this week has coverage of the historic championship that Bursaspor won this past week. Also, Turkey's chances for hosting Euro 2016 are discussed with the guys from the Round Ball in Ankara blog.

Turkish Football Weekly - Episode 16

If you like the show, subscribe to Turkish Football Weekly via iTunes.

Bursaspor Becomes The 2009-10 Turkcell Super League Champions

2010-05-16T17:36:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the most anticipated moment in Turkish football occurred this past Sunday. For years, Turkish football fans have wondered if there would be a fifth team to win the Turkcell Super League championship. Since Trabzonspor last won the league in the 1983-84 season (their sixth title), only the big three Istanbul clubs, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, and Beşiktaş, have had a stranglehold on Turkish top flight football championships. It seemed that the only way that any player could win a league title, was to play for either of the previous championship winning clubs. That was true, until now. Bursaspor became the champions of the Turkcell Super League, winning their first title, after never having even finished in the top three in previous years.

The situation coming into the final day was simply this. Bursaspor had to win its final match against Beşiktaş and hope that Fenerbahçe would drop points at home to visiting Trabzonspor. With Fenerbahçe's home ground being a virtual fortress, it seemed as though the people of Bursa had to wait and hope that some good news would filter out of Istanbul. With both matches being played at the same time, the excitement over who was to be the champions of the Turkcell Super League would reach a crescendo until the final whistle.

Bursaspor kicked off against Beşiktaş with the possibility of a title on their hands. They would have to do without the influential Volkan Şen in the lineup due to suspension via yellow card accumulation. It did look good for Bursaspor in the 32^nd minute. Pablo Batalla scored for Bursaspor after Beşiktaş goalkeeper Rustu Recber was caught off his line. In the 44^th minute, Bursaspor would get their second goal via an own goal by Beşiktaş defender Ibrahim Toraman. Beşiktaş would pull one goal back in the 85^th minute, as Uğur Inceman scored off a rebound when the ball came out of Bursaspor goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov's hands. Bursaspor held on for the 2-1 victory. But whether there would be wild celebrations in Turkey's fourth largest city depended on what happened in Istanbul.

Fenerbahçe came home looking to clinch a record 18^th Super League title. The opponents would be Trabzonspor, the same team that denied Fenerbahçe the chance to break their Turkish Cup curse. The match started off with Fenerbahçe coming at Trabzonspor hot and heavy. In the 14^th minute, Dani Guiza scored to put Fenerbahçe up 1-0. Fenerbahçe continued with their heavy attack towards the Trabzonspor goal. But in the 23^rd minute, Burak Yilmaz put in a volley over the head of Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, and into the net to tie the match for Trabzonspor, 1-1. In the second half, Fenerbahçe looked to score, and had much of the offense during the second half. But if there had to be a man of the match, it would have to be Trabzonspor goalkeeper, Onur Kivrak. Kivrak made crucial save after crucial save keeping Trabzonspor from losing. What is funny about this match was the announcement at the third minute (of four) of stoppage time. The stadium public address announcer announced that Beşiktaş had scored in order to tie the match at two goals apiece in Bursa. With that, Fenerbahçe seemed to just lay back and not attack as emphatically as they were during the match. When the final whistle blew, fans rushed the field thinking that Fenerbahçe clinched the title. It wasn't to be. This echoed the final game of the 2005-06 season for Fenerbahçe. Needing a win to clinch the title, Fenerbahçe drew at Denizlispor, while archrivals Galatasaray beat Kayserispor 3-0 to capture the title on the last day. Ironically, that match four years ago ended the first run of Christoph Daum as manager of Fenerbahçe. With rumors swirling that he may not be brought back to coach the team for next season, it seems as if history could repeat itself.

With the news filtering in that Fenerbahçe did not win the league title, some Fenerbahçe fans decided to take out their frustrations on the stadium. Tempers flared, literally, as fires were lit in the stadium. Seats were torn off their bearings and thrown out onto the field. The Istanbul police were called in and had to fire water cannons to break up the angered crowd. Some fans were detained by police and many people were injured.

With the news that Fenerbahçe was held to a draw, Bursaspor players went ballistic, knowing that they had achieved a historic title. Becoming only the second team to break the Istanbul championship deadlock, Bursaspor can be able to lift their heads high, knowing that they beat the odds to claim a championship. Bursaspor manager Ertuğrul Sağlam said that by becoming champions "we have brought success back to Anatolia." With this historic title, Bursaspor now qualifies directly for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. But whether Bursaspor can be able to continue this success is the question.

But for now, Bursaspor, and the city of Bursa itself, can and should revel in the fact that for now, they are the champions of Turkey. Not only did they defy the odds, but perhaps have opened a new chapter in the history of Turkish football. With what seems, or seemed, to be a championship hot potato played by the big three Istanbul clubs, its refreshing to see that a team from Anatolia came in and finally broke through to the promised land. It could send a message to other teams in Turkish football as a whole that if Bursaspor could win the title, then any club could. Perhaps there will be the biggest crocodile walk in the world with Bursaspor winning the Turkcell Super League championship.

A few weeks ago, there was an article entitled "Bursaspor's Final Exam" (written by myself). Bursaspor had the toughest road ahead of them four weeks ago if they wanted to clinch the Turkcell Super League championship. With two of the big three Istanbul clubs to play, it seemed as though it was an impossible task. Now four weeks later, Bursaspor has not only passed that exam, but has become the valedictorians of Turkish football. If any club deserved the title, it was Bursaspor, and they have earned the title of Turkcell Super League champions.

Congratulations Bursaspor!

Turkish Football Weekly - Episode 14

2010-05-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

With two weeks to go in the Turkcell Super League season, the action is heating up, and Turkish Football Weekly is right on top of it. Bugra and Ata go over the results of week 32 of the Turkcell Super League. The Ziraat Turkish Cup final between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce is analyzed, along with news from around the league, which this week includes a rumor that a beloved former Trabzonspor player may return to Turkey to coach a team. The hosts wrap up the show with a preview and predictions for week 33 of the Turkcell Super League.

Make sure to subscribe to the show via iTunes.

Turkish Football Weekly - Episode 12

2010-04-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

On tap for Turkish Football Weekly this week, Ata and Bugra discuss the results for week 30 action in the Turkcell Super League, including the Fenerbahce-Besiktas derby in detail. The hosts analyze the final four matches for championship contenders Bursaspor, Fenerbahce, and Galatasaray. Chris Wade (a.k.a. Oz Kanka) of the Round Ball in Ankara blog joins the podcast for a special interview. On the “Get to know…” segment this week, Genclerbirligi and Colin Kazim-Richards are featured. The show wraps up with predictions for week 31 of the Turkcell Super League.

Subscribe to Turkish Football Weekly via iTunes.

Beşiktaş file appeal for annulment of the Fenerbahçe match.

2010-04-21T23:31:00.001-07:00

Beşiktaş has appealed to the Turkish Football Federation to annul the result of the week 30 match between them and Fenerbahçe. Beşiktaş has accused Fenerbahçe of violating rules as it pertains to Fenerbahçe defender Fabio Bilica's digging of the penalty spot during the 64^th minute of the match, in which Beşiktaş was awarded a penalty. Beşiktaş has noted that Bilica's actions violated the spirit of fair play. Beşiktaş has also claimed that Bilica violated the 22^nd and 24^th provisions of the TFF code, which means that Fenerbahçe would automatically be declared the losing side.

Now regardless of Bilica's idiocy, I think this has to fall on referee Huseyin Gocek's shoulders. Gocek could clearly see that Bilica was digging a divot in the penalty spot, and yet did nothing about it. Bilica had already gotten a yellow for taking down Ugur Inceman in the box, so Bilica should have been sent off as he should have gotten a second yellow in succession. Now it isn't as if this hasn't happened before. I can remember a match in Major League Soccer some time back where a player for the Columbus Crew made a divot on the penalty spot in order to make the opposing spot kick taker miss. It worked. So I don't blame Bilica for trying to keep the advantage for his team. What I have a problem with is Bilica's blatant actions.

I highly doubt that the TFF would even bother with this case. It seems like such a non-issue. However, if the rules have been violated then Fenerbahçe, and Bilica, should be punished for it. Whether the TFF will take up the case is a different story altogether.

Bursaspor’s Final Exam

2010-04-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

With the Turkcell Super League season now going into its last four weeks, the usual contenders are in the race for the title. With Beşiktaş losing to Fenerbahçe over the weekend, it seems as though Beşiktaş is out of the title race, leaving Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray to slug it out over the title. What has been a refreshing surprise, however, is the performance of Bursaspor. Bursaspor currently lead the Turkcell Super League standings, with a gap of one point over Fenerbahçe and four points over Galatasaray. With emerging stars such as Volkan Sen, Sercan Yildirim, and Ozan Ipek, and veterans such as Huseyin Cimsir, Leonardo Iglesias, Omer Erdogan, Dimitar Ivankov, and Ali Tandogan, Bursaspor look to be the first team since Trabzonspor last did so in the 1983-84 season to break the Istanbul big three stranglehold on the Turkcell Super League championship. But with the way their schedule looks in the last four weeks, it looks to be a tough road for Bursaspor to win the title. These last four weeks may be looked at as Bursaspor's final exam in their quest to be called champions.

Bursaspor's first test will be this coming weekend against Galatasaray. This will be Bursaspor's only road match to be played in the next four weeks. Going to Ali Sami Yen stadium is never easy for any opposing team, much less an Anatolian team who have never, before this season, led the standings in the Turkcell Super League at any point during the season. With Galatasaray still having an outside shot at taking the title, Bursaspor will have to get past a loaded Galatasaray team. With the likes of Arda Turan, Milan Baros, Abdul Kader Keita, Giovani dos Santos, and Sabri Sarioglu, Bursaspor will have to be on it's A game. The intimidating atmosphere of the Ali Sami Yen has earned its nickname of "Hell" for good reason. Galatasaray's home record is outstanding, with only one loss at home in the entire season, with that one loss coming against Fenerbahçe a few weeks ago. But it should be stated that Bursaspor's road record isn't too bad either, with their road record of eight wins, four draws, and three losses, the best road record in the league. The pressure will be enormous for Bursaspor, and should they get the win here, it would go a long way for their challenge for the title.

The second part of their test will come the following week against Kayserispor in Bursa. Kayserispor have perhaps one of the best forwards in the Turkcell Super League in Ariza Makukula. The defense for Bursaspor will have to find a way to shut him down, because Makukula has exposes many a defense in the Turkcell Super League with his size and scoring prowess. Also, another player for Bursaspor to watch out for is Franco Cangele. Cangele is at his best as a support striker for Makukula, and should Bursaspor tightly mark Makukula, it could leave openings for Cangele to leave his mark. Don't count out Kayserispor's defense either, led by Kayserispor captain Aydin Toscali. What is advantageous for Bursaspor is that this match, and its last match to be played this season, will both be home games. Bursa Ataturk Stadium has been a fortress for opposing teams. With the famed Bursaspor supporters group Teksas (and yes, they are named after the state in the USA, but replace the x with ks due to the letter x not being used in the Turkish alphabet) leading the chants, Bursaspor can count on great home support. Bursaspor's home record is also very good, with a current record of twelve wins, one draw, and two losses. With the home crowd support, Bursaspor will be inspired and this can light a fire under Yildirim, Sen, Ipek, and the rest of the team.

Bursaspor can take solace in the fact that in these last four weeks, they are guaranteed at least three points in the standings. In week 33 they get the bye as they would have taken on Ankaraspor, but Ankaraspor's disqualification gives them three critical points at potentially a critical junction of the season. The last week of the season will see Bursaspor have another huge test, and considering there is the possibility that they might be leading at this point in the season, this match will prove their character.

This is because Beşiktaş comes into Bursa for the final match of Bursaspor's season. Playing one of the Istanbul big three in one week is tough as it is. However, playing two of them, in a span of four weeks, makes Bursaspor's work cut out for them. With this match, there is the possibility that Beşiktaş will be out of contention for the title by this time, if their loss to Fenerbahçe this past weekend is any indication. With such attacking presence with Rodrigo Tello, and Bobo, Beşiktaş is still a threat to any team during these last few weeks. Ibrahim Uzulmez, the ageless wonder of Beşiktaş, leads a stout defensive team that features Matteo Ferrari and Tomas Sivok. But with the match to be played at Bursa Ataturk Stadium, Bursaspor will have all to play for and will be looking over their shoulder at the other title contenders. Bursaspor is under the gun as it is already. Should they be leading the standings going into the last week of the season, and there is a good possibility of that happening, Bursaspor will be under tremendous pressure to finally win a championship. Many of their younger players in their squad will certainly be under the microscope. With this match as their final match of the season, those players will have to shoulder the pressure and make sure that they don't get affected by it.

Bursaspor have the toughest road ahead of them if they want to claim the Turkcell Super League title. Manager Ertugrul Saglam is perhaps the one manager that is under the most powerful microscope. He will be the one who will have to handle the pressure of trying to lead his club to heights they have never achieved. Considering that Saglam is not the typical over-emotional Turkish coach, and him having experience coaching one of the big three (Beşiktaş), and having Champions League experience (coached Beşiktaş in the 2007-08 Champions League), he will most likely relish the pressure of trying to lead Bursaspor to its first title. No Anatolian teams, other than Trabzonspor, have ever won the Turkcell Super League since the league was established in 1959. Perhaps if any team deserves to win it this year, it should be Bursaspor. Bursaspor is the team to watch going into the last four weeks of the season, because they could finally break the Istanbul deadlock, and it would be a great story, and perhaps benefit Turkish football as a whole. If they do win the Turkcell Super League title, considering their last four weeks is the toughest schedule out of all the championship contenders, Bursaspor can definitely say that they earned it.

Turkish Football Weekly

2010-03-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

There is a podcast now available in the English language about Turkish football. I found this while bored on the internet. It can be downloaded through iTunes or through World Soccer Reader. Go ahead and start downloading it, I hear it's really good.

Then again, I'm the one doing the podcast. Go me. :)

Turkcell Super League – Week 23 recap

2010-03-01T13:41:00.001-08:00

With the disappointment of both Turkish teams getting knocked out in the Europa League, it was back to business as usual. Week 23 of the Turkcell Super League season was another one of those weeks where things seemed to be business as usual. Some teams would be disappointed, some teams would feel elated. The drive for the title would produce excitement this week.

Trabzonspor was looking to keep up a very interesting streak of sorts. Trabzonspor has not lost at all in the calendar year. But with a draw last week, they would look to win against Antalyaspor. It looked good for Trabzonspor in the fifth minute. Selcuk Inan's corner was headed into the net by Burak Yilmaz, and it sent the Trabzonspor fans into a frenzy. Antalyaspor would answer back. In the 16^th minute, Veysel Cihan's pass found Necati Ates in the box, and Ates made Trabzonspor pay for their defensive lapse and tied the match. The rest of the first half saw chances, but the teams did not put their attempts on net. The second half saw Trabzonspor come out more aggressively. Selcuk Inan's free kick in the 50^th minute barely missed the goal. In the 57^th minute, Engin Baytar made a terrific pass to Inan finding Inan with a golden opportunity for the goal. But Inan's resulting shot went out, to the disbelief of the Trabzonspor fans. Trabzonspor had another chance in the 70^th minute, but the Antalyapsor defense held. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Trabzonspor still has yet to lose in the calendar year, but rues the opportunity to at least get a win, against an opponent they considered before the match started to be "like sugar". That probably meant that Trazbonspor would get a sweet win, but it was not to be.

Bursaspor seems to be having a dream season so far. With their comeback victory over Fenerbahçe last week, many would be looking to see what they could do for an encore against Sivasspor. Bursaspor came out aggressively, as Turgay Bahadir barely missed shots in the 3^rd, 8^th, and 11^th minutes. It seemed as though who was winning was determined in those first eleven minutes. In the 30^th minute, Sivasspor's Ibrahim Dagasan found Bursaspor's Ivan Ergic, setting up a free kick for Bursaspor. Pablo Batalla fired the free kick into the net to put Bursaspor up 1-0. In the 31^st minute, Ali Tandogan's cross from the right flank was headed toward goal by Ozan Ipek, but Sivasspor goalkeeper Akin Vardar had to stretch out to save the attempt. Bursaspor went into the halftime break up 1-0, and with plenty of confidence. They came out all guns blazing in the second half. In the 48^th minute, Ali Tandogan's free kick from the left wing was headed in by Turgay Bahadir and Bursaspor was up 2-0. In the 50^th minute, Ozan Ipek received a long pass from midfield. Ipek shot the ball as he went into the box. After a defensive block, Ipek got another shot, and put the ball in the net to give Bursaspor a three goal lead. Bursaspor seemed to dominate the entire match, and after the third goal, the match was pretty much over. Bursaspor beat Sivasspor 3-0 and could potentially be a serious contender for the championship. Bursaspor still has a game in hand and if they continue their run of current form, it is possible that Bursaspor could at least get a Champions League spot, or become champions.

The match of the week this week feature Beşiktaş travelling to the Kadir Has stadium to face Kayserispor. With the recent earthquake in Chile, Beşiktaş' Rodrigo Tello was playing with a heavy heart, and wore a black armband to show solidarity to his country. He would make his presence known in the 2^nd minute, as after receiving a pass from Michael Fink, Tello blasted the ball past Kayserispor goalkeeper Hamidou Souleyanou to give Beşiktaş a quick 1-0 lead. It seemed the match would be over by the 13^th minute, as Bobo's shot hit the post and almost gave Beşiktaş a 2-0 lead. After having the bye week last week, it might be observed that Kayserispor was a bit off this week. In the 30^th minute, Tello started another attack and passed to Bobo. Bobo then found Ekrem Dag, and Dag scored to put Beşiktaş up 2-0. Beşiktaş seemed to have control for the rest of the first half and were up 2-0 at the break. Beşiktaş seemed to take it easy in the second half, but Kayserispor seemed to increase the tempo. Kayserispor would draw one goal back in the 81^st minute, as Ariza Makukula scored. But Kayserispor could not find the net again as Beşiktaş went on to win 2-1. Beşiktaş crawled closer to a Europa League spot, which looked improbable considering their start to the season.

Without a win in their last six competitive matches, Fenerbahçe looks like a team in turmoil. With perhaps their title chances slipping away, Fenerbahçe looked to get back on the winning track again against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. It didn't look good for Fenerbahçe as Istanbul BB struck first. Ali Guzeldal passed a through ball to Iskender Alin, leaving him behind the Fenerbahçe defense. Alin then avoided the charging Volkan Demirel, and put the ball into the net to give Istanbul BB the 1-0 lead. Fenerbahçe thought they had tied it a few minutes later, but when Deniz Baris shot the ball into the net, Andre dos Santos made a slight attempt to play the ball from an offside position, and the goal was called back. The second half saw Fenerbahçe put added pressure on the Istanbul BB goal. Fenerbahçe got the tying goal in the 57^th minute. After Dani Guiza's shot was blocked, Gokhan Gonul got the ball and advanced down the right flank. Gonul's cross was struck home by a volley by Alex de Souza. Some controversy came about in the 69^th minute. A long pass from Fabio Bilica was intended for Dani Guiza, which would have left him with a one on one situation with Istanbul BB goalkeeper Kenan Hasagic. However, Guiza was pushed down by defender Ekrem Eksioglu. Normally, the play would have resulted in a direct red card, but referee Firat Aydinus gave Eksioglu a yellow card. Achieving at least a tie would get harder for Fenerbahçe, as in the 79^th minute, Alex de Souza got a direct red card for putting his studs on Mahmut Tekdemir's thigh in a rash challenge. Istanbul BB took advantage of the ejection, and Iskender Alin scored in the 82^nd minute to give Istanbul BB the lead and the win. The Fenerbahçe winless streak went to seven competitive games and Fenerbahçe are seeing their title chances slip away.

With Fenerbahçe losing, Galatasaray looked to pad their lead in the Turkcell Super League standings. Kasımpaşa came into the Ali Sami Yen stadium, which has become a fortress for Galatasaray, as Galatasaray have yet to lose at home this season. The action got started in the 2^nd minute. Kasımpaşa's Sahin Aygunes shot a ball that was saved by Galatasaray's Leo Franco. Emre Toraman put the ball into the net, but since Toraman was in an offside position when Aygunes shot the ball, the goal was called back. If Toraman had left it for the advancing Yekta Kurtulus, the ball certainly could have ended up as a goal. In the 29^th minute, Abdul Kader Keita had a shot blocked and ended up being headed forward by Servet Cetin. Jo got the ball in the penalty area, passed the ball to Arda Turan, and Turan scored to put Galatasaray up 1-0. Galatasaray went into the halftime break with the 1-0 lead and confidence. In the 55^th minute, Giovani dos Santos fired a shot from just outside the penalty area, but the shot was saved by Kasımpaşa goalkeeper Murat Sahin. Kasımpaşa had a chance in the 57^th minute, as Ali Gunes fired a shot from 30 meters out and barely missed the post. Kasımpaşa got the tying goal in the 65^th minute, as Yekta Kurtulus scored. Galatasaray got the lead back in the 75^th minute. After a Giovani dos Santos shot was saved by Murat Sahin, Arda Turan headed the ball towards Abdul Kader Keita. Keita hit the volley off a bounce into the net. In the 82^nd minute, Jo was fouled in the box by Kasımpaşa defender Koray Avci, which led to Avci being sent off via a direct red card. Avci was the last defender when Jo made his attempt towards goal. Jo the converted the penalty to give Galatasaray a 3-1 lead. Two minutes later, Keita scored again to make the final score 4-1. With the win, Galatasaray pads their lead in the standings.

Other results in the Turkcell Super League were as follows: Gençlerbirliği 0-1 Ankaragücü, Gaziantepspor 1-1 Eskişehirspor, and Manisaspor 2-1 Diyarbakirspor. The top five of the Turkcell Super League standings as follows: Galatasaray is in first place with 50 points, Bursaspor climbs to second place with 46 points and a game in hand, Fenerbahçe falls to third place with 45 points, Kayserispor is in fourth place with 42 points and a +17 goal difference, and Beşiktaş is in fifth also with 42 points, and a +13 goal difference. Beşiktaş, like Bursaspor, also have a game in hand. With Bursaspor's and Beşiktaş' matches soon to be made up on March 10^th, the standings will be evened out, and will provide a clearer picture of how the league will play out. But there is still a long way to go.

Turkcell Super League – Week 22 review

2010-02-22T20:19:00.001-08:00

Week 22 of the Turkcell Super League can also be considered a pivotal point in the season. An important Istanbul derby was going to determine bragging rights, but perhaps if the leaders would be in the driver's seat to the title. An important top of the table clash was in the cards in an important for position for European competition. The derby had all of the headlines this week, as it usually does.

The action started on Saturday. Trabzonspor had not lost a match in the 2010 calendar year so far, and looked to continue that achievement at home against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. Umut Bulut had a chance in the 11^th minute, but his header was into the hands of Istanbul BB goalkeeper Kenan Hasagic. The Istanbul municipal team continued to hold on in the first half. With an attempt by Selcuk Inan and Egemen Korkmaz having a goal wiped out due to an infraction of play, Trabzonspor looked like they were unlucky not to be up by at least one goal. The bad luck for Trabzonspor also reared its head in the second half. Teofilo Guitierrez had a shot on goal that deflected off the line by Gustavo Colman, his teammate. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor had a chance in the 61^st minute, as Tevfik Kose had a shot resulting in a save by Trabzonspor goalkeeper Onur Kivrak. In the last ten minutes of the match, Trabzonspor's bad luck continued. Selcuk Inan's shot on goal in the 83^rd minute hit the post. In the third minute of stoppage time, Giray Kacar's attempt on goal was saved by Hasagic. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, and it was disappointing that Trabzonspor could not get maximum points at home. Considering the potential for the Istanbul teams to drop points, Trabzonspor will be ruing this opportunity to gain position and potentially get a European spot.

Saturday's other results saw a scoreless draw and a battle in the relegation zone. Eskişehirspor and Gençlerbirliği played to a scoreless draw. With a two match winning streak, Eskişehirspor looked to make it three straight against a Gençlerbirliği side that lost two straight. Eskişehirspor had many of the chances in the match, but the closest either club came to scoring was Gençlerbirliği's Hursit Meric in the 90^th minute. Sivasspor and Manisaspor met in the other match. An even matchup was on the cards as the match went back and forth. The only goal of the match came in the 62^nd minute, as Cihan Yilmaz scored off a cross by Mehmet Yildiz. Manisaspor fought hard for the draw, but even with six minutes of stoppage time added on in the second half, Manisaspor was unsuccessful to get the draw. Sivasspor has taken 7 points, including this week, in the last three weeks of league competition. Now in 13^th place on 24 points, Sivasspor will look to continue this good form in order to avoid the drop.

Anytime either of the big three Istanbul clubs meet up, it's always the match of the week. This week it was no different, as Beşiktaş hosted Galatasaray at the Inonu stadium. Galatasaray looked to retain the Super League lead, after rising to the top of the standings with their free three points last week. Beşiktaş looked to get back on track towards a European spot after a disappointing loss to Gaziantepspor last week. The action got started in the 10^th minute, as Michael Fink's long range attempt on goal went off a Galatasaray defender and out. In the 21^st minute, Abdul Kader Keita came into the box from the left flank and shot a low range shot that Rustu Recber had to stretch out to save. Galatasaray had another chance in the 25^th minute when Elano crossed the ball from the left flank, but Baris Ozbek's header missed the target. In the 33^rd minute, Filip Holosko headed the ball to Mert Nobre standing outside the penalty area. Nobre's shot was saved by Leo Franco, and Holosko's attempt on goal went out. Some controversy came about in the 38^th minute. Ibrahim Uzulmez's cross into the box was headed by Holosko towards the goal, and the ball looked to be saved off the line by Leo Franco. Some replays showed the ball might have crossed the line before Franco took full possession of the ball. Nonetheless, play continued and the ball was ruled by referee Firat Aydinus not to have crossed the line. Beşiktaş came close to scoring in the 44^th minute. Ekrem Dag crossed the ball into the penalty area, but Nobre's header went off the post. Nobre tried to score off the rebound, but it was cleared for a corner. The resulting corner saw the ball cleared out of the penalty area, but Michael Fink crossed the ball into the area and Mert Nobre headed the ball out. The first half ended 0-0, but Beşiktaş seemed to have the upper hand. In the 51^st minute, Elano shot the ball from a few meters from the penalty arc that was saved by Rustu Recber. The resulting cross by Caner Erkin went parallel to the goal line and went out for a throw in. Galatasaray drew first blood in the 68^th minute. Jo, who has recently been substituted into the match, crossed the ball into the box. When Tomas Sivok tried to clear the ball, Arda Turan stole the ball and shot the ball low and into the net to put Galatasaray into the lead. After the goal, Turan looked to be injured and was substituted. Beşiktaş tried to answer back in the 72^nd minute. Ekrem Dag's attempt from the penalty arc barely missed the post. Beşiktaş got the tying goal in the 82^nd minute. A Beşiktaş free kick was attempted to be punched out by Leo Franco. The ball ended up with Tomas Sivok, and Sivok made up for his previous mistake by scoring. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Other results from Sunday saw a very interesting result from Diyarbakir. Denizlispor came into their match against Diyarbakirspor with only one win earned on the pitch. Denizlispor would emerge with a 2-0 win to make it two straight wins and perhaps a chance to avoid relegation. They will make it three straight wins next week, because they will get the bye and the free three points. Antalyaspor and Ankaragücü fought to a 2-2 draw. Jan Rajnoch struck first in the 17^th minute for Ankaragücü. Veysel Cihan scored two goals in the 23^rd minute and the 43^rd minute for Antalyaspor. Ankaragücü got their tying goal through Muhammet Hanifi Yoldas in the 74^th minute. Yilmaz Vural has a reputation in Turkish football for getting relegation bound teams to stay in the Super League. He seems to be weaving his magic again, as Kasımpaşa beat Gaziantepspor at home 3-0, through goals by Yekta Kurtulus, Şahin Aygüneş, and Murat Erdoğan.

The only match on Monday saw Fenerbahçe and Bursaspor clash at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium. Fenerbahçe looked to take the lead in the Super League standing after Galatasaray lost points in the Istanbul derby. Bursaspor looked to spring an upset and vault them closer to a Champions League spot. It looked good for Fenerbahçe in the 5^th minute, as Alex de Souza received a pass from Cristian Baroni and shot the ball from long range into the net to give Fenerbahçe a quick 1-0 lead. In the 21^st minute, Alex's corner from the right corner arc went all the way to Gokcek Vederson at the left flank. Vederson crossed the ball into the area, and Andre dos Santos flicked the ball into the net to give Fenerbahçe a 2-0 lead. In the 26^th minute, Bursaspor would answer back. As Pablo Batalla approached the goal, he passed to Ozan Ipek on the left flank. Batalla would head the resulting cross from Ipek into the net to cut the deficit in half for Bursaspor. In the 34^th minute, Fenerbahçe's emerging young star Ozer Hurmaci had to leave the game due to a separated shoulder, and is likely ruled out for the second leg of the Europa League clash with OSC Lille. In the 36^th minute, Alex de Souza received a pass from Emre Belozoglu, and his resulting shot would hit the crossbar and out. As the first half ended with a 2-1 advantage to Fenerbahçe, it could be thought that all Fenerbahçe had to do was hold on and continue to play their game to win. The second half saw Bursaspor come out to make a comeback. In the 69^th minute, Ali Tandogan crossed the ball to Omer Erdogan, but Erdogan's header would barely miss. In the 85^th minute, Fabio Bilica was called for a high boot in the box. In this case, the resulting infraction resulted in an indirect free kick. Ozan Ipek took advantage and curled the free kick into the net to tie the match at two goals apiece. Fenerbahçe would attempt to win the match by going into an all out attack towards Bursaspor's goal. But in the first minute of stoppage time, a Fenerbahçe corner resulted in a three-on-one breakaway for Bursaspor. In the end, Ozan Ipek scored his second, and Bursaspor's third, goal of the match that gave Bursaspor the win and an important three points. Fenerbahçe got booed off the pitch in their own home stadium.

There was one incident in particular during the Fenerbahçe match that particularly caught my eye.. Dani Guiza was the starting forward for Fenerbahçe in their match against Bursaspor, and while he hasn't exactly found the form that made him lead La Liga in goal scoring in 2007-08, he has tried his hardest to adapt to Turkish football. He wasn't exactly on form in this match, and the fans at Sukru Saracoglu stadium booed loudly. Why is this mentioned? At one point, the fans were chanting for Semih Senturk to come on to the pitch. When Guiza did get substituted in the 70^th minute, he was booed off the pitch. When he got to the bench, he basically broke down and cried. While he hasn't lit the Turkish football world on fire, it's hard not to feel for the guy as he seemed to look helpless. It could be inferred that he might have some deeper problems that he might have to work out. Perhaps he should get some help in order to get his stuff straighten out. It might be easy to say that he's a professional and he should be able to deal with it, but as evidenced with Robert Enke's suicide, some players might not know how to handle the pressure to perform as footballers. I'm hoping something really serious as that doesn't happen, but as evidenced with Enke, we don't know what goes through the mind of footballers in their lives. I hope Guiza can work everything out and he can at least play without any issues that affect his play on the pitch and his personal life.

As for the league standings, Galatasaray widened the gap between them and Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray now leads with 47 points to Fenerbahçe's 45 points. Bursaspor is in third place with 43 points. Kayserispor is in fourth with 42 points. Beşiktaş rounds out the top five with 39 points. The Turkish Football Federation this week announced the make up dates for both the Beşiktaş – Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor match and the Kasımpaşa – Bursaspor match that were postponed in week 18 due to snow. The matches will be made up on Wednesday March 10^th. Kasımpaşa – Bursaspor will be the early game, while the Beşiktaş – Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor match will be the nightcap. Next week is highlighted by a crucial top of the table clash as Beşiktaş travels to the Kadir Has Stadium to face Kayserispor.

Turkey National Team Schedule for Euro 2012 Qualifying

2010-02-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

The national team schedule for the qualifiers for the Euro 2012 tournament has been determined. The schedule is as follows:

September 3, 2010: Kazakhstan – Turkey
September 7, 2010: Turkey – Belgium
October 8, 2010: Germany – Turkey
October 12, 2010: Azerbaijan – Turkey
March 29, 2011: Turkey – Austria
June 3, 2011: Belgium – Turkey
September 6, 2011: Austria – Turkey
October 7, 2011: Turkey – Germany
October 11, 2011: Turkey – Azerbaijan

Perhaps the hardest team to get the wins from will be Germany. Belgium is going to cause problems in these qualifiers, if recent history shows. Perhaps the safe bet is that Turkey will finish second in the group and move on to the qualification playoffs.

Turkish National Team to Play Exhibitions in the USA

2010-02-20T12:18:00.001-08:00

The Turkish national team will be playing a couple of exhibition games in the United States coming up in May. On May 22^nd, Turkey will be playing the Czech Republic in a rematch from the heralded Euro 2008 group stage match at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. On May 29^th, Turkey will be playing the United States at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The May 29^th match will serve as the World Cup sendoff for the United States. This will be an interesting time for the Turkish team. With the prospects of Guus Hiddink taking over as national team coach in August, this will serve as a test to see who will step up to get noticed. With Euro 2012 qualifiers around the corner, it will be interesting to see who will be called up to play these matches. Oguz Cetin will serve as the temporary coach while Guus Hiddink serves out his contract with the Russian Football Union.

Guus Hiddink appointed as head coach of the Turkish National Team.

2010-02-17T14:30:00.001-08:00

It has been confirmed, through various sources, that the Turkish Football Federation has agreed in principle to hire Guus Hiddink as the head coach of the Turkish national team. Hiddink, who is still under contract with the Russian Football Federation until June, will sign a contract that will have him begin his duties as head coach on August 1, 2010. He succeeds Fatih Terim, who resigned the post in October after the loss in the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign to Belgium back in October. After meeting with Turkish Football Federation president Mahmut Özgener and TFF vice-president Lutfi Arıboğan in Amsterdam, a contract was agreed upon with the 63-year old. The contract is said to be a four year contract, guaranteeing that Hiddink will be the coach through at least the Euro 2012 tournament, with optional two more years. Hiddink's assistants are to be former Fenerbahçe great Oğuz Çetin and former Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Engin İpekoğlu.

Hiddink's has been considered one of the top coaches in the world due to his success at club level, but mostly at international level. He had won the treble of Dutch league, cup, and European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988. While coach of PSV Eidhoven, he had won three Dutch league titles. His coaching stink with the Netherlands saw the Dutch make it to the World Cup semi-finals in 1998. He became a South Korean national hero, and an honorary citizen of South Korea, after leading the Korean national team to a fourth place finish in the 2002 World Cup. After leading the Australian national team to the second round in the 2006 World Cup, he would lead Russia to an appearance in the Euro 2008 semi-finals. During his tenure with the Russian national team, he would lead Chelsea to an English FA Cup in 2009. After the defeat to Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup qualifying playoff, it was confirmed that he would not extend his contract with the Russian Football Union after it expires in June 2010.

Hiddink has experience in Turkey in his career. In the 1990-1991 season, he was the head coach of Fenerbahçe, before being let go after that season. While Hiddink may have had success everywhere he's been, this job will have him going into a steaming cauldron. He will be under pressure to succeed right away, and it will be considered outright failure should Turkey not qualify for Euro 2012. Hiddink will have talented players to work with, as evidenced through Turkey's run in Euro 2008. The question will be whether he can combine the talent he will have, and put in a team concept that ends the reputation of the Turkish national team as perhaps one of the most erratic national teams on the face of God's green earth (as mentioned by me on the previous Turkish Football Weekly podcast). He will also have a deep talent pool to work with, as he can potentially select not only Turkish players in Turkey, but also Turkish players that are eligible to play for the Turkish national team in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and France among others. Hiddink is a more than capable coach, but he'll be under the microscope right away. The press in Turkey can become nasty with criticisms should the national team not succeed, so Hiddink will have to deal with that. With the Hiddink era set to begin in August, it will be interesting to see what Hiddink can be able to do with a team that seems to be on the brink of great success, but can't seem to find consistency to achieve such success.

Turkcell Super League – week 21 recap

2010-02-17T09:59:00.001-08:00

Week 21 of the Turkcell Super League might be considered an important week in the big picture of who wins the league title. Galatasaray had the bye week because they would have played the disqualified Ankaraspor, so they got the free three points. There was the possibility that Galatasaray could take the lead in the standing without even having to take the field. The pressure fell on Fenerbahçe in order to win at Manisaspor in order to keep their lead in the standings. Kayserispor travelled to Denizli to face Denizlispor to sustain their Europa League spot. Beşiktaş had a trip to the southeast to face Gaziantepspor. Bursaspor played Trabzonspor in a matchup of two teams in the top six of the table.

Creeping closer to a Europa League spot, Beşiktaş travelled to Gaziantep to play Gaziantepspor. Going to Gaziantep can be a tricky proposition for any club in the league. Gaziantepspor ended Fenerbahçe's record season-starting unbeaten streak at the Kamil Ocak stadium, and looked to take another scalp of one of the big three. It looked good for Gaziantepspor in the 11^th minute. Beşiktaş' Ekrem Dag made a bad back pass that was intercepted by Julio Cesar de Souza. De Souza made Beşiktaş pay for their mistake and gave Gaziantepspor the lead 1-0. From that point on, it seemed Beşiktaş didn't feel like playing as Gaziantepspor continued to find chances in the Beşiktaş area of the field in the first half. The second half saw Beşiktaş manager Mustafa Denizli put in 36 year old Yusuf Simsek in order to provide a spark to the Besktas offense. Simsek had a good game last week, and worked with Rodrigo Tabata well. This week lightning didn't strike twice. In the 52^nd minute, Olcan Adin's corner was headed in by Armand Deumi, doubling Gaziantepspor's lead. It seemed that Beşiktaş just stopped trying after that second goal. Mert Nobre was brought in to at least try to get a draw, but he couldn't find the back of the net. Gaziantepspor beat another of the big three Istanbul clubs at home, as the final score was Gaziantepspor 2-0 Beşiktaş.

With the Beşiktaş loss, Kayserispor looked to pull away and consolidate their fourth place position. It seemed as though that would be an easy task as Denizlispor was their opponent this week. Denizlispor had gotten their only win of the season due to Ankaraspor's disqualification. With a very likely relegation bound opponent, Kayserispor wouldn't have a problem, right? It wouldn't be the case. While the first half ended 0-0, the first half was balanced in terms of attacks from both sides. Either shots hit the post, barely went out, or were saved by the goalkeepers. Denizlispor took the advantage in the 65^th minute. Kayserispor goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou missed an opportunity to clear the ball after a pass into the penalty are from the midfield. Emil Angelov capitalized on the mistake and gave Denizlispor the lead. Kayserispor tried to answer back after the goal, but couldn't as Denizlispor held on to win the match 1-0. These three points were the first points earned by Denizlispor since a draw in week 13 against Antalyaspor. But with only ten points gathered in their league campaign so far, it will take a miracle for Denizlispor to stay up. Kayserispor will rue the opportunity to gain points against the leaders this week, and pull away from Beşiktaş to gain the automatic Europa League spot.

Fenerbahçe were under pressure to retain the league lead. With a trip to Manisa to face Manisaspor, in the relegation zone, it seemed that Fenerbahçe should have an easy time of it and retain the league lead. But the last time these two played in Istanbul, Manisaspor were game and nearly beat Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe took the lead in the 13^th minute, when Ozer Hurmaci's pass from the left found Cristian Baroni, and Baroni's shot went into the net. Alex de Souza faked a shot in order to fool the defense, and Baroni made good with the shot. Fenerbahçe practically dominated the first half as they held on to the ball, and Manisaspor couldn't get any opportunities. The only time Manisaspor did get an opportunity in the first half was in stoppage time. With Mehmet Nas' pass finding Issac Promise, Promise took advantage of lax defense from Fenerbahçe's central defensive pair of Deniz Baris and Fabio Bilica, and put the ball into the net to tie the match before the halftime break. The second half saw Fenerbahçe dominate possession, but Manisaspor looked inspired to pull an upset. Manisaspor threatened the Fenerbahçe goal through counterattacks, but Fenerbahçe's defense held up. It seemed that for most of the second half, Manisaspor spend more time on the ground holding up play than playing. It would set up one of the most harrowing stoppage time play. Seven minutes of stoppage time would be added, because of Manisaspor goalkeeper Ilker Avcibay's treatment for his eye. Avcibay would eventually be substituted. In the third minute of stoppage time, Manisaspor went on a counterattack, and Issac Promise put the ball in the back of the net to give Manisaspor the lead. Fenerbahçe looked desperate to at least salvage a draw. They would get the goal necessary for a draw, as recent transfer Gokhan Unal headed the ball into the net from a cross from Gokcek Wederson in the sixth minute of stoppage time. The match ended in a 2-2 draw and Fenerbahçe lost their lead in the league standings.

The match of the week in the Turkcell Super League this week had Trabzonspor and Bursaspor face off. With Trabzonspor yet to lose a match in this calendar year, it seems as if they are the hottest club in Turkey at the moment. Bursaspor, with a match in hand and with Fenerbahçe's draw, looked to pull closer to second place in the table. It would be tough without forward Sercan Yildirim, who was out of this match due to injury. The first half saw both teams with an equal amount of chances, as the teams played an end to end physical match but without any scoring. Trabzonspor had an opportunity to get a goal in the 30^th minute. Engin Baytar crossed the ball from the left flank, but it was cleared by a Bursaspor defender before Umut Bulut could get a foot on the ball. The second half saw most of the same between the two clubs as the match continued its physical play. Bursaspor found the go ahead goal in the 66^th minute. Ozan Ipek crossed the ball from the left flank, and Pablo Batalla scored with the header to put Bursaspor up 1-0. From there, Trabzonspor had the better of opportunities but could not score until the 88^th minute. Egemen Korkmaz headed a cross towards the direction of Umut Bulut, and Bulut put the ball into the back of the net to tie the match. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Other results from the Turkcell Super League were as follows: Diyarbakirspor 1-1 Sivasspor, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor 1-1 Ankaragücü, Antalyaspor 1-2 Eskişehirspor, and Gençlerbirliği 0-2 Kasımpaşa. The top five of the Turkcell Super League standings are as follows: Galatasaray are in first place with 46 points, Fenerbahçe is in second with 45 points, Bursaspor are in third with 40 points and a game in hand, Kayserispor is in fourth place with 39 points, and Beşiktaş are in fifth place with 39 points and a game in hand. Next week has the potential to shuffle the standings. Galatasaray will have to travel to the Inonu Stadium to face Beşiktaş in a big three derby. It will be interesting to see how the bye week will affect Galatasaray as they play their intra-city rival. Beşiktaş will look to rebound after the disappointing loss at Gaziantepspor. Fenerbahçe will play at home against Bursaspor that can either pull Bursaspor closer to a Champions League spot, or potentially give Fenerbahçe the league lead again should Beşiktaş beat or draw Galatasaray. Kayserispor will have the bye next week.

Turkey’s road to Euro 2012 determined.

2010-02-09T21:18:00.001-08:00

The draw for the qualification phase of the Euro 2012 tournament took place on Sunday. Turkey found out who they would be playing in order to get into Euro 2012, which will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine. Turkey was drawn into group A with the following nations:

Germany
Austria
Belgium
Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan

What's interesting about this draw is that Germany, Austria, and Belgium are countries with a sizable Turkish expatriate population. The matches with Germany should be interesting, especially when the two countries meet in Germany. With about 3 million Turks living in Germany, it looks like whatever German city hosts the Germany-Turkey match will most likely be split 50-50 in terms of the crowd. Also interesting is Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan as opponents. Both countries are Turkic countries, so it's almost like playing with ethnic brethren for the Turks. Regardless, with the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, Turkey will have enormous pressure to qualify for this tournament. The big question at this point is who will coach the national team. Rumors are going around that it's either Mark Hughes, formerly coach of Manchester City and Wales, or Guus Hiddink, who currently coaches the Russian national team. Whoever it is, that person will have to come up with a game plan to erase the disappointment of not participating in the World Cup this year.

Turkcell Super League – Week 20 recap.

2010-02-09T20:58:00.001-08:00

Week 20 of the Turkcell Super League could be the week where the standings could be shaken up. It featured a top of the table matchup that could vault one team to the top of the table, or the other team into serious contenders for the league championship. Kayserispor hosted Galatasaray in the match of the week on Saturday. Fenerbahçe looked to continue their lead in the standings as Diyarbakirspor came into town. The week got started on Friday, as Beşiktaş looked to inch closer to a Europa League spot by facing Gençlerbirliği.

Inching closer to a Europa League spot, Beşiktaş looked to gain three points over Gençlerbirliği. Beşiktaş was without the services of their manager Mustafa Denizli for this match. Assistant coach Tayfur Havutcu took over for this match and kept the same lineup that Denizli had from last week's match against Antalyaspor. It seemed to work as in the 33^rd minute, Tomas Sivok scored off a pass from Bobo to put Beşiktaş up 1-0. Beşiktaş came out with more pressure in the second half. However, Gençlerbirliği got an unexpected equalizer in the 52^nd minute. Hursit Meric shot the ball from long distance, and the ball went by Rustu Recber that tied the match for Gençlerbirliği 1-1. Beşiktaş would take the lead for good within the last 11 minutes of the match. In the 79^th minute, Rodrigo Tabata advanced the ball to near the penalty area, and passed to Filip Holosko. Holosko's pass found Bobo, and Bobo's shot went into the back of the net to make it 2-1, leaving Gençlerbirliği goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge flat-footed, helplessly watching. In the 81^st minute, Tabata made a run towards goal again. His pass, intended for Yusuf Simsek, was intercepted by a Gençlerbirliği defender. Simsek stole the ball, passed the ball to Holosko, and Holosko put it in the back of the net to put Beşiktaş up 3-1. The 87^th minute saw Beşiktaş be awarded a corner. The ball would eventually end up at the feet of Rodrigo Tabata. Tabata shot the ball from a tight angle, but the ball went into the net to make the score 4-1 to Beşiktaş. The 4-1 score ended up being the final result and Beşiktaş crept closer to that guaranteed Europa League spot.

Galatasaray travelled to Kayseri to play Kayserispor at the Kadir Has stadium. With an ankle injury that Jo suffered during the Turkish Cup match earlier in the week against Antalyaspor, along with Harry Kewell and Milan Baros on the sidelines due to their injuries, Galatasaray would have to cope with no true center forward for this match. Arda Turan had to fill in at the central forward position. Giovani dos Santos started and the off-form Servet Cetin was on the bench, giving Emre Gungor a chance in the central defense alongside Lucas Neill. The central defense pairing did their job, as Ariza Makukula was shut down for the entire match. The leading scorer in the Turkcell Super League seemed to look lost. In the 15^th minute, Franco Cangele's free kick barely missed the target and went out. In the waning minutes of the first half, Abdul Kader Keita's cross found Mustafa Sarp. Sarp headed the ball in the direction of Arda Turan, but Turan shot the ball over the bar and out. Things got complicated for Kayserispor to get the win in the 64^th minute, as Hakan Aslantas picked up his second yellow card of the match and was sent off. Elano missed a chance in the 73^rd minute, as his shot was blocked by a Kayserispor defender and out for a corner. Galatasaray had their best chance in the 89^th minute, as Emre Colak found himself one on one with Kayserispor goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou. Souleymanou came up with a crucial save. One minute later, Abdul Kader Keita's header went over the bar and out. The match ended up as a 0-0 draw. Galatasaray continues to struggle scoring, and without a true center forward, scoring may be hard to come by, especially with their Europa League matches with Atletico Madrid coming up. Galatasaray gets the bye week next week since Ankaraspor would have been next on the schedule, so this will give them some time to sort out their forward situation

With Galatasaray's draw against Kayserispor, Fenerbahçe looked to gain some breathing room in the standings against Diyarbakirspor. Diyarbakirspor had other ideas, as they looked to avoid the relegation zone. Gustave Bebbe's shot in the 8^th minute went off the crossbar, leaving the Fenerbahçe defense in confusion. In the 41^st minute, Ozer Hurmaci advanced into the penalty area from a pass from Semih Senturk. Getting pass two Diyarbakirspor defenders left Hurmaci alone against Diyarbakirspor goalkeeper Gokhan Tokgoz , but Tokgoz made the save from Hurmaci's attempt. In the 58^th minute, Emre Belozoglu lost the ball and Thierry Tazemeta went on the counterattack. Volkan Demirel had to come out and clear the ball, leaving Fenerbahçe breathing a sigh of relief. Diyarbakirspor took a shock lead in the 83^rd minute. Ayman Abdelaziz's shot from about 25 meters away from the goal curled away from Demirel's outstretched hands and gave Diyarbakirspor a shock lead. With that, Diyarbakirspor played the last minutes of the match with ten men behind the ball, content to let Fenerbahçe attack and hold on for the win. It would come back to haunt them, as in the 90^th minute, a free kick from the right flank ended up being headed into the goal by Andre dos Santos to salvage the draw for Fenerbahçe. The match ended up as a 1-1 draw, and Fenerbahçe will be under pressure next week to beat Manisaspor on the road. They will have to do so without Mehmet Topuz. His red card in the fourth minute of stoppage time, for grabbing the throat of an opposing player, will leave the midfielder out next week (Note: the TFF has now made his suspension two matches since then). Galatasaray will have the bye, and the free three points, so Fenerbahçe will have to be on their game in order to keep their lead in the standings.

Other results from week 20 were as follows: Eskişehirspor 2-1 Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor, Sivasspor 2-0 Denizlispor, Kasımpaşa 2-2 Antalyaspor, Ankaragücü 0-0 Bursaspor, and Trabzonspor 3-0 Manisaspor. Gaziantepspor picked up the three free points due to Ankaraspor's disqualification. The top five in the standings didn't change. Fenerbahçe continues to lead with 44 points, Galatasaray in second with 43 points, Bursaspor is third with 39 points and a +19 goal differential, Kayserispor in fourth with 39 points and a + 16 goal differential, and Beşiktaş in fifth with 38 points.

Euro 2012 qualifying pots determined – Turkey in pot 2

2010-02-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

The draw for Euro 2012 qualification is set to take place on Feburary 7^th. With the excitement leading up to qualifications, along with who will be the head coach of the Turkish National Team, the draw is highly anticipated. Turkey is in pot 2 of the draw as seen below.

Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, and Russia

Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, and Romania

Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, and Cyprus

Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Liechtenstein

Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, and San Marino

Turkcell Super League – week 19 recap

2010-02-04T13:45:00.001-08:00

The march to the Turkcell Super League championship continues onward this week. A total of three games were featured on Friday and Saturday. After their match last week was postponed, Beşiktaş got their second half of the season started with a trip down to Antalya to play Antalyaspor. Trabzonspor looked to improve their chances in clinching a Europa League spot, as they headed down to Diyarbakir to face Diyarbakirspor. Kasımpaşa is only three points above the relegation zone, while Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor is still in the middle of the table. Those two teams would meet for local supremacy.

Friday's match had Beşiktaş head down to the vacation city of Antalya to face Antalyaspor. Both teams were playing their first on-field league match since December. Beşiktaş had their match last week postponed, while Antalyaspor got the free three points because they would have played the disqualified Ankaraspor. Both teams looked a bit rusty as there was very little action in the first half, with the first half ending 0-0. The action would heat up in the second half. In the 53rd minute, a Beşiktaş cross from the left flank into the box by Rodrigo Tabata, was headed towards the goal by Tomas Sivok. The header was saved by Antalyaspor goalkeeper Omer Catkic and out for a corner. Some controversy erupted after the corner was taken when it appeared that Radoslav Batak of Antalyaspor handled the ball. It may have looked like incidental contact, but the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Bobo took the penalty and scored to give Beşiktaş the lead 1-0. Antalyaspor came out furiously trying to tie the match. The 61st minute saw Necati Ates attempt a header on goal, but ended up in the hands of Beşiktaş goalkeeper Rustu Recber. The 70th minute saw Serge Djiehoua head a crossing ball out for a goal kick. Fatih Ceylan had a volley deflected out by Beşiktaş' Ekrem Dag in the 74th minute. With all of the opportunities that Antalyaspor had, it seemed like Beşiktaş were lucky that attempts on goal were missed, cleared, or turned around for counterattacks. Beşiktaş held on for the win 1-0.

Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor and Kasımpaşa met in the first match on Saturday. The two mid-table sides looked to consolidate their positions. Kasımpaşa got the scoring started in the 2nd minute. Sahin Aygunes received a through ball from Andre Moritz and scored. The 18th minute saw Aygunes leave the ball and Yekta Kurtulus shot the ball on goal, but into the hands of Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor goalkeeper Kenan Hasagic. Kasımpaşa doubled their lead in the 29th minute. Okan Buruk's pass ended up with Kasımpaşa's Murat Erdogan. Erdogan went into the box alone and scored. The first half ended with Kasımpaşa up 2-0. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor would dominate the second half. In the 50th minute, Ekrem Eksioglu's crossing pass from the left flank was headed into the net by Herve Tum to make the score 2-1. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor tied the match in the 57th minute, as Iskender Alin scored off a through ball by Ali Guzeldal. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor then took the lead in the 69th minute. Serhat Gulpinar's shot in the penalty area was saved, but Iskender Alin put the rebound in the net. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor then clinched the match in the 80th minute. Ali Guzeldal's corner from the right side was headed home by Tevfik Kose. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor won the match 4-2 and Kasımpaşa is now dangerously close to the relegation zone.

In the final match on Saturday, Diyarbakirspor hosted Trabzonspor. Trabzonspor had not lost any matches in 2010 (both Turkish Cup and league matches) and was looking to extend that unbeaten streak. It looked good for Trabzonspor in the 16th minute. Alanzinho's shot on goal was saved for a corner. From Gustavo Colman's resulting corner, Engin Baytar shot the ball into the net to put Trabzonspor on the board 1-0. Diyarbakirspor tied the game in the 22nd minute. Celaleddin Kocak's shot was saved by Trabzonspor goalkeeper Onur Kivrak. Thierry Tazemeta got to the loose ball and scored to tie the match. Trabzonspor almost took back the lead in the 38th minute, as Selcuk Inan's free kick hit the crossbar. One minute later, Trabzonspor got the lead back. Gustavo Colman crossed the ball from the left flank into the penalty area, and Engin Baytar headed the ball into goal. The first half ended with a 2-1 advantage to Trabzonspor. Diyarbakirspor nearly tied the match in the 64th minute. Tazemeta's crossing pass found Erhan Senturk right in front of the Trabzonspor goal, but Senturk's shot was too powerful and went over the bar. In the 69th minute, another opportunity came for Trabzonspor, but Serkan Balci's header went off the post and was cleared by the Diyarbakirspor defense. The 72nd minute saw Ceyhun Gulselam cross the ball in front of the goal, but Umut Bulut couldn't make any contact with the ball and the ball rolled out. Trabzonspor went on to win the match 2-1. Trabzonspor remained sixth in the standings and are now two points behind Beşiktaş, but Beşiktaş have yet to make up its postponed match from week 18 against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor.

Week 19 of the Turkcell Super League season came to a close on Sunday with the top four teams in action. With the gap between first and second separated by only a point, both Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray were under pressure to keep their battle for the top going. Bursaspor and Kayserispor looked to keep pace with the top two as they faced Eskişehirspor and Gaziantepspor respectively. The other match on Sunday saw two teams locked in a battle to stay clear of the relegation zone as Ankaragücü and Manisaspor met.

Manisaspor hosted Ankaragücü in the battle to avoid relegation on a soaked pitch. Ankaragücü had a couple of chances in the 10th and 12th minutes. Headers from Ilhan Parlak and Muhammet Hanifi missed the target. Much of the first half was played in the middle of the pitch as barely any action in front of goal took place. The second half saw chances in the final third of the pitch happen in the last fifteen minutes. In the 75th minute, Ankaragücü's Jerome Rothen crossed the ball drawing Manisaspor goalkeeper Ilker Avcibay out of his goal. Parlak beat Avcibay to the ball and passed to Mehmet Çakır, but the ball was blasted over the bar. The best chance to break the scoreless deadlock came in the 85th minute. Çakır advanced the ball down the right flank. The crossing pass saw the ball slow to a halt on the muddy pitch. Rothen's shot went off Avcibay and ended up with Umut Sozen. The ball was cleared off the line by the Manisaspor defense. The match ended in a 0-0 draw and both teams still dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Kayserispor looked to keep pace with the leaders and hold on to fourth place and the Europa League spot. They travelled down to Gaziantep to face Gaziantepspor. Must of the first half was dominated by Kayserispor. Gaziantepspor goalkeeper Mahmut Bezgin made some crucial saves to keep the match scoreless. Gaziantepspor's only opportunity of the first half came in the 36th minute. Olcan Adin advanced the ball into the penalty area, getting by two Kayserispor players in the process. His pass in front of Kayserispor's goal couldn't find any teammates and was cleared. The second half featured the only goal of the match. In the 49th minute, Franco Cangele advanced the ball into the penalty area and passed to Ariza Makukula. Makukula settled the ball and calmly scored to give Kayserispor the lead 1-0. Much of the rest of match saw little opportunities for both side and Kayserispor went on to win 1-0.

After last week's match with Kasımpaşa was postponed, Bursaspor got their second half of the season started facing Eskişehirspor. Bursaspor struck quick early on in the match. With only 30 seconds elapsing off the clock. Eskişehirspor's Koray Arslan had the ball stolen from him by Bursaspor's Ozan Ipek. Ipek took advantage of the mistake to put Bursaspor on the board, 1-0. The 12th minute saw Ivan Ergic's pass shot by Ipek, but saved by Eskişehirspor goalkeeper Vanja Ivesa. The 14th minute saw Sercan Yildirim got around a Gaziantepspor defender, and crossed the ball to Turgay Bahadir. Bahadir calmly put the ball into the net to give Bursaspor a 2-0 lead. Eskişehirspor hardly advanced the ball into Bursaspor's penalty area for the entire first half. The best shot they had in the first half was Umit Karan's 45th minute volley that came off the post. Bursaspor dominated possession in the middle of the pitch in the second half. Eskişehirspor was lucky if they could advance the ball towards Bursaspor's goal at all. In the 83rd minute, Ali Tandogan scored to put Bursaspor up 3-0. The only goal that Eskişehirspor got in this match was a penalty scored by Umit Karan in the 87th minute. Bursaspor won the match 3-1, remained in third place, and still have a game in hand.

Fenerbahçe travelled eastward to face Sivasspor in Sivas. Many of the men on the bench would have to be called into action, as Emre Belozoglu, Cristian Baroni, Andre dos Santos, and Diego Lugano would all be suspended through yellow card accumulation. Dani Guiza would not play in this match either due to injury. Sivasspor had their captain, Mehmet Yildiz, see his first action of the season after coming back from an injury that put him out for a total of seven months. Fenerbahçe had a shot to take the lead in the 26th minute, when Gokcek Vederson passed the ball in front of goal from the end line. But the resulting shot from Mehmet Topuz went off the post. Sivasspor had their first chance of the match in the 27th minute, when Nabil Taider's low shot was heading towards goal, but was saved by Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel. Fenerbahçe got the scoring started in the 30th minute. Selcuk Sahin intercepted a back pass inside the penalty area. His cross from the end line was put into the net by Semih Senturk and gave Fenerbahçe the 1-0 lead. Sivasspor would answer back in the 37th minute. An attempted clearance from Vederson would be intercepted by Musa Aydin. Aydin left the ball for Yildiz, and Yildiz's rocket shot went into the goal to tie the match. The 1-1 score would be the score at halftime. In the 54th minute, Sivasspor's Abdurrahman Dereli went down and the match was stopped. Play was resumed via a drop ball, and ended up with Fenerbahçe defender Deniz Baris. Baris proceeded to deliver a long ball pass to Semih Senturk, who was onside and went one-on-one with Sivasspor goalkeeper Akin Vardar. Senturk easily put the ball into goal to give Fenerbahçe the lead 2-1. Senturk would then proceed to set up a goal in the 66th minute. His pass to Ugur Boral resulted in Boral advancing the ball into the penalty area, and scoring with a low shot, making the score 3-1 to Fenerbahçe. Four minutes later, Boral struck again after receiving a pass from Alex de Souza. Boral's second goal almost was a carbon copy of his first, and Fenerbahçe was cruising, the score at this point was 4-1. Gokhan Gonul ended the scoring in the 84th minute, with his goal set up by Alex. Fenerbahçe kept its top spot in the league standings with an authoritative 5-1 victory.

With Fenerbahçe's win earlier in the day, Galatasaray needed to win in order to remain one point behind their rivals in the chase for the league title. With Galatasaray picking up Giovani dos Santos on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, it seemed like Galatasaray may be the team to watch this season. They travelled down to Denizli to face Denizlispor. Denizlispor has struggled this season, with only seven points, and their only win coming as a freebie due to Ankaraspor's demotion. Galatasaray opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Baris Ozbek's cross into the penalty box was headed into goal by Arda Turan to put Galatasaray up 1-0. The 45th minute saw Jo have his first opportunity to score in a Galatasaray uniform. But his low shot was saved by Denizlispor goalkeeper, Ozden Ongun. The second half saw Denizlispor get off to a good start. In the 54th minute, Dzemal Berberovic crossed from the right flank. The ball was headed into the goal by Engin Memisler to tie the match 1-1. Galatasaray would answer back in the 61st minute. Mustafa Sarp advanced the ball into the penalty area and his shot took a deflection off a Denizlispor defender. The ball ended up with Jo. His first shot was saved by Ongun but Jo hit the rebound home to give Galatasaray the lead 2-1. Galatasaray went on to win by that same scoreline.

The top five positions in the Turkcell Super League remained the same after this week. Fenerbahçe continues to lead the league with 43 points. Galatasaray are in second with 42 points. Third place belongs to Bursaspor with 38 points and a +19 goal differential. Kayserispor is in fourth place, also with 38 points, but with a +16 goal differential. Beşiktaş remains in fifth place with 35 points. It should be noted that Beşiktaş and Bursaspor have a game in hand. Their week 18 matches have not been rescheduled.

Giovani dos Santos joins Galatasaray on loan.

2010-01-26T18:55:00.001-08:00

It has now been reported by Fanatik and Sky Sports in England that Mexican international player Giovani dos Santos will now head to Galatasaray on a loan. The player had been playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Dos Santos played for Barcelona when current Galatasaray head coach Frank Rijkaard was at the helm there. He had failed to establish himself at Spurs, and spent some time on loan at Ipswich Town the previous season. With the move, dos Santos reunites with Rijkaard and will certainly see playing time in Istanbul. The move can be made permanent during the summer transfer window. With the move, Galatasaray will have to offload one of its foreign players. Turkish football regulations stipulate that only eight foreign players can be registered with one club; and up to six foreigners can play on the pitch for a club.

With Harry Kewell now out for 2-3 months, and with Milan Baros thought to be out until mid-March, this seems like a good move for Galatasaray. Rijkaard had given dos Santos his chance at first-team football when Rijkaard coached Barcelona. Now it may be that this young player can be able to fulfill his potential under his old coach. The Turkcell Super League tends to favor offensive football rather than defensive. Dos Santos, who is a forward, should be able to find his rhythm here. Who Galatasaray releases due to the foreign player rule will be the question. Although perhaps with the quality of players now coming into Galatasaray, it wouldn't be surprising to see Shabani Nonda go. Considering he had missed a few good opportunities in the Gaziantepspor match, including a penalty kick, Nonda's days could be numbered. Galatasaray had to let Tobias Linderoth go because of the new signings (Lucas Neill and Jo); then again, he had been considered a liability. The main concern with dos Santos will be diving. Mexican players have gained a reputation for diving on the pitch, especially with fans of the United States national soccer team. The Turkish TV pundits might have a field day if he dives at times on the pitch, calling the legitimacy of the on-pitch action into question. Even so, this is a good move for Galatasaray considering dos Santos' age (20 years old) and potential to become a star.

Turkcell Super League – week 18 – Sunday action

2010-01-26T18:28:00.001-08:00

The opening weekend of the second half of the season for the Turkcell Super League came to a close Sunday. With Fenerbahçe consolidating their lead at the top, Galatasaray needed to win to keep pace with their cross-town Istanbul rivals. Kayserispor looked to keep within striking distance of the top spot that they held for two weeks in the first half of the season. Roger Lemerre made his debut as Ankaragücü head coach, along with former Turkish national team, Fenerbahçe, and Gençlerbirliği player Umit Ozat as his assistant. Trabzonspor, although highly unlikely to break their championship drought this season, looked to at least get into contention for a Europa League spot as they took on Sivasspor.

Roger Lemerre was hired by Ankaragücü in the winter break to improve the fortunes of the capital-based club. Their opponents this week, Diyarbakirspor, were only a point ahead of them in the standings. Ankaragücü were the first to attack in the 7^th minute, with Darius Vassel's attempt on goal curling over the bar and out of bounds. Diyarbakirspor was on the attack in the 16^th minute, as Thierry Tazemeta passed to Erhan Senturk on the right flank. Senturk ran into the box and shot the ball right into Ankaragücü's goalkeeper, Serkan Kirintili. Kirintili's block would end that attack. In the 19^th minute, Ankaragücü had another chance as Aydin Karabulut's free kick into the box was headed by Koray Çölgecen towards goal. But the ball was saved and ended up out for a corner. Very little action occurred in the first half and the halftime score ended up 0-0. The second half started with Diyarbakirspor on the offensive. In the 47^th minute, Bruce Djite's attempt on goal barely missed the left post and went out. In the 66^th minute, Diyarbakirspor's Razundara Tjikuzu (recently transferred from Trabzonspor) shot the ball low from the top of the penalty arc. Kirintili came up with two saves, one from Tjikuzu's shot, and Djite's attempt from the rebound. Tjikuzu would have another attempt on goal in the 71^st minute for Diyarbakirspor. His curling shot from the left flank went off the post, initially confusing Kirintili, and the resulting rebound was cleared out for a throw-in. Ankaragücü had an attempt on goal in the 80^th minute, with Adem Koçak's shot going wide left of the goal. The match would end as a 0-0 draw.

Kayserispor looked like they were in contention for the title going into the winter break. The team surprised many by leading the Super League for two weeks late in the first half of the season. Now in fourth place, Kayserispor looked to get off to a good start to the second half against Gençlerbirliği. In the 21^st minute, Franco Cangele's corner from the right ended up being headed by Aydin Toscali barely off target. In the 29^th minute, Gençlerbirliği started a counterattack from a Kayserispor corner. Burhan Eşer received a pass and advanced the ball deep into Kayserispor's half. His through ball pass was intended for Hurşit Meriç. But Kayserispor defender Durmuş Bayram got to the ball first and cleared the danger. The clearance went to Alioum Saidou, who passed to Mehmet Eren. Eren then attacked from the right flank, advancing the ball near the goal line. His cross found the head of Ariza Makukula, but the attempt on goal was saved by Gençlerbirliği goalkeeper Serdar Kulbilge as Kulbilge deflected the ball over the crossbar. The resulting corner, coming in the 31^st minute, was cleared by the Gençlerbirliği defense. But the ball ended up at the feet of Gökhan Emreciksin, and the Kayserispor midfielder's long range shot went wide of the goal. Burhan Eşer had another opportunity for Gençlerbirliği in the 42^nd minute, but his curling shot on goal was saved by Kayserispor goalkeeper Gökhan Değirmenci. The first half ended without any goals. The second half would see goals, however. In the 69^th minute, Kayserispor's Serdar Kesimal mistakenly passed the ball to Gençlerbirliği player Labinot Harbuzi. Harbuzi then passed a through ball to Burhan Eşer. Eşer kept his shot low and scored to put Gençlerbirliği up 1-0. Gençlerbirliği almost had their second goal by Eşer in the 78^th minute. Kahe's through ball found Eşer, but the resulting ball hit the post and was cleared by the Kayserispor defense. In the 80^th minute, Kayserispor had another opportunity on goal, as Franco Cangele's free kick just outside the penalty box was deflected off the wall. The ball ended up at the feet of Makukula, but was saved by Kulbilge. Gençlerbirliği looked like they were going to hang on for the win. But in the second minute of stoppage time, Cangele's cross from the right flank found the head of Makukula. The Super League-leading goal scorer headed the ball into the back of the net to tie the match, and make the final score 1-1.

It can be said that both Trabzonspor and Sivasspor have had disappointing seasons so far. Both clubs have had to change coaches. Both looked to contend for the league title this year. While Trabzonspor look to at least climb into a Europa League spot, Sivasspor have the task to climb out of the relegation zone. It was a far cry from when Sivasspor looked to be the first team to win the league title outside of the "Big Four" the past two seasons. Both teams wanted to get the second half of the season off to a high note. Trabzonspor almost scored first in the 11^th minute. Ömer Aysan Barış' cross went past Umut Bulut and ended up at the feet of Engin Baytar. With an open net in front of him, Baytar's shot went off the crossbar and was cleared. Trabzonspor would strike first in the 21^st minute. Engin Baytar's pass into the area found Alanzinho. Alanzinho found Umut Bulut, and Bulut opened the scoring putting Trabzonspor up 1-0. In the 29^th minute, Sivasspor midfielder Ferhat Bikmaz tripped Baytar in the box, resulting in a penalty for Trabzonspor. Gustavo Colman proceeded to double Trabzonspor's lead to 2-0. The 32^nd minute saw Alanzinho advanced the ball from the right flank, and passed a through ball to Baytar. The resulting pass to Bulut ended up in the hands of Sivasspor goalkeeper Akin Vardar. Sivasspor would not be down and out yet. In the 36^th minute, Abdurrahman Dereli's pass from the center circle found Erman Kılıç just outside the box. Kılıç advanced the ball to near the goal line and intended to make a crossing pass. Instead, the ball deflected off Selçuk Inan and into the net to put Sivasspor on the board. The halftime score ended up with Trabzonspor having the 2-1 advantage. Trabzonspor had plenty of opportunities in the second half to regain their two goal lead. In the 55^th minute, Baytar's pass into the box found Serkan Balci, but his shot went wide of goal. The 76^th minute saw Bulut's cross from the right flank headed out over the bar by Inan. In the 78^th minute, Inan's free kick went into the box and found the head of Giray Kaçar. But his header went off the post, and was cleared by the Sivasspor defense. One minute later, Ömer Aysan Barış provided a long ball that was headed towards the penalty box by Inan. Umut Bulut provided the finish to put Trabzonspor up 3-1. The 89^th minute saw Inan take a free kick that found the head of Kaçar. The header went for naught. Trabzonspor picked up the three points with three goals in a 3-1 victory.

Galatasaray decided to get some help for their scoring and the defense. With Milan Baros out until mid-March because of the injury suffered during the Fenerbahçe derby, Galatasaray signed Jo from Manchester City. Jo was previously on loan to Everton and looks like a good pickup. Lucas Neill, previously under contract to Everton, was also signed as Galatasaray looked to improve the defense. With an injury-prone Gökhan Zan, Neill should be a good compliment to Servet Cetin as a central defender. Neill got the immediate start while Jo was on the bench as Galatasaray took on Gaziantepspor. A snowstorm hit Istanbul over the weekend, so the pitch at the Ali Sami Yen stadium had to be cleared. The snow continued to fall at kickoff and throughout the match. Much of the first half was dominated by Galatasaray. In the 3^rd minute, Caner Erkin's cross was headed out by Shabani Nonda. In the 31^st minute, Elano's shot from outside the penalty area barely missed the target. Galatasaray got an advanatage when Gaziantepspor's Ahmet Ari got sent off in the 33^rd minute for his second yellow card for dissent. Galatasaray had their best chance in the first half in the 43^rd minute. Arda Turan moved past two defenders and his shot on goal was saved. The rebound came to Nonda, but Nonda attempt saw the ball trickle out. The first half ended with a 0-0 score. In the 59^th minute, Caner Erkin was tripped in the box, leading to a penalty kick for Galatasaray. On the ensuing kick, Nonda's attempt was saved by Gaziantepspor goalkeeper Mahmut Bezgin. Elano would be replaced at the 63^rd minute by Jo, giving Jo his first minutes in a Galatasaray uniform. Galatasaray would find the back of the net in the 75^th minute. Arda Turan's free kick was headed home by Mustafa Sarp. Jo had his first attempt to score in a Galatasaray uniform in the 80^th minute, but he headed Uğur Uçar's cross out for a goal kick. Galatasaray went on to win the match 1-0, remaining a point behind league leaders Fenerbahçe.

Turkcell Super League – Week 18 – Friday and Saturday action

2010-01-23T22:48:00.001-08:00

After nearly a month off because of a winter break, the Turkcell Super League got back into action with a set of matches on Friday and Saturday. The top four in the league are only separated by a point each, so now every game is crucial in the march toward the league title. The second half of the season will feature new faces, such as Gokhan Unal now being transferred to Fenerbahçe from Trabzonspor, and Lucas Neill and Jo who have been transferred to Galatasaray from Everton and Manchester City respectively (Jo is on a six month loan). With the amount of transfers in and out of the league, the league will certainly have a somewhat different look player-wise. However, the league will certainly look to be competitive over the next seventeen weeks as the drive for the title approaches its end. Week 18 got started with Fenerbahçe facing a bottom of the table Denizlispor on Friday. Three matches were set to be featured on Saturday. However, due to a snowstorm in Istanbul, only the Eskişehirspor-Manisaspor match was played. The Beşiktaş-Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor and Kasımpaşa-Bursaspor matches were postponed.

The leaders at the halfway point, Fenerbahçe, looked to continue their lead at the top of the table. With the rain and sleet falling on the Sukru Saracoglu stadium during the game, the field was muddy. They had to do without their captain and their normal right back, as both Alex de Souza and Gokhan Gonul of Fenerbahçe would miss the match due to yellow card accumulation. Denizlispor, 17^th in the standings coming into the match, would start a seemingly monumental climb back out of the relegation zone. Much of the first half was dominated by Fenerbahçe as they had most of the possession of the ball. Denizlispor goalkeeper Özden Öngün kept his team in the match with crucial saves. One example was in the 43^rd minute, when Andre dos Santos curled a free kick into the penalty area. Fabio Bilica's header was on target, but Öngün had capable hands to stop the opportunity. The second half featured more Fenerbahçe attacking. A few minutes into the second half, Emre Belozoglu had a shot blocked by a Denizlispor defender. The ball ended up at the feet of Semih Senturk, but Senturk's shot went wide right. In the 59^th minute, Semih Senturk made a pass to Guiza, but his hard shot went off the crossbar and was cleared by Denizlispor. The goal-scoring would begin late in this match. In the 77^th minute, Andre dos Santos curled a free kick into the Denizlispor goal to put the home team up 1-0. Denizlispor would answer back five minutes later in the 82^nd minute. Souleymane Youla, recently transferred to Denizlispor from Eskişehirspor, hit home a shot from a free kick from Branimir Bajic. Youla, who came into the match as a substitute in the 80^th minute, took advantage of a slip-up from Fenerbahçe defender Fabio Bilica, and powered his shot into the back of the net. Fenerbahçe would take the lead for good in the 86^th minute, as Özer Hurmaci scored his first goal in a Fenerbahçe uniform. The lead-up to the goal saw the ball inching near the goal line, but Gokhan Unal saved the ball from crossing the line. Unal would pass to Guiza, and Guiza's pass found Hurmaci for the goal. Fenerbahçe put the game out of reach in the 90^th minute, as Andre dos Santos' pass found Unal in the box. Unal's shot was saved by Özden Öngün, but Guiza hit home the rebound to make the final score 3-1. This game wasn't without some casualties though. Fenerbahçe will go into their match against Sivasspor next week without some key players, as Emre Belozoglu, Diego Lugano, Cristian Baroni, and Andre dos Santos will all be unavailable next week due to yellow card accumulation.

Eskişehirspor hosted Manisaspor in the only matchup on Saturday. Manisaspor came out strong at the start of the match. In the fifth minute, Mehmet Güven shot the ball just barely wide of the net. In the 12^th minute, Güven's through ball pass into the penalty box found Promise Issac. The end result of this was Issac shooting the ball wide left of the goal. The 14^th minute saw Gabriel Limeira's shot go off the post. Eskişehirspor would get one opportunity in the 22^nd minute. After receiving a pass from Erkan Zengin, Koray Arslan ran about 30 meters from the right wing into the penalty area. His shot, however, ended up missing the goal by the slightest of margins. In the 30^th minute, Manisaspor was on the attack again, as Yaser Yildiz crossed the ball from the left flank finding Joshua Simpson. But the Canadian's shot would end up in the hands of Eskişehirspor goalkeeper Vanja Ivesa. The score at the halftime break was 0-0. In the 50^th minute, Eskişehirspor's Alper Potuk had his attempt on goal saved by Manisaspor goalkeeper Ilker Avcibay. The 58^th minute saw Manisaspor on the attack, with Şener Aşkaroğlu making a pass to Yaser Yildiz, but Yildiz's shot was saved by Ivesa for a corner. In the 69^th minute, a pass by Caner Celep went through the Manisaspor defense, and ended up with Adem Sari. Sari's shot would hit the post, but Sari headed in the rebound to put Eskişehirspor on the board, 1-0. One last chance for Manisaspor came in the 88^th minute, when Aşkaroğlu cross the ball into the penalty area from the right flank. Mehmet Nas took the shot, but Ivesa came up with a big save to keep Eskişehirspor in the lead. Eskişehirspor held on to win 1-0.

Digiturk retains Turkcell Super League broadcasting rights.

2010-01-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

Digiturk, the satellite service hosting LigTV, has renewed their contract to broadcast the Turkcell Super League for the next four seasons, from the 2010 to 2014. Digiturk will play $321 million each season for the broadcast rights. Compare that with the current deal that Digiturk has, which is $140 million dollars per year, starting from 2005. They gain the right to broadcast at least four matches per week, and can broadcast through terrestrial transmitters, cable, satellite, internet, and 3G networks. TRT has won the broadcast rights to the Bank Asya 1^st division. The matches can be broadcast over the same avenues as the Digiturk deal, but they must broadcast at least three matches per week. Both broadcasters reserve the right to rename the league through sponsorship.

With Digiturk winning the right to the Super League again, it looks certain that only the big four of Turkish soccer will be broadcast. One of my complaints about Digiturk (and LigTV) is that they almost never broadcast Anatolian teams from outside the big four (Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor). While I realize that these teams don't have the prestige of the big four clubs, it would be helpful to Turks and non-Turks who follow Turkish football to see how these teams play. Plus, the TV exposure to the Anatolian clubs would be very beneficial to them. LigTV has always had this big four complex where they care about the big four and Anatolian clubs don't exist, except for a few highlights. The only time Anatolian clubs will get exposure is if they are playing the big four, or if they are making a run to the league title. A good example of the latter would be Sivasspor last season, and Bursaspor and Kayserispor this season. I guarantee nobody would be caring about Kayserispor getting broadcast on LigTV if they weren't leading the Super League table for two weeks. So with Super League matches staying on LigTV for the foreseeable future don't count on Anatolian clubs to get some TV time. That is unless there is a serious contender for the league title.

Lucas Neill signs for Galatasaray

2010-01-13T20:07:00.001-08:00

Galatasaray has transferred defender Lucas Neill of Everton for a reported 800,000 British pounds, according to the Telegraph newspaper. After the transfer, Galatasaray signed Neill to a 1.5 year contract. He has previously played for Everton, West Ham United, and Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. Generally a right back, he has been playing center back in recent games for Everton. He joins fellow Australian Harry Kewell on the team. Most likely, he will feature at center back for Galatasaray the rest of the season, due to Sabri Sarioglu being the first choice right back. Galatasaray is also rumored to be interested in Roman Pavyluchenko of Tottenham Hotspur, but may not be able to meet the transfer price to sign him. Galatasaray is also rumored to be after Mido, the Egyptian forward currently playing on loan for Middlesbrough.

Kayserispor player suspended over allegations of match-fixing.

2010-01-10T19:08:00.001-08:00

A match fixing scandal reported a few days ago in Turkish newspapers rocked Turkish soccer and European soccer in general. There has been some action taken in order to alleviate the problem. Kayserispor, currently in fourth place in the Turkcell Super League, has suspended midfielder Bilal Aziz Özer from the team due to allegations that he and two other players, whom have not been named, attempted to manipulate a match this season against Eskişehirspor. The said match took place on October 4^th of last year.

The Milliyet newspaper implicated Özer as one of the players listed in the report by the Bochum Public Prosecutors office. The report, which contains tapped phone conversations between Özer and one of the members of the match-fixers, disclosed that Özer and two other players would conspire to lose the match against Eskişehirspor. Kayserispor would win the match 1-0, and Özer and the two other teammates were threatened to make up for the loss or face consequences, which included death threats. The other two teammates were not identified by Özer when he had spoken to the match-fixer.

The Turkish Football Federation has now referred the case to the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) for investigation. The TFF Ethics board will be commissioned to investigate the claims. Özer could face up to a three year banishment from the sport if found guilty. The issue will be addressed on January 14th when the TFF Board of Directors will have a meeting to address the allegations against Özer.

Alleged Match Fixing in Turkish Football

2010-01-07T14:44:00.001-08:00

On January 5^th, national daily newspaper Milliyet broke the story that 19 soccer matches in Turkey have allegedly been fixed. English language daily Today's Zaman also reported this story the following day. The 3,500 page report, prepared by the Public Prosecutor's Office in Bochum, Germany, was submitted to the Turkish Football Federation. The document implicated players, coaches, and administrators in the match fixing activities, encompassing all four divisions of Turkish professional football and calling the manipulation of matches a "casual thing" in the country. A soccer official in the country, preferring to remain anonymous, had disclosed to Milliyet that the report was based on 50,000 pages of phone conversation transcripts that:

"The games were so manipulated that large bets on low-stake games enabled people worldwide to earn money. It is estimated that the unlawful profits obtained through this 'gang's' match-fixing could be as high as 50 million euros."

Names mentioned in the report include former Galatasaray and national team star Arif Erdem, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor goalkeeper Kenan Hasagic, Gençlerbirliği goalkeeper Recep Öztürk, and Gençlerbirliği club Chairman Ilhan Cavcav. One of the matches included in the match-fixing scheme was a match in May between Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor and Gençlerbirliği, in which the final score was 3-1 in favor of the Istanbul club. One bettor has verified that individuals who bet on the game learned what the score would be from both aforementioned goalkeepers. According to another bettor, both chairmen of the clubs in question reached a verbal agreement pertaining to the score so that the Istanbul based club would not drop to the Bank Asya 1^st Division from the Turkcell Super League. Recep Öztürk is alleged to have bet on the match, making 30,000 Euros as a result of the fix. Also implicated is a match in the Antalya Cup between Antalyaspor and Trabzonspor, in which a bettor received information as to the score from Trabzonspor officials before the match was played.

The Turkish Football Federation has launched an investigation into the matter. The federation mentioned in a statement that "bringing the truth to light will be out priority", and that they will send a delegation to Germany to investigate the matter. All of the people implicated by name have strongly condemned the report.

Turkish National Team – Coaching rumors

2010-01-05T14:56:00.001-08:00

The Turkish national team has not had a head coach since the last of the World Cup qualifiers was ended in October. With Fatih Terim's resignation, there have been plenty of rumors going around the internet as to who is the next guy on the hot seat. Perhaps, it would be best for the Turkish Football Federation to get a foreigner this time around. But some internet polls on Turkish websites have had more votes for a domestic coach than a foreign coach. But with the candidates the TFF has either interviewed or are interested in, depending on what one reads, it looks like it will be a foreign coach to take the helm.

One of the candidates is Giovanni Trapattoni. Now everyone knows he is still the coach of the Irish national team. However, Italian coaches have a reputation of getting the job done. The only reason that Ireland isn't in the World Cup at this point is obvious to everyone, so there's no need to beat a dead horse there. Trapattoni might be an old man, but I think he can be able to get the most out of the Turkish nationals. I'm not quite sure about his tactics, as I haven't been keeping up with Ireland's matches during the qualifiers, but he seems like a good fit for the job. My only question is his age, as he is or will be 70 years old, and considering what happened at Fenerbahçe with Luis Aragones, old gentlemen might not succeed. Consider also that Trapattoni's assistant has already shot these rumors down, so it seems as though Trapattoni will not be anywhere near Turkey anytime soon.

An interesting candidate whose name has come up recently is that of Mark Hughes, formerly of Manchester City. Hughes would be likely paired up with Tugay Kerimoglu as his assistant. Hughes I can't be too sure of. He nearly led the Welsh national team to an appearance in Euro 2004, only to fall short. Having Kerimoglu as his assistant would result in quite an interesting pairing. However, I am very unsure about having Hughes in. Perhaps Manchester City fans would know his ways better than I could, but how could he not lead Manchester City to at least a top four at this point with the money and players handed to him is beyond me. I really don't think he could lead Turkey anywhere near Euro 2012 if he gets hired. Then again, he does have the international experience, and he'll be in charge of a national team that has far more talent than Wales does. But he just doesn't seem like the right choice.

Should any Turkish coaches be considered? Sure, but none of them are ready to go into that hot seat. Consider Ertugrul Saglam, currently Bursaspor's head coach. He seems like a very calm presence on the sidelines, but he's inexperienced. Also, he has mentioned before that he would like to lead Bursaspor to a league title. Saglam could be the guy but it isn't his time. One television pundit in Turkey even mentioned the name of Yilmaz Vural, currently the head coach of Kasımpaşa. While Vural has coach an insane amount of teams over the last few years, he is probably the last person to coach the national team. He hasn't had any experience coaching the big three Istanbul clubs, which is perhaps the closest thing to the hot seat that the national team coaching job would bring. He has coached Trabzonspor before, but Trabzonspor has been known as a coaches' graveyard for quite some time.

So who should the Turkish national team coach be? It will be an interesting few weeks or so to see the rumors and such. When the announcement comes, there will certainly be a hack of a lot of fanfare and expectation to succeed right away. With the Turkish national team failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2010, anything but Euro 2012 qualification will be a disappointment.

UEFA Champions League – Beşiktaş looks like they have life.

2009-10-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Beşiktaş had their UEFA Champions League dreams look like a nightmare, at least in the first two games. Although they had played well against Manchester United, and were average against CSKA Moscow, they could not find ways to win, or even get a draw. The Black Eagles travelled up to Germany to take on defending champions of the Bundesliga, VfL Wolfsburg. It looked like a mismatch, considering that when Wolfsburg was in pot 4 of the Champions League draw, they were the team everyone wanted to avoid. It wouldn’t quite turn out that way.

The first half saw possession and most attacks come from the Bundesliga champions. While he had been a dangerous forward during the Bundesliga last season, Edin Dzeko couldn’t find the net. Headers from the Bosnian just couldn’t find the net. His strike partner, Grafite, wasn’t even much of a factor in the first half. Marcel Schafer started much of the attacks, but Beşiktaş held their ground. Beşiktaş had their chances, but it seemed as though they were kicking the ball around, instead of attempting an attack. When Beşiktaş did attack, through balls ended up back in possession of Wolfsburg, or shots were too strong and went out for goal kicks. The half would end 0-0 but it seemed that Wolfsburg were the side most likely to break the deadlock.

The second half would feature more of the same. Rustu Recber had a Croatia moment (Euro 2008 reference), and left the net wide open, but Wolfsburg’s Christian Gentner could not get the shot on goal. Tomas Sivok blocked the shot. Another attempt by Edin Dzeko had him try to shoot from a tight angle, but the shot went off the post and out. Matteo Ferrari was covering Dzeko the entire match, and did a good job shutting him down. The match had to be temporarily halted due to smoke from flares spreading out onto the field of play. The flares were lit by the visiting Beşiktaş fans, and the Germans didn’t like that. The visiting fans could be heard, at times, over the home fans, at least from my viewing of the match. There was a chance for Beşiktaş to have a clear attempt on goal. Nihat Kahveci tried to get a through ball to Bobo, who was in the clear if the pass was successful, but was intercepted. That happened at approximately the 68^th minute. The last fifteen minutes would have Wolfsburg on the ropes. Grafite struck Ibrahim Kas with a backfist, and the referee produced a straight red. Wolfsburg would have to go the rest of the way with ten men. Beşiktaş looked to take advantage, but the match continued to be a stalemate. The match ended with a 0-0 draw.

Beşiktaş looked like they sputtered on offense, but defense-wise; they were up to the challenge. Matteo Ferrari, as mentioned previously, shut down Edin Dzeko throughout the match. Tomas Sivok saved the match for Beşiktaş with his block. The Black Eagles looked lethargic on the offense, as shots were struck too hard, or passes were easily intercepted by their opponents. But the draw will suffice, and the two clubs will meet again in two weeks in Istanbul.

Turkcell Super League - week 9 - Sunday action

2009-10-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday action in the Turkcell Super League contained a champions’ derby between Galatasaray against Trabzonspor. It would also feature a potential extension to the best start in league history, as Fenerbahçe would look to make it nine wins in a row. With the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray derby coming up next Sunday, both teams looked to gain momentum for not only for their showdown, and also for their Europa League game this coming Thursday. When it was all said and done, the top of the league table would become even more interesting.

The first featured match of the day had Fenerbahçe on the road against Gaziantepspor. Looking to continue their record start, Fenerbahçe would have to do it without key players Diego Lugano, Dani Guiza, and Alex de Souza, all out through injury or fatigue from World Cup qualifiers. It seemed as if it wouldn’t matter, at least in the first half. Semih Senturk scored off a header in the 25^th minute to put Fenerbahçe up 1-0. The header would be set up from a left wind pass from Gokcek Vederson, and Senturk only flicked his head to put the ball in the back of the net. The first half would end with the 1-0 scoreline. In the second half, Gaziantepspor became more aggressive, and Fenerbahçe looked more content to sit back and grind out the result. Gaziantepspor would have attempts after attempts at goal, but without any results. Perhaps Fenerbahçe got too complacent near the end of the match. In the 84^th minute, Julio Cesar de Souza fired a powerful shot past Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to level the score for Gaziantepspor, 1-1. Fenerbahçe looked to hang on for at least the draw, but four minutes of stoppage time would be added, and that seemed like an eternity for the club. The complacency finally cost Fenerbahçe, as in the 90+4^th minute, a foul late in the game set up a Gaziantepspor free kick, and Julio Cesar de Souza became the hero of the day, scoring at the death to give Gaziantepspor the upset 2-1. Fenerbahçe drops points for the first time this season, and now makes next week’s derby against Galatasaray interesting. Galatasaray would have to get the points first.

It wouldn’t come easy for Galatasaray, as they were playing Trabzonspor in the champions’ derby this week. Knowing that Fenerbahçe dropped points earlier in the day, Galatasaray would be looking to edge the gap in points going into the derby next week. The match started off furiously as Abdul Kader Keita made a pass to Harry Kewell, but missed the shot with only 37 seconds elapsed. Gokhan Zan attempted a header in the 6^th minute, but the ball went off the post. Trabzonspor had an attempt in the 10^th minute, when Umut Bulut made a crossing pass to the area, but no Trabzonspor players were in the area. The scoring would open up in 22^nd minute, as Harry Kewell scored of a cross by Sabri Sarioglu to put Galatasaray up 1-0. Servet Cetin would double Galatasaray’s lead in the 37^th minute, 2-0. Trabzonspor would pull one back in the 44^th minute, as Tayfun Cora scored. Ceyhun Gulselam’s free kick went off the Galatasaray wall and Cora put the ball in the back of the net. The half would end with a 2-1 advantage to Galatasaray. The second half featured just as much furious action as the first. In the 54^th minute, Gustavo Colman took advantage of a mistake by Galatasaray’s Ayhan Akman and tied the game for Trabzonspor 2-2. In the 59^th minute, Trabzonspor’s Serkan Balci had a one-on-one situation with Galatasaray goalkeeper Leo Franco, but his shot went out of bounds. Arda Turan put Galatasaray back on top 3-2 in the 69^th minute, 3-2. In the 71^st minute, Baris Ozbek’s centering pass found Milan Baros and Galatasaray doubled their lead to 4-2. The scoring would end in the 86^th minute, as Gustavo Colman scored to pull one back for Trabzonspor and make the game interesting, 4-3. Galatasaray’s win gives them momentum going into the derby next week. They close the gap in points as Galatasaray remain in second place with 22 points, trailing first place Fenerbahçe, who have 24 points.

Other results this week included Gençlerbirliği 2 – 0 Sivasspor, ruining Muhsin Ertugral’s debut as Sivasspor’s head coach; İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor 1-0 Manisaspor, Kayserispor 3 – 0 Ankaragücü, and Antalyaspor 4 – 1 Diyarbakırspor. Denizlispor coach Nurullah Sağlam has resigned after the Denizlispor loss yesterday.

Turkicell Super League - week 9 - Saturday action

2009-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

After the disappointment of the Turkish national team not qualifying for the World Cup in 2010, seeing the Turkcell Super League start back up is a welcome sight for Turkish football fans. Saturday action in the Turkcell Super League would feature just two matches. The struggling Beşiktaş took on lowly Kasımpaşa, while Bursaspor took on Denizlispor. Eskişehirspor would have the bye week this week as they would have taken on the now-disqualified Ankaraspor.

The action would begin in Denizli as Denizlispor took on Bursaspor. Denizlispor got off to a fast start, and would take the early lead in the 14^th minute as Emil Angelov put the home side up 1-0. Bursaspor equalized through Turgay Bahadir’s goal in the 44^th minute, and the halftime score was 1-1. The action picked up in the second half. Pablo Batalla scored in the 62^nd minute to put Bursaspor ahead in the match 2-1. As if falling behind in the match wasn’t bad enough, Denizlispor would be down to ten men as Koffi picked up a straight red in the 72^nd minute. Denizlispor didn’t give up though, and tied the game with Darryl Roberts scoring in the 75^th minute. At 2-2, Denizlispor looked to hold on for the tie. However, Tomas Zapatocny channeled his inner Semih Senturk, or Jonathan Bornstein (whichever is preferred), and scored in the 90+3 minute to give Bursaspor the win.
The final match of Saturday action saw Beşiktaş at home against Kasımpaşa. There was a steady rainfall going through the game, but the players played through the weather. Nihat Kahveci put the home team up 1-0 in the 8^th minute. A slight deflection off a Kasımpaşa defender made the ball go into the back of the net. In the 32^nd minute, Kasımpaşa had a chance with a Murat Erdogan shot, but the ball went off the crossbar. Beşiktaş doubled their lead in the 38^th minute. Rodrigo Tabata made a wicked backheel pass to Bobo, and Bobo’s shot was hard into the upper left hand corner of the net. Beşiktaş looked like they were going to cruise to three points as they were up 2-0 at the half. In the second half, the Carsi supporters group turned their backs on the field, again, protesting the board of Beşiktaş and demanding the board resign. The match became more of a midfield struggle, but Beşiktaş made it interesting. First, Fabian Ernst picked up his second yellow of the game in the 83^rd minute and was sent off. Four minutes later, Matteo Ferrari picked up a straight red for a foul in the penalty area. Kasımpaşa’s Andre Moritz converted from the penalty spot and halved Beşiktaş’ lead to 2-1. The match looked like it was going to be interesting with Beşiktaş down to nine players, but Beşiktaş held on for the three points.
Tomorrow should be interesting. The featured match of the week will be Galatasaray vs. Trabzonspor in a “champions derby” if you will. The referee for that match will be Mustafa Kamil Abitoğlu. That will take place at 1:00pm EST, 12:00pm CST, and 10:00am PST. Other matches for tomorrow are as follows: Gençlerbirliği-Sivasspor (Muhsin Ertuğral’s debut as Sivasspor’s coach), İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor-Manisaspor, Kayserispor-Ankaragücü, Gaziantepspor-Fenerbahçe, and Antalyaspor-Diyarbakırspor.

Turkcell Super League – Week 8 recap

2009-10-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

In Friday action, only one match was featured in Turkcell Super League action as Trabzonspor took on Gaziantepspor. After winning with authority over the last two weeks, Trabzonspor looked to continue their newly found run of form. Trabzonspor dictated the pace early. Drago Gabric would have a shot go off the post in the 5^th minute. Gökhan Ünal had a shot at goal, after a pass from Hrvoje Čale, but it would end up out of bounds in the 10^th minute. Serkan Balcı unleashed a shot from outside the penalty area, but it would hit to post and end up out of bounds. Gaziantepspor thought they got a goal from Olcan Adin in the 35^th minute, but it was called back for offside. The first half would end up scoreless. In the second half, Ibrahim Yattara was substituted into the game and the pace would pick up for Trabzonspor. In the 55^th minute, Umut Bulut's pass found Gökhan Ünal, but his shot would miss just wide of the goal. In the 66^th minute, former Trabzonspor player Tolga Seyhan would pull down current Trabzonspor player Egemen Korkmaz by the shirt and a penalty was called. Gustavo Colman would take the kick, but Mahmut Gezgin would be the hero in this situation as he made the save to keep the game level. That did for the offense in the game as the game ended with the same score as it started at, 0-0.

In Saturday action, three matches were featured.
Diyarbakirspor took on Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. The first half featured a goalkeeping show by Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor goalkeeper Oğuzhan Bahadır, as he would make several saves to keep the score level. The scoring would open in the 66^th minute, as Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor's Serhat Gülpınar scored. The 67^th minute had a penalty kick call go Diyarbakirspor's way, and Andres Mendoza converted from the penalty spot to tie the game. Metin Depe scored in the 73^rd minute to put Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor on top 2-1. Serhat Gülpınar scored one more goal in stoppage time to make the final score 3-1 to Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor.
Manisaspor hosted Bursapsor in the second match. The first half featured even play, but no score from either team. It featured a goalkeeper duel, but not much else in terms of offense. The scoring would come in the second half. Pablo Batalla would score in the 83^rd minute off a free kick. Turgay Bahadir would score two minutes into stoppage time to make the final score 2-0 to Bursaspor. After the match, it was reported that Manisaspor head coach Mesut Bakkal would resign from his post.
The featured match of Saturday featured Beşiktaş finally remembering how to get a result. Beşiktaş would get the only goal of the match against Denizlispor from Rodrigo Tabata in the 49^th minute. This match featured more protests from the Beşiktaş fans as they continued to show their dismay at the club's board, including the chairman Yıldırım Demirören, whom they chanted for his resignation. Some Beşiktaş fans turned their backs to the field in order to protest the way the club has played over the last few weeks. While Beşiktaş pulled out the victory, their first victory in 47 days, it seemed the fans were not satisfied. Perhaps Beşiktaş need some changes in the front office, but patience needs to be the order here. Every club has its down years, and it seemed that Beşiktaş lucked out in winning the league title last year. The fans will have to show patience, because changes made on a whim will only make the situation worse. But at least they can say their team won on Saturday.

Sunday action featured four matches.
Sivasspor hosted Antalyaspor, looking for their first win of the season. The big news coming out of the September 4^th stadium would be that this would be Bülent Uygun's last game as head coach, as he submitted his resignation to Sivasspor before the match started. The first half featured no scoring and not many chances. In the second half, Sivasspor would find the goal they were looking for, as Yannick Kamanan scored off a pass in the penalty area from İbrahim Şahin. The team headed to the dugout to celebrate with their soon to be former head coach to celebrate. The teams would trade off chances for the rest of the second half. The final goal of the match would come two minutes into stoppage time, as Kamanan put another goal into the Antalyaspor net. The Sivasspor players celebrated with their head coach again, and the final score ended up 2-0 to Sivasspor, sending Uygun out with a victory.
Eskişehirspor was one of four teams coming into today without a loss. They would be one of three that wouldn't be so lucky to keep the zero in the loss column. In their match against Kayserispor, Ariza Makukula scored the only goal of the match against Eskisehirpor in the 6^th minute, giving Kayserispor the win.
Galatasaray travelled to Ankara's May 19^th stadium, looking to rebound after a draw last week. Ankaragücü was the opponent this week, so the Galatasaray fans were expecting a victory. Ankaragücü had other plans. Two key players were missing for Galatasaray, as Abdul Kader Keita and Sabri Sarioglu were out for this game. It seemed as though it wouldn't matter as Galatasaray played their game against the side from the capital, but couldn't find the back of the net. Ankaragücü had their chances on net, but couldn't find the back of the net either. Perhaps this match can be summarized by what happened in the last ten minutes. In the 83^rd minute, Ceyhun Eriş would make a pass to Murat Duruer, who beat Galatasaray keeper Leo Franco to give Ankaragücü a shock lead 1-0. In the 86^th minute, Shabani Nonda tried to level the match for Galatasaray, but his shot would go out. In the 88^th minute, Galatasaray failed to clear the ball from its penalty area, and Emre Aygün made them pay by scoring. Ankaragücü were up 2-0, but it wasn't over yet. One minute later, Emre Aygün made a pass into the penalty area, finding Hürriyet Güçer, who scored the third goal for Ankaragücü. Ankaragücü would pull off the upset, giving Galatasaray their first loss of the season. Sadly, there were some fights in the stands before the match between the fans of both clubs. Ten Galatasaray fans and twenty-six Ankaragücü fans were arrested. One Galatasaray fan suffered a heart attack in the melee and was transferred to the hospital.
Fenerbahçe and Gençlerbirliği met up in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in the featured match on Sunday. Both teams came into the match without a single loss, but Fenerbahçe were looking to break their record for the best start in the history of first division professional soccer in Turkey. It looked good for Fenerbahçe in the 13^th minute, as Gökhan Gönül found Dani Güiza, who left it for Alex de Souza, and Alex put Fenerbahçe up 1-0. Gençlerbirliği would also have their chances, but Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel came up with key saves throughout the game to keep Gençlerbirliği off the scoreboard. Many of the shots from both teams came off the woodwork throughout the game. In the 71^st minute, Alex de Souza scored his second goal of the match from a pass from Andre dos Santos. Gençlerbirliği's defense then practically came apart as Fenerbahçe would pour on the attack. Fenerbahçe would get the comfort goal in the 89^th minute, as a Diego Lugano header from a corner would make the final score 3-0. Fenerbahçe broke the record as they have gone eight for eight, and broke their own record for the best start in the history of the Turkish professional league, which they set in the 1964-65 season. Fenerbahçe now leads Galatasaray by five points at the top of the table going into the international weekend.

Beşiktaş’ wings clipped again.

2009-09-30T11:34:00.001-07:00

Beşiktaş would travel up to the cold confines of Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Looking to rebound from a disappointing loss to Manchester United in match day 1 of the UEFA Champions League, the Black Eagles needed some sort of spark to rejuvenate their Champions League campaign. The question was which Beşiktaş would show up, the league version, or the team that gave Manchester United a run for their money before losing?

Early on the answer seemed to be the league version. CSKA Moscow would jump out to an early lead in the 8^th minute, as Alan Dzagoev would unleash a screamer that Beşiktaş goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber had no chance at. CSKA Moscow would continue to attack the goal in the first half, as their chances were built by good passing and decent shots. After the first 15 minutes, in which they were outshot 6-1, Beşiktaş seemed to settle down and built up some chances, but most of their chances would result in wasted shots, or CSKA grabbing possession. Beşiktaş had a great chance from Mert Nobre in the 44^th minute but it would go out for a corner. Going into halftime, CSKA Moscow would be up 1-0, and it seemed as though Mustafa Denizli looked like a man that seemed lost. Perhaps CSKA should have been up by more, but it seemed that Beşiktaş would be lucky to go into the half only down by one goal.

The second half would feature Beşiktaş possession but no end result. Beşiktaş had some early opportunities in the second half as two corners would end up in the possession of CSKA. Beşiktaş had a great chance to score in the 57^th minute, but Nihat Kahveci would mishit the ball and the ball would end up in the possession of CSKA. Through the first fifteen minutes of the second half, Beşiktaş would have much of the possession and played with some confidence. Getting goals would be a different story. CSKA Moscow would double the lead in the 61^st minute as Milos Krasic would make a run from the right wing and make the finish count to make it 2-0. He would also pick up a yellow card in the process as he would take his shirt off to celebrate. Beşiktaş would continue to dominate possession and it seems that CSKA was content to sit back and defend. Beşiktaş would put in Serdar Ozkan and Bobo to try to jump start the attack. But the CSKA defense still sat back and defended, and Beşiktaş looked like it couldn't break through. Beşiktaş had their best shot at a goal late in the game when İbrahim Kaş beat the offside trap and had the keeper in a one-on-one situation but couldn't convert. Ekrem Dağ would halve the lead for Beşiktaş two minutes into stoppage time. But it was too little, too late as Beşiktaş would lose their second consecutive match.

So which Beşiktaş team showed up today? It seemed as though it was the league version. Beşiktaş just doesn't look as good as they were last season. Now it seems that Mustafa Denizli's hot seat just went up a few degrees on the temperature scale, regardless of whether Centigrade or Fahrenheit is used. It wouldn't be surprising to see Denizli removed from his coaching post sooner rather than later, or even his resignation.

Diyarbakirspor may withdraw from the Turkish league

2009-09-28T15:13:00.001-07:00

A report from the English-language Hurriyet Daily News cites that Diyarbakirspor is considering withdrawing from the Turkish league. This decision may come to pass if the club continues to receive verbal and physical abuse. Diyarbakırspor chairman Çetin Sümer discussed this with the chairman of the TFF, Mahmut Özgener, and Sümer said Monday that his team had been insulted by political slogans during the games. This would come to a head in Bursa, where Bursaspor fans would throw the stadium's plastic seats and hurl verbal insults to Diyarbakirspor supporters. For ultra-nationalists in the country, Diyarbakirspor is considered representing the Kurds, and by extension the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey. Should Bursaspor not be punished, Sümer said, he will withdraw Diyarbakirspor from the league. He went on to say that Diyarbakirspor does not represent an extension of any political ideology or party.

The incidents happened during the Bursapor – Diyarbakirspor match this past Saturday. The Bursaspor supporter group Teksas, known for their ultra-nationalist stance, unfurled huge Turkish flags and banners trying to insult the Diyarbakirspor faithful. The incidents did not stop there however. During the 26^th minute of the match, the previously mentioned stadium plastic seats were thrown at the Diyarbakirspor fans. Some Bursaspor supporters even tried to jump the catch fence separating the supporters. The brawl was halted after police officers were placed between the supporters. Ten Diyarbakirspor supporters, including one woman, were injured during the melee, leading to the arrests of five people. Bursaspor chairman İbrahim Yazıcı apologized to Sümer, but Sümer was understandably bitter after the game.

Turkcell Super League – Week 7 recap

2009-09-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

Friday action

Only one match would be featured on Friday, as Trabzonspor would travel to the capital Ankara to take on Gençlerbirliği. Trabzonspor would be looking to consolidate third place in the standings. It looked likely considering that Trabzonspor scored a total of nine goals in the last two matchdays. Scoring would come furious and early in this match, as Drago Gabriç would put Trabzonspor ahead in the fourth minute. Gustavo Colman would double the lead for Trabzonspor in the 16^th minute. Gökhan Ünal would get the ball at midfield, and would avoid players like he was slalom skiing. He would pass a deft ball to Colman, would put it in the back of the net for the 2-0 lead. But this would be the last goal Trabzonspor would score in this game.
Gençlerbirliği, slowly yet steadily, would come back for the tie. Their first goal would be scored in the 31^st minute, as Labinot Harbuzi would score off a Mustafa Pektemek pass to halve the lead. Halftime would end with Gençlerbirliği behind 2-1. Bilal Çubukçu would come into the game as a substitute for Pektemek in the 71^st minute. Çubukçu would tie the match with a free kick that beat Trabzonspor goalkeeper Tony Sylva in the 76^th minute. That would be all the scoring in this game. It would be a disappointing two points lost for Trabzonspor. Trabzonspor seemed to play well during the first 16 minutes, but then couldn't get it together for the rest of the match.

Saturday action

    Fenerbahçe would travel down to Antalya, a city known more as a vacation hot spot than its soccer, to take on Antalyaspor. One of the big questions would be if Roberto Carlos would be on the roster or not. It was reported earlier in the week (or I had reported, via Turkish newspaper Milliyet) that he would be returning to Brazil within the next few weeks. He had expressed interest to return to Brazil, but the Fenerbahçe board basically said that Carlos was under contract until the end of the season and he wouldn't be sold. My guess is that he will attempt to leave during the January transfer window. Carlos would be part of the bench for this match.
    The match would show Fenerbahçe not being as impressive in winning as their rivals Galatasaray in the last six weeks, but getting the win nonetheless. The scoring would open in the 10^th minute, as Colin Kazim-Richards would score off a flick from Alex de Souza. Alex would get a pass from Mehmet Topuz to set up his through flick. Kazim-Richards would get a yellow card in the 18^th minute for arguing with the linesman over a call, giving him a one match suspension for yellow card accumulation. The 21^st minute would see the Antalyaspor equalizer. Ali Zitouni would beat out Fenerbahçe defender Gökhan Gönül, and make a diving header into the net. The first half would end 1-1, but Fenerbahçe had many more chances than Antalyaspor. The second half would feature early aggressive play from Antalyaspor. In the first ten minutes of the second half, Antalyaspor looked like a team with a mission to win, but couldn't convert chances. Antalyaspor goalkeeper Polat Keser looked like he was having a stellar day, as many Fenerbahçe shots were saved, or were off the posts. One of Keser's moments came in the 78^th minute. Dani Guiza of Fenerbahçe would make a run into the box from the right wing, flicked the ball to Alex, who flicked it back to Guiza, but the attempt from near point blank range was saved by Keser. The deadlocked would be broken in the 89^th minute. On a counterattack, Alex would pass the ball behind the defense to Guiza (who was in the Fenerbahçe half of the field), Guiza would spring down the field with two others in tow. Guiza, seeing that Polat Keser came out to defend the attack, passed to Semih Şentürk, and Şentürk would put the ball into the goal for the lead and eventual win. It wasn't pretty for Fenerbahçe, but they escaped and now have a seven game winning streak to start the season, the best start for the club since the 1964-65 season.
    The Gaziantepspor – Ankaragücü match would end 3-1 to the visitors. Julio Cesar da Silva would open the scoring for Gaziantepspor in the 11^th minute. Metin Akan would score in the 42^nd minute to even the score for Ankaragücü, and the 1-1 scoreline would be the halftime score. Akan would score again in the 52^nd minute to put Ankaragücü ahead for good. Emre Aygün would tack on an insurance goal in the 79^th minute to make the score 3-1. Anakaragucu got some bad news the previous day as Darius Vassel will be out for at least two weeks with an injury to the back of his foot. The Ankaragücü head coach Hikmet Karaman was quoted as saying that his team couldn't catch a break.
    Speaking of teams that can't catch a break, Sivasspor would suffer yet another loss. This time around it would be the heartbreak of losing a game in stoppage time. Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor would gain a victory through Marcus Vinicius's goal two minutes into stoppage time to send Sivasspor to yet another loss. Sivasspor's point total at this point is only 1 point.
    Bursaspor's impressive home field play continues. The club, nicknamed the Crocodiles, would make it three out of four game won at home in emphatic fashion. Diyarbakirspor would fall to Bursapor with a scoreline of 4-0. Volkan Şen would open the scoring for Bursaspor in the 30^th minute, and it would be a 1-0 scoreline heading into the halftime break. Bursaspor would then pour it on in the second half. Dimitar Ivankov would come out of his goal to score off a penalty in the 48^th minute. Ivan Ergić would make it 3-0 to Bursaspor in the 63^rd minute. The scoring would conclude as Ozan İpek would score in the 75^th minute to conclude the rout. Bursaspor head coach Ertuğrul Sağlam had this to say about his side's victory: "We found the goal we were looking for in the first half. The breaking point of the match was the penalty goal. Later on we became comfortable during the match, and found a way to win by four goals." With the win, Bursaspor increased its point total this season to 13, leapfrogging Trabzonspor in the process.

Sunday action

    Sunday would see the attempt of Galatasaray to keep pace with Fenerbahçe with a perfect record. This week Eskişehirspor would come into the Ali Sami Yen stadium, perhaps to be another notch on the belt of a perfect season. Frank Rijkaard would make a shock benching, as he would bench both Elano and Milan Baros. It seemed like it wouldn't have mattered as Shabani Nonda would continue to be a goal scoring machine. In the 38^th minute, Abdul Kader Keita would get past Eskişehirspor defender Murat Önür, keeping the ball in bounds on the right touchline, and would pass the ball to a wide open Nonda. Nonda would put it away for the 1-0 lead. That would be the score going into halftime. But it seemed that Eskişehirspor would not go down easy. Eskişehirspor would come out with more enthusiasm in the second half. In the 56ht minute, Eskişehirspor would get the tying goal. Eskişehirspor's Bülent Ertuğrul shot the ball just outside the box. The ball would deflect off Galatasaray defender Hakan Balta and end up at the feet of Mehmet Yılmaz, who put it in the back of the net to make the score 1-1. Milan Baros would come into the match in the 74^th minute, and Galatasaray would have a flurry of chances to go ahead near the end of the match. However, Eskişehirspor held on and Galatasaray would lose a valuable two points, falling to second place behind Fenerbahçe.
    After a historic first win at the Inonu Stadium last week, Kayserispor looked to keep the momentum going against Kasımpaşa. However, this would be all for naught as the match ended up as a 0-0 draw. There weren't many scoring chances in this game.
    The Aegean derby this week would feature Manisaspor going to Denizli to take on Denizlispor. This would be a match up of a Manisaspor team that has only given up four goals in six games, against a Denizlispor club that has only scored two goals in six league games. The first half would end without a score. In the 69^th minute, Nizamettin Çalışkan took a corner kick from the left corner flag, finding Joshua Simpson. Simpson's first attempt would be blocked by the defense, but his second chance would be the go ahead goal for Manisaspor. Denizlispor would get their tying goal in the 82^nd minute,     Rahim Ouédraogo of Manisaspor brought down Caner Celep, getting the referee to point at the spot for the penalty. Darryl Roberts would convert from the spot to tie the game. That would be how the game would end up.

Turkcell Super League – Week 7 schedule

2009-09-24T10:45:00.001-07:00

Here is the schedule of matches for Week 7 of the Turkcell Super League. All matches will kick off at 8pm local Turkish time (1 pm EST, 12 pm CST, and 10 am PST). Referee assignments are in parenthesis.

Friday September 25^th:

Gençlerbirliği – Trabzonspor (Hüseyin Göçek)

Saturday September 26^th:

Antalyaspor – Fenerbahçe (Yunus Yıldırım)

Bursaspor – Diyarbakırspor (Özgüç Türkalp)

Gaziantepspor – Ankaragücü (Kuddusi Müftüoğlu)

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor – Sivasspor (Selçuk Dereli)

Sunday September 27^th:

Kayserispor – Kasımpaşa (Özgür Yankaya)

Galatasaray – Eskişehirspor (Cüneyt Çakır)

Denizlispor – Manisaspor (Halis Özkahya)

Roberto Carlos to have one last match with Fenerbahçe

2009-09-24T10:27:00.001-07:00

Milliyet, the Turkish daily newspaper, is reporting that Roberto Carlos will be having his final match in a Fenerbahçe uniform. His last match for Fenerbahçe will apparently be this week against Antalyaspor, or in week 8 against Gençlerbirliği. The 36 year old player has stated a desire to return to Brazil from the beginning of the season to now. He had sat the entire game against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor because of a coach's decision. He got in touch with Fenerbahçe vice-chairman Murat Özaydınlı and asked for his release. Afterward, he would get in touch with his agent in Spain to come to Istanbul, saying, "I have nothing more to give to Fenerbahçe. My time is done here. The club has maxed out their quota of foreign players. I don't want to wait until January to return to my country. Let's get this done." His agent is scheduled to come to Istanbul on September 25^th. After this week or the following matchday, Carlos will be granted his release and be free to return to Brazil. Roberto Carlos originally came to Fenerbahçe from Real Madrid in the beginning of the 2007-08 season, and be part of the Fenerbahçe team that would advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. In the two previous seasons in the Turkcell Super League, he would score 6 goals and appear in 56 league matches. This year, he had only made 4 appearances, with the match against Manisaspor being the only match he would play the entire 90 minutes.

Mustafa Denizli speaks and Ankaraspor update

2009-09-22T18:03:00.001-07:00

    Mustafa Denizli must feel like the weight of the whole world is on his shoulders. After coming in at the beginning of the second half of last season, he would turn around the fortunes of Beşiktaş by accomplishing the double of the Turkish Cup and Turkcell Super League title. The league title would make Denizli the only manager in the history of Turkish 1^st division football to win league titles with each of the big three Istanbul clubs. This season has not gone right for him, as it seems as though Beşiktaş is sinking faster than the Titanic. After the loss to Kayserispor, he had mentioned that he had thought about resigning from his position. But Beşiktaş chairman Yıldırım Demirören convinced him to stay on.
    Denizli would appear on Show TV's 6 Pas program and make some confessions, according to Milliyet. One of the highlights is that he mentioned that current Galatasaray player Gökhan Zan "burned" him. Denizli said that he did not believe that Zan would sign with Galatasaray. He had thought that Galatasaray would sell Servet Cetin to Olympique Marseille. He also said that the thought about using his right to get another foreign player to shore up the defense didn't cross his mind. When Zan left, Denizli said that he had to sign Matteo Ferrari from Genoa. Otherwise, he could have used Ibrahim Toraman and Zan as his starting central defenders. This is why he sent Tomas Zapotocny on loan to Bursaspor. Denizli mentioned that he thought about sending Tomas Sivok out as well. Denizli would have replaced the two Czech players with two quality midfield players but it wasn't affordable.
    The saga of Ankaraspor and their punishment continues. Sporx.com is reporting that Ankaraspor club chairman Ruhi Kurnaz has appealed to FIFA to reverse the decision of Ankaraspor getting sent down a division. Kurnaz went on a sports radio program and said that there was no such thing that Ankaraspor could not appeal to FIFA, there will be an appeal filed. Kurnaz went on to say that the club would go through all channels possible to get the decision reversed, whether it would be FIFA and/or the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS). As reported earlier, the Arbitration board of the TFF will make a decision on the status of Ankaraspor's relegation on September 30^th. Everything will most likely be resolved then, but Ankaraspor may extend the duration of this fight.

Some personal opinions on TSL matches I watched this week.

2009-09-22T16:16:00.001-07:00

I didn't get to watch the Beşiktaş match this week. Considering they lost this week, I'm sure it wasn't a sight to see. I keep wondering what is wrong with that club. Is it because they didn't make the transfers needed? Maybe Mustafa Denizli can't repeat the same success in the season following a double winning season. I don't know. What I do know is that Beşiktaş really needs to get its act together, because they are fading fast. I do think that Denizli should not resign at this point. I think it would be beneficial for Beşiktaş to have some consistency this year. I did get to watch Trabzonspor. Trabzonspor did look pretty good I thought. The match they had with Antaylaspor was pretty boring in the first half, except for the stoppage time goal. The 2^nd half really picked up the pace and I enjoyed that. Fenerbahçe did not look good. It seems as though the club is the type of team to just grind out wins, instead of being flashy. They also seem to just sit back and counterattack too much. Colin Kazim-Richards seems like a little punk for his outbursts against the home fans when he got substituted. Galatasaray needed some last minute heroics. I had really thought that Kasımpaşa would actually pull off the upset. Galatasaray looked on the ropes for a bit, but they made a Houdini-esque escape and still kept their perfect record. Shabani Nonda should be getting a medal pretty soon (or not, ;)). Coming up on week 9, the derby of Turkey will take place between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. Many people are hoping for the clubs to be perfect so that the derby will have some extra sizzle if you will. I plan on doing a history piece on the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry sometime before the derby is set to kick off. I plan on doing my research and I really want to make this special. So watch out for that.

Sivasspor gets fined.

2009-09-22T15:59:00.001-07:00

As if it couldn't get any worse for Sivasspor, the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PDFK) has handed a fine down to the club. The PDFK decided to hand down the fine because of unsportsmanlike conduct during their match on September 16^th against Denizlispor. The club was fined 10,500 Turkish liras (I don't know what the conversion rate is to American dollars).

Turkcell Super League – Week 6 Recap

2009-09-22T15:43:00.001-07:00

Trabzonspor back on track

After being eliminated from European competition, Trabzonspor got off to a slow start, scoring only four goals in the first four weeks of the Turkcell Super League competition. Last week's game against Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor would see Trabzonspor score six goals, with defender Egemen Korkmaz scoring a hat trick, as the final score there was a 6-1 road victory. Returning to the home ground of the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium, Trabzonspor looked to keep the momentum going against Antalyaspor. The first half would be filled with missed chances and was mostly a boring 45 minutes of soccer. But in stoppage time in the first half, Trabzonspor's Selçuk İnan would deliver a pass to Umut Bulut. Bulut would deliver the ball into the back of the net giving Trabzonspor a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

The second half would feature more exciting soccer. In the 52nd minute, Trabzonspor would double their lead. Gustavo Colman would pass the ball to Drago Gabric, who immediately flicked the ball back to Colman on a give-and-go, and the Argentine would put it into the net. Trabzonspor then made it a comfortable lead, with Gabric faking out Necati Ateş and passing the ball to Gökhan Ünal. Ünal beat the offside trap, and his shot took a deflection off Antalyaspor midfielder Mile Jedinak into the goal. Jedinak would be creditied with the own goal and Trabzonspor was up 3-0. Antalyaspor would get a consolation goal as former Galatasaray defender Orhan Ak would score in the 79th minute. That was all the goals Antalyaspor would get as the final score would be 3-1 to Trabzonspor.

Beşiktaş "collapse"

After losing a heartbreaker against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, Beşiktaş had an opportunity to take the momentum off a well played midweek European match and get back on the championship track. The problem was Kayserispor got in the way. Beşiktaş did not score in the previous three league matches, and this dubious streak would be extended to four matches. Kayserispor pulled off the upset at the İnönü Stadium over Beşiktaş by a scoreline of 1-0. Kayserispor head coach Tolunay Kafkas was suspended for the game, but got to see his team take three points away from the defending Turkcell Super League champions. Turkish sports daily Fanatik would refer to this game as a Beşiktaş "collapse". In the opening minute, Bobo could not put the ball home off a corner by Serdar Özkan. In the 14th minute, Kayserispor's Franco Cángele had a shot on goal go out of bounds. Beşiktaş' Rodrigo Tello had his shot saved by the Kayserispor's goalkeeper, but Bobo would get unlucky with the rebound. In the second half, Kayserispor would take the lead in the 53rd minute, as Ariza Makukula (on loan from Benfica) would put the visitors ahead. Nihat Kahveci and Michael Fink would come in as substitutes for Beşiktaş, but it couldn't cure their woes on offense. With ten minutes left in the match, Yusuf Şimşek would come in for Beşiktaş in order to provide any sort of spark. The spark would not come as Fink would missed an open net shot, and Kahveci would have a shot of his go off the post. Beşiktaş has only been able to score only three goals throughout the league campaign, and they have fallen further behind the leaders. Kayserispor won at the İnönü Stadium for the first time in their history.

The Beşiktaş fans were not happy after this recent loss. Fans in the stadium started to throw foreign objects at the board, prompting the board to walk away from the board's tribune. Security had to restrain the fans from throwing even more objects in the board's direction. The fans chanted in the direction of Beşiktaş' chairman Yıldırım Demirören, saying "enough Yıldırım Demirören, enough" and calling for the entire Beşiktaş board to resign. The fans also voiced their displeasure at match referee Bünyamin Gezer. Chants included "Kayseri dives, Bünyamin watches" and "Dive on the grass, dive on the grass, Bünyamin Gezer dive on the grass". The field would have plastic water bottles thrown at it from time to time.

Fenerbahçe stays perfect…

Fenerbahçe has not started with a perfect record after six weeks since 1964. After a loss to FC Twente of Holland in the Europa League, Fenerbahçe wanted to get back on the winning track in league play. Fenerbahçe would continue their perfect start to the league as they would beat İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor by a slim 1-0 margin. The stadium would be sparsely full because of the end of Ramadan holiday, in which three days are holidays after the end of the month of Ramadan. Gökhan Gönül was a game time decision to start due to his shoulder injury suffered during the FC Twente match. There was a surprise to the starting lineup for Fenerbahçe, as Gökçek Vederson would start at left back replacing Roberto Carlos, and Mehmet Topuz, whose play during the Bursaspor game the previous week earned him the starting spot in this match. Topuz would also be starting in place of Emre Belözoğlu, who would be serving the second of a three game suspension.

Most of the game was dominated with Fenerbahçe possession. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor did come out with an offensive in the first five minutes, but Fenerbahçe would dominate the first half. Fenerbahçe would have many chances, in fact it looked like a contest to see who would miss the most chances on goal, as Dani Guiza, Andre Santos, Colin Kazim-Richards, and Alex de Souza would miss chances during the first half. It would take a free kick from Gökçek Vederson to put Fenerbahçe in the lead 1-0. Vederson kept the ball low and put the ball right by the left goalpost, out of the reach of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor's goalkeeper Oğuzhan Bahadır. That would be the score at the halfway point. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor tried to come back early in the 2nd half. But many of their shots would either go out of bounds or would end up in the hands of Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Volkan Demirel. The tempo in the 2nd half didn't pick up, as Fenerbahçe tried to play a more defensive, stress-free game. After being substituted in the second half, some fans were taunting Colin Kazim-Richards. He would return the taunts with his own taunts before being restrained by the Fenerbahçe technical staff. It seems as though a fine may be coming his way. İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor had a few more chances, including one at the end of the match, but it would not be enough. Alex de Souza would get a yellow card for protesting the placement of the ball for a İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor free kick at the very end of the match. Regardless, Fenerbahçe would continue their perfect start to the league.

…and Galatasaray does too

After a victory against Panathinaikos of Greece last Thursday, Galatasaray would return to Istanbul, ready to get back to league business. This week they wouldn't have to go far as they would take on another Istanbul club Kasımpaşa. This match would feature teams at the opposite ends of the table. In the 8th minute, Galatasaray's Milan Baros made a run and caused Kasımpaşa goalkeeper Tolga Özgen to come oout. Baros would pass the ball to Elano, and Elano's attempt on goal would look to be handled by Kasımpaşa's Ali Güneş, but the referee made the call to play on. Kasımpaşa would strike first, as Andre Moritz would receive a pass from Sancak Kaplan, who beat an attempted offside trap. Moritz would shoot the ball into the goal in the 26th minute. Perhaps it was surprising that Kasımpaşa came to play against one of the big three clubs of Istanbul, as they would get many good opportunities. Galatasaray would get their best chance of the game before halftime. Milan Baros pass would find Arda Turan in the box, but Turan's shot would go slightly wide to the right of the Kasımpaşa goal. Kasımpaşa would go into halftime with the 1-0 lead.

Kasımpaşa would also come out on the offensive early in the second half. In the 48th minute, Kasımpaşa's Andre Moritz would make a run, going by three Galatasaray defenders, but Emre Aşik would block the attempt on goal. Shabani Nonda, who came in as a substitute at the beginning of the second half, would have an attempt on goal. Taking advantage of a miscue by Kasımpaşa defender Koray Avci, Nonda would shoot a ball wide of the goal in the 53rd minute. Nonda, however, would be the hero of the night for Galatasaray. Nonda would put Galatasaray level in the 62nd minute, getting by the Kasımpaşa defense and putting the ball into the back of the net. Kasımpaşa then decided to try to preserve the tie. Kasımpaşa's goalkeeper Tolga Özgen would come up big in the 79th minute, saving two shots by Arda Turan to keep the score level. Nonda would come up big again, as a cross would slip from Özgen's hands and Nonda would put the ball away in the 89th minute, giving Galatasaray the lead. Nonda would then go on to complete the hat trick in the 90+3 minute, as Abdel Kader Keita's pass found the feet of Nonda. Nonda would score and that goal would be the final one. Galatasaray went on to beat Kasımpaşa 3-1, and stay perfect in the league with Fenerbahçe. Galatasaray actually lead the league at this point based on the goal differential tiebreaker.

Anatolian wrapup

This week's Anatolian action would feature the Ankara derby, Sivasspor's descent into the abyss, a game behind closed doors, and Eskişehirspor continuing their run without a loss. Diyarbakirspor would host Manisaspor this week. The result of the game ended up a scoreless tie. The game had to be played behind closed doors due to the actions of the Diyarbakirspor fans against Fenerbahce in week 3. There were chance in this game, but it seemed that nothing could be done to break the deadlock. Eskişehirspor improved their record to 3-3-0, as they would earn a victory over Gaziantepspor with a score of 3-2. Gaziantepspor would take the early lead in the 21st minute as Brazilian Ivan would pass a through ball to fellow Brazilian Julio Cesar Santos, who would put it into the back of the net. Eskişehirspor would come back though with three consecutive goals. The first of these three would come in the 36th minute. Gaziantepspor's Julio Cesar Santos was called for a handball in the box, and Ümit Karan would score his first league goal in 552 days off the penalty spot. The second of Eskişehirspor's goals would come in the 61st minute. Koray Arslan unleashed a shot from outside the box, and the shot went off the crossbar. The ball appeared to cross the line, but bounced back out of the goal. Linesman Mehmet Metin saw that the ball had crossed the goal line and informed the referee, who promptly awarded the goal. In the 73rd minute, a corner for Eskişehirspor would see Gaziantepspor goalkeeper Mahmut Bezgin come out of position, and Eskişehirspor's Luka Vucko headed the ball in the back of the net. A goal for Gaziantepspor in the 83rd minute by Julio Cesar de Souza got them within a goal. However, Eskişehirspor would hold on for the win, consolidating their third place standing. Sivasspor continued their decent from contending for the league title, to what seems as if to fight to stay up in the Super League. After struggling to get a draw against Denizlispor earlier in the week (as a make up game because of European commitments), Bursaspor would send Sivasspor to another loss, and perhaps push Sivasspor's head coach Bülent Uygun closer to the list of unemployed coaches. A 3rd minute goal by Volkan Şen would put Buraspor in the lead. Afterward, Sivasspor would get chance after chance, but nothing to show for it. Missed chances came as Bruno Mbanangoye couldn't score for the hosts in the 5th minute, İbrahim Şahin came close in the 7th, 14th, and 28th minutes, and Ersen Martin barely heading a ball out in the 42nd minute. Bursaspor would pull away in the 2nd half, as Shin Young Rok, a replacement for Sercan Yildirim, would score in the 85th minute. Mbanangoye would pull one back for Sivasspor in the 88th minute, but Shin Young Rok would answer right back in the same minute to bring the final score to 3-1. Finally this week, the Ankara derby took place at the May 19th Stadium between Ankaragücü and Gençlerbirliği. In the 10th minute, Mustafa Pektemek would score with his head off a corner kick from Labinot Harbuzi to put Gençlerbirliği in the lead. In the 32nd minute, Ankaragücü would tie the game, as Barbaros Barut would head the ball home after a cross from Ariel Broggi. In the 80th minute, Gençlerbirliği would take the lead for good, as Kahe would score off Hurşit Meriç's cross to make the final score 2-1 to Gençlerbirliği.

Ankaraspor gets demoted.

2009-09-22T15:27:00.001-07:00

(Note: I had originally published this when it originally happened. I wanted to get the full scope of it. There is an addendum at the bottom of the original article in italics)

The big news of the week in the Turkcell Super League is the demotion of Ankaraspor from the Super League to the Bank Asya 1st League. The shocking news was first reported on Tuesday September 15. The match that Ankaraspor was supposed to play against Kayserispor was postponed while the investigation was taking place.

This situation came to a head when Ahmet Gokcek was elected the chairman of Ankaragucu. Gokcek is the son of the mayor of Ankara, Melih Gokcek, who is also the honorary chairman of Ankaraspor. Rumors were spread that the two clubs were going to merge. The Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) then decided to act by relegating Ankaraspor because that this situation "was contrary to sporting competitiveness". Other punishments handed out by the PFDK included suspending the chairmen of both clubs in question for six months. Ankaragucu would not be dropped from the Super League, but their board of directors will also be suspended for three months.

Melih Gokcek, as would be expected, was not happy about the situation. His response to the ruling would be that he would file an appeal. He also said that the PFDK should fix its own problems. Also, he has threatened to take his case to the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) and FIFA.

The resulting aftermath in regards to the league is as follows. Kayserispor, who would have been Ankaraspor's opponent in week 5, will be awarded the three points and a victory by default. Three other previous opponents, Antalyaspor, Gaziantepspor, and Genclerbirligi, will also be awarded three points and wins over Ankaraspor. The league will continue from hereon after with 17 teams and will play 32 rounds.

Ankaraspor would receive even more bad news as the TFF arbitration committee declared the club could not appeal to FIFA and the CAS. FIFA has said that the situation has to be handled internally within the TFF. The CAS would declare that since this doesn't concern foreign elements in sport and domestic matters are handled domestically.

The Ankaraspor saga may not be over just yet. On September 30, the TFF Arbitration committee will have a meeting to look into the situation concerning Ankaraspor, and their forced demotion by the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee (PDFK). On that day, the PDFK will defend its position on the matter, while Ankaraspor will make the argument that it should stay in the Turkcell Super League. After that, it will be up to the Arbitration board to decide Ankaraspor's fate. Ankaraspor is not scheduled to play this weekend due to its punishment. But after September 30th, depending on the Arbitration committee's decision, Ankaraspor may be able to continue play in the Turkcell Super League after all. Whatever happens, this controversy has been gaining steam, and the end result should be interesting.