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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Trabzonspor beat Legia Warsaw 2-0

An early goal from Marc Janko set the Turkish side on course to reach a healthy tally of seven points and Olcan Adin's free-kick defused a late Legia fightback to confirm the win.

News of Lazio's goalless draw at Apollon Limassol then filtered through to the home fans after the final whistle, a result that sees Trabzonspor go two points clear of their Italian rivals in the standings.

Austrian striker Janko has found goals hard to come by since leaving Porto last year but he only needed seven minutes to open the scoring against Legia.

His first close-range effort may have been stopped by Wojciech Skaba but after the rebound came back to his feet in the ensuing scramble, he tucked home.

Chances were at a premium for the rest of the first half but Jakub Kosecki and Tomasz Brzyski both tested home goalkeeper Onur Kivrak.

There was little to cheer after the break either and it was not until the 57th minute that Paulo Henrique forced a brave block from Legia's Jakub Rzezniczak.

Vladimir Dvalishvili sparked the game back into action as time ticked away, his snapshot unsettling Kivrak, whose poor clearance fell to Dominik Furman in a good position.

The Polish midfielder picked his spot from 12 yards but came up against a better save from the recovering Kivrak.

Just when it looked like the visitors might force their way back into the tie, Trabzonspor scored their second goal.

A bad foul on Yusuf Erdogan from Brzyski in the 82nd minute allowed Olcan to step up and steer a free-kick just beyond the reach of Skaba.

Source: Wires 


Trabzonspor takes on Legia i

Trabzonspor is in the driving seat of the Group J along with Lazio, with two teams having four points out of two matches. Apollon Limassol is third with three points and Legia is fourth without a point. 

Trabzonspor started the group with a key 2-1 win over Apollon, but in the following game, it blew a chance when it allowed two late goals from Lazio and was held to a 3-3 draw. 

Coming to the first of back-to-back games with Legia, Trabzonspor will try to maintain its place in the top two, cutting the Polish side’s qualification hopes.

Tonight’s game at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium starts at 8 p.m.(13:00 ET ) 


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Galatasaray beats Copenhagen 3-1


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/23/4572160/galatasaray-beats-copenhagen-3.html#storylink=cpy

 Brazilian forward Claudemir scored a consolation goal in the 88th minute.

The win allowed Galatasaray to climb into second place on four points in the group, five points behind leader Real Madrid. Juventus is third with two points after losing 2-1 to Madrid on Wednesday while Copenhagen is last with one point.

Sneijder had Galatasaray's first attempt in the sixth minute but his effort was saved by Johan Wiland. Three minutes later, however, Brazilian international Melo headed home a ball from Dany Nounkeu to put Galatasaray ahead.

The home team continued pressing, and Sneijder doubled the lead in the 38th after a pass from Emmanuel Eboue.

Eboue also helped fellow Ivory Coast international Drogba to add Galatasaray's third in first-half stoppage time.

The home team, backed by a loud partisan crowd, utterly dominated the Danes in the first half but eased off after the break.

"The match was more or less decided at halftime," Copenhagen defender Lars Jacobsen said. "They scored three fine goals, where they outplayed us completely."

The Danish side seemed more attack-minded in the second half as Galatasaray slowed the pace, allowing Jorgensen and Daniel Braaten to test goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. But Galatasaray continued to press and Wiland made a stunning save in the 61st minute, only to find out that Sneijder had been flagged for offside.

Five minutes later, Drogba found forward Burak Yilmaz whose shot went wide.

Source : AP 

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/23/4572160/galatasaray-beats-copenhagen-3.html#storylink=cpy

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Turkey's Hopes Dashed by Dutch !


Turkish National team 's  2-0 defeat at home to  Nethearlands  which eliminated them from World Cup 2014 qualification on Tuesday.

Fatih Terim and his boys needed to overcome the unbeaten Nethearlands to guarantee a spot in the Uefa play-offs but goals from  Arjen Robben and Wesley Sniejder denied Turkey !


Coach Fatih Terim was apologetic for the failure to reach their third-ever World Cup but was realistic about his side's loss to Neatherlands .

"First of all, I must thank our supporters, "They came here and the stadium was full. We are sorry for the Turkish people ."

"It would have been a pleasure to have achieved qualification. But we should tell the truth: Holland team is better than us and they play good football. You must score to beat these kinds of teams.

"If we could have scored a goal to tie the match ,everything could have been different. But it just didn't happpen.

"My players tried to achieve what was almost impossible. I'm very sorry. We wanted it so much but sometimes that's just not enough."

Romania defeated Estonia 2-0 to finish second in Group D and grab the play-off spot with Hungary leapfrogging the Turks by beating Andorra 2-0 in their final game, consigning Turkey to fourth.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Crunch Match for Terim and Turkey !

Turkish National team coach Fatih Terim has revealed his side's determination to finish the job in its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, claiming his players had already booked tickets to Brazil 'in their head and their hearts'.


Turkey starts the final round of fixtures second in Group D but withRomania level on points, Hungary just two behind and unbeaten group leader Netherlands its opponent in Istanbul, it perhaps faces the longest odds of any of the teams still fighting for a place in the play-offs.

But its coach believes it has the will to advance and secure a place for next year's finals.

"Our players are already on their way in their heads and their hearts," he said. "But we also know our tail is still hanging out. The belief is not the same as the reality.

"Obviously the Dutch are not an easy opponent, they are one of the world's best teams.

"They have some of the single most important players in the world. We are aware of this and we intend to do our utmost against them. What we have done in the other games will not be enough, but we are looking forward to it.

"I will not need to give any sort of team-talk. Nothing I could say will add anything extra."

Netherlands has waltzed its way through Group D, amassing 25 points from its seven games, a draw with Estonia the only blot on its copy book.

Last week's 8-1 thrashing of Hungary highlighted the extent of its superiority, and it might seem like Turkey's only hope is that it travels toIstanbul so content with its lot that it does not play with the same intensity as the host.

But defender Ron Vlaar has pointed out that defending its unbeaten record is not the only motivational tool for the Dutch.

Those fringe players are now getting their chance and are determined to show Louis van Gaal they need to be on the plane to South Americanext year.

Vlaar is among that number, but is determined to prove his worth after starting against Hungary.

"I want to make it as difficult as possible for the coach," he told NUsport. "I had a number of matches under Van Gaal and then I didn't play for a while.

"But against Hungary I did well I think, as I have always done when I've started. I was able to take more initiative and it went well, although sometimes I need to show more guts."


Match starts at 2:00  New York time ...



Friday, October 11, 2013

Quest goes on ! Estonia 0- Turkey 2




Turkey steps closer to World Cup finals: 0 - 2

Turkey beats Estonia, one of the weak teams of Group D, in a critical match by 2-0 and succeeded to keep their hopes alive.
 Turkish National team  snatch three points from Estonia by 2-0 on Friday, climbing to 2nd place in their group after Hungary's historical defeat against the Netherlands by 8-1.
By scoring one goal for each half with Umut Bulut in 23 min and Burak Yilmaz in 47 min,
 the Red and Whites turned the Netherlands match that will be played on Tuesday, 
October 15 into a final towards play-off for World Cup 2014 in Brazil. 
Turkey needs to complete the group as 2nd rank to join the play-off matches 
between the eight best 2nd teams in all qualifying groups.
After the resignation of Abdullah Avci, Turkey won their third match 
succeedingly with the legendary coach Fatih Terim.
Terim declared their target, "We pursuit a miracle" when he was appointed 
as national team coach in August 2013.
In the other matches of the group, Netherlands beat Hungary by 8-1 at home, 
and Romania won 4-0 against Andorra away.
Both Turkey and Romania have 16 points after nine games played in the group, however Turkey still is one step further in averages and thus ranks 
2nd in the group behind the Netherlands. Now Turkey turned 
their eyes to the Oranges, who already guaranteed
 the leadership in the group.
The Turkey - Netherlands match will be played on Tuesday, 
October 15 at 21.00 EET at Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium,
 Istanbul,  Turkey. 
The match will be broadcast live by Star TV in Turkey.
Source: AA News Agency 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Estonia vs Turkey Preview !


Written by Aydin Reyhan 

@AReySportsNews 


Turkey will travel to Estonia to face a nation that was minutes away from defeating the likes ofHolland on home ground in a World Cup Qualifier. If they can almost defeat them, defeating the Turks is expected to be a bit easier. However, each match is quite different, and these visitors have it all to play for.

Turkey have Hungary and Romania both hunting for a play-off spot since the Dutch have already guaranteed group leadership. If Turkey win in Estonia and defeat Holland at home, they can guarantee second. They also need the Dutch to defeat the Hungarians at home in order to make this happen.

Coach Fatih Terim masterminded the home 5-0 win over Andorra followed by the 2-0 clean sheet in Romania four days later. He is the right man for the job, but in these final qualifiers his true colors will be shown by the players on the field.

The defense has to be remarkable with the full-backs running backs and forth to be ready to attack for themselves and defend counters from the opponents. The center backs have stay in their own third to protect their keeper at all times. These four guys have to work together and know exactly how and when to distribute the ball and defend.

The midfield is where the creativity will lie, and besides holding onto possession and trying to distribute the ball, they have to run back to help out their defense to force the opponents into making a mistake in the attack so that they themselves can construct a counter.

The attack is obviously responsible for scoring as many goals as possible, but they will also have to drop back in the midfield to help out and perhaps allow others to sprint into scoring positions.

Folks, this is a team that possesses tremendous talent with a coach who knows how to get the job done. However, at the end of the day, the other teams are competitive as well and they have their own game plan, their own fans and own set of players who are coached by experienced professionals. These games will be anything but easy so the red and whites have to be on top of their game.

Character is what makes a man; nervousness is what breaks a man. Turkey need to lean more towards the first in order to succeed.