Late goal gives F Bahce 2-2 CL draw

Turkish soccer team Fenerbahce tied 2-2 with Russian CSKA Moscow in an away game in European Champions League Group G on Tuesday.

Fenerbahce grabbed a late 2-2 draw in Moscow in what a free-spirited and flowing game of football that had a little bit of everything.

An opportunistic finish from a poor header, a back pass that misfired, a silly hack to concede a penalty, and a goalkeeper letting the ball slip under him were all on offer in this comedy of errors.

CSKA were perhaps the better team for much of the game, but credit is due to Fenerbahce for mounting a comeback after falling 2-1 behind away from home, and refusing to throw in the towel.

In the end, it was a deserved point for both sides, though the home side will feel aggrieved.

Fenerbahçe took an early lead through their Champions League hero Alex, the Brazilian adding to his two against Inter by latching ont a poor clearance from Aleksei Berezutski after Mehmet Aurelio slipped as he prepared to strike.

CSKA were stunned, but proceeded to find their rhythm and run the show with the backing of the home fans.

They got a much deserved lead through the superb Krasic, who hassled Edu into a poor back pass, and latched onto it to finish in two attempts.

The Russians then got their second, with Edu once again guilty, this time of a clumsy challenge on Vagner Love.

The Brazilian picked himself up and tucked away the penalty to put his side ahead, and get the usually serious Gazzaev jumping in delight on the touchline.

It was to be Fenerbahces turn to raise their game, and they crowded the CSKA goal as the game headed into its final minutes.

They got their reward in fortunate circumstances, with Deivid's 25-yard drive squeezing under Veniamin Mandrykin.

Fenerbahce have four points from two games, while CSKA have just the one.

Stadium: Lokomotiv

Referees: Knut Kircher, Kai Voss, Thorsten Schiffner (Germany)

Fenerbahce: Volkan Demirel, Onder, Edu (Mn. 72 Yasin), Lugano (Mn. 77 Gokhan), Roberto Carlos, Deivid, Deniz (Mn. 72 Kazim), Aurelio, Vederson, Alex, Kezman

CSKA Moscow: Mandrykin, Vasili Berezutski, Ignashevich, Aleksei Berezutski, Semberas, Rahimic, Krasic, Dudu (Mn. 90 Aldonin), Zhirkov, Vagner Love, Jo

Goals: Mn. 9 Alex, Mn. 85 Deivid (Fenerbahce), Mn. 49 Krasic, Mn. 53 Vagner Love (penalty) (CSKA Moscow)

Yellow Cards: Mn. 52 Edu, Mn. 65 Lugano (Fenerbahce), Mn. 67 Krasic, Mn. 78 Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHT HERE..........CSK MOSKOV V FENERBAHCE VIDEO...

TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE....THE WAY I SEE IT!

Turkish Turkcell Super League week 7, wrapped up with a lot of interesting things!.
Starting from Friday night to Sunday night Turkish soccer fans witness a lot of strange stuff. At the end of the week seven, Galatasaray maintain their unbeaten series and stayed on top of the league with 19 points. Fenerbahce gave some hope to Fenerbahce fans after winning a match after 34 days!.This was turning point for Fenerbahce in the league.

When you look at the Turkish Super League in general....there was hardly any spectacular matches except Sivasspor against Bursaspor and Istanbul Buyuk Sehir Belediyespor against Vestel Manisaspor. Adriano Padilha scored hat trick against Vestel Mansisapor as Istanbul B.B.S,won the match 4-1.

The Sleeper team Sivasspor, came behind two goal deficit and beat Bursaspor 3-2 and hold on the second place in the league behind Galatasaray with 18 points.Although Pini Balili did not score but he setup the three goals for Sivasspor.
In week 7, teams scores 25 goals and on Sunday, in 6 matches, teams scored 18 goals.
There were a lot of goals in the league but, stadium in most cities again was empty!.
What ever the reason, as I have said this before, Turkish soccer fans don't go to matches any more!... League's sleeper team Sivasspor, is the only team played the 7Th match in front of full house!...Even Feerbahce, the team has all the stars,did not draw a full house!....this is serious problem for Turkish Turkcell Super League in my opinion.

Leagues first derby match between Galatasaray against Besiktas match was disaster before the match and during the match.
Just hours before the match , Galatasaray coach Feldkamp, punished Hakan Sukur and Brazilian Lincoln for disobeying the rules in the camp and took them of the team roster. on the other hand,one of Besiktas team board member was taking shots at coach Ertugrul Saglam and team.
When you add the mistakes by referee,Besiktas Goal Keeper , and Besiktas coach Ertugrul Saglam....they caused the defeat for Besiktas!..

After the match , Ertugrul Saglam said, "Galatasaray deserved the win!....they wanted more than us" Now, When you have a player like Delgado, when Besiktas paid seven million dollars, why won't you put him in starting line up?...and than, you decide put him in the match ,last 25 minutes of the match!.. Do You think he is going give you his hundred percent!....he won't!... and he did not....just like you, dear Saglam, no one in Besiktas team including you, did not show any heart to win this match...just watch the match again you will see what I am talking about it!

As far as the match referee, Selcuk Dereli, he was just awful!....Just before the first goal, when ball went out by Galatasaray player he called it corner-kick!..From that corner kick , Gala scored the first goal with a huge mistake by Besiktas Keeper Hakan Arikan. I said this before, I'll say It again.....Big teams need experience Keepers!... just look at the league.. is there any outstanding keepers that you could show?!.... Galatasaray, Fenerbahce,Besiktas, and Trabzonspor all has same goal keeper problems!.

Two of the Genclerbirligi teams, Genclerbirligi and Genclerbirligi OFTAS, won their matches!...But, there was only hand full fans in the stands!...( I wonder my friend from Ankara , Oz Kanka and his entourage when to these matches?!...)
There was new coach for Genclerbirligi Mr.Stumph, this was his first match as a head coach in the Turkish Super League...Nick Carle scored the first goal as Genlerbirligi beat Kasimpasa 3-1.

OFTAS, won their second match against CAYKUR Rizespor with the score of 2-0. Mile Sterjovski, scored the both goals for OFTAS.
The home teams.... Trabzonspor,Denizlispor and Gaziantepspor, all won their matches... Trabzonspor after winning the match against Konyaspor took a deep breath!
They were really under pressure by their fans....Like,Galatasaray,Trabzonspor played the match in front of empty stadium.....

Denizlispor beat strong Kayserispor and they showed a different Denizlispor in this match...if they play like this week, They will move up in the standings too....
One of the best teams in the last three matches is Gaziantepspor....They beat Ankaraspor without their star Mexican player De Nigris.he was injured for this match.. De Nigris,shares the top goal scoring spot with Gokdeniz Karadeniz ,they both have five goals so far....

After week seven, on top, Galatasaray closely chased by Sivasspor,Besiktas at third place with 14 points 5 behind Galatasaray.....Trabzonspor,Buyuksehir,Fenerbahce and Gazinatepspor all tied up with 12 points.The team that has not win a match yet, Ankaraspor, stands in last place of the league with only 2 points...
CAYKUR Rizespor and Konyaspor on top of Ankaraspor with 4 points.
Former Turkish Junior National team coach Unal Karaman , took the helm at Konyaspor and he lost his first match, against his former team Trabzonspor...
With that last interesting note, we wish Turkish teams in European League much luck!..
They will need it!....

AHMET TURGUT

TRABZONSPOR FINALLY SIMILES!.......

Trabzonspor Finally won a match after four weeks...They beat Konyaspor in Trabzon,1-0. Gokdeniz Karadeniz scored a beituful goal in this match.
This was the first match for Unal karaman former Turkish junior national team coach, as a coach of Konyaspor. It was very interesting, Unal Karaman played for Trabzonspor many years as a player.

WATCH GALATASARAY 2- 1 BESIKTAS DERBY HIGHLIGHTS HERE....

WATCH FENERBAHCE V ANKARAGUCU MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

FENERBAHCE FINALLY WINS A MATCH AFTER 34 DAYS!..
As I wrote before, this was the turning point match for Fenerbahce.That's why ,they had to win this match . If they would loss this match, they would be way behind the leader of the League. With a win against Ankaragucu who had 11 points before this match was front of Fenerbahce in the Standings. Now, Fenerbahce went infront of Ankaragucu with 12 points. The other reason ,they had to win this match ......they play against strong Vestel Manisaspor next week. That's why this was a needed win, for Fenerbahce before Champions League match in the mid week and weekend match against Fnerbahce killer Giray Bulak and his Vestel Manisaspor.

Fenerbahace scored the first goal in the 38th minute by Mehmet Aurelio and second goal came in the final minutes of the match by Ali Bilgin .

TFF Signs the Grassroots Charter with UEFA

Michel Platini, the President of UEFA and Haluk Ulusoy, the Chairman of Turkish Football Federation (TFF), signed a contract that seals Turkey's membership to Grassroots Charter.The charter, which was created in 2004, represents an endorsement of a national association's grassroots programmes.

UEFA's work is about around encouraging and supporting the associations in reinforcing their grassroots activities.
Signing the charter means that a national association satisfies certain basic minimum criteria.

Associations enter with basic one-star status, and additional stars are given in relation to specific grassroots areas - these include the nurturing of women's and girls' football, social programmes, including disability football, number of participants, and the promotion of grassroots football.

Up to seven stars are possible. "Our aim is to reach the highest level in the charter. Our federation qualifies children and teenagers as a potential for the future of Turkish football, and therefore we attach great importance to them. We plan to make best use of this potential," said Haluk Ulusoy after the signature ceremony held at Istanbul's Ciragan Palace. "We also support wheel-chair organizations," he added.
"Turkey has become the 21st country signing the Grassroots Charter," stated UEFA General Secretary David Taylor who also attended the ceremony.

UEFA summit ends
The UEFA Executive Committee, headed by President Michel Platini, concluded its two-day summit at Cıragan Palace Kempinski in İstanbul on Thursday.

According to a press release issued by UEFA at Çırağan shortly after the meeting, the draw for the 2008 European Championship finals will take place in the Swiss city of Lucerne on Dec. 2, 2007. Host nations Switzerland and Austria will be competing in groups A and B while the remaining 14 teams will be divided into four categories. If Greece, the current European champion, makes it to the finals, it will be competing in the first category with the team that has the highest points. The remaining 12 teams will be divided into three categories on the basis of their average points from the 2006 World Cup and the qualifying round for the Euro 2008.

The categories of European teams that will join the qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup will be determined according to their FIFA rankings. Fifty-three national teams will compete to be one of the 13 teams that will play at the World Cup in the qualification stage.

Meanwhile at his press conference, Platini repeated the policy of zero tolerance toward violence and racism in soccer stadiums and also toward those who engage in such practices. "We can take strong decisions -- if we have to exclude supporters from stadiums or suspend clubs, we will, until the day that we have people in the stadiums who come to watch soccer, not to cause problems."

Platini also said he would applaud any referee who, in agreement with the match delegate, decides to stop a game because of racist conduct in stadiums. "Some things are fundamental in life," he explained. "A soccer match is important but there are certain behaviors we cannot tolerate at stadiums."

At its meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, the Executive Committee heard a report on the club licensing scheme after four years of implementation. It stressed the necessity of continuing the excellent work that has been done since the scheme was introduced at the start of the 2004-05 season.

In the meantime, Platini, replying to questions from the press, explained his popularity in Turkey by recalling that he did not score a single goal against Turkey during his years as a footballer. Platini also said Turkish soccer has come a long way in the past 20 years. “You finished third in the 2002 World Cup and Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup and European Super Cup in 2000. There were great players at that time. This is a problem of generations. The players get old and a new generation has to emerge.

UEFA President Platini in Istanbul

UEFA President Michel Platini arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday to chair UEFA Executive Board meeting.

Co-chairmen Senes Erzik, Geoffrey Thonson, Angel Maria Villar Llona, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder and Marios Lefkaritis, and members Franco Carraro, Viacheslav Koloskov, Gilberto Madail, Joseph Mifsut,Per Ravn Omdal, Mircea Sandu, Mathieu Sprengers ve Gregory Surkis will attend the meeting.

UEFA honorary president Lennart Johansson and UEFA SG David Taylor will also attend the meeting.

A press conference will be held after the meeting to announce the decisions made at the meeting.

The same day, Platini and Turkish soccer(football) Federation Chairman Haluk Ulusoy will sign a contract for Turkey's membership to the Grassroots Charter.