Besiktas getting Dinamo Zagreb's defender Dino Drpic

Besiktas agreed in principle with defender Dino Drpic of Dinamo Zagreb team of Croatia on Wednesday.

"Our club has reached an agreement in principle to join Drpic to our squad," Sinan Engin, the general manager of the Turkish club, said.

Drpic is actually having a training camp in southern province of Antalya with his team.

He is expected to arrive in Istanbul to sign a contract on Thursday.

Born in 1981, Drpic is a Croatian. He rose through the youth ranks of Dinamo and has become a consistent performer in the first squad. He was one of the key figures in Dinamo's UEFA Cup qualification run in 2007.

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP GROUP DRAW

The fixture list draw of Groups 2 and 5 of the European preliminary competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ was conducted on Wednesday 30 January. FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke conducted the draw during the UEFA Congress in Zagreb, Croatia.


In Group 5 between Turkey and Spain will take place in the form of a double header on 28 March and 1 April 2009 respectively.

In Group 2, current European champions Greece open up with a trip to Luxembourg on 6 September, while the matches between the top two ranked teams in the group, namely Greece and Switzerland take place on 15 October 2008 and 5 September 2009.

FIFA informed all groups that should no agreement be found on the fixture list a draw would be conducted to confirm the position of the six teams within a standard match schedule. The standard match schedule is based on sporting criteria and guarantees an equal distribution of home and away match while trying to keep the suspense of the competition.

6. September 2008
Spain – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Belgium – Estonia
Armenia - Turkey

10. September 2008
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Estonia
Spain – Armenia
Turkey - Belgium

11. October 2008
Belgium – Armenia
Turkey – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Estonia - Spain

15. October 2008
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Armenia
Belgium – Spain
Estonia - Turkey

28. March 2009
Belgium – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Armenia – Estonia
Spain -Turkey

1. April 2009
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Belgium
Estonia – Armenia
Turkey - Spain

5. September 2009
Armenia – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Spain – Belgium
Turkey - Estonia

9. September 2009
Armenia – Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Turkey
Spain – Estonia

10. October 2009
Estonia – Bosnia-Herzegovina
Armenia – Spain
Belgium - Turkey

14. October 2009
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Spain
Estonia – Belgium
Turkey - Armenia

The Turkcell Super League coaching carousel continues!..

I just can't believe it any more!... After Giray Bulak was sacked from Vestel Manispor team, Gaziantepspor sacked their coach Mesut Bakkal and just Today there is talk in Ankara, according to my blogger friend Oz Kanka, http://ankarafootball.blogspot.com/
Bulent Korkmaz, coach of Genclerbirligi also was sacked yesterday!....

This is perfect sample, why I call theese changes "coaching carousel"

We herd from great divine....Mesut Bakkal will get Bulent Korkmaz job.....actualy his old job back!....if you remember, he was the coach a year ago in Genclerbirligi team.

Mesut Bakkal will be the fifth coach this young season(20 matches played) for Genclerbirligi and this won't be the end!....
We might just see team President Mr.CAVCAV, doing the coaching this time from side line instead of from stands!...

Danish striker Thomas Dalgaard Signed with Vestel Manisaspor

Danish striker Thomas Dalgaard (24) passed a medical check-up in western province of Manisa on Tuesday and signed a 3.5 years contract with Turkcell Super League soccer club Vestel Manisaspor.

Thomas Dalgaard
Personal information Date of birth April 13, 1984 (1984-04-13) (age 23)
Place of birth Nykøbing Mors, Denmark
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current club Randers FC
Number 29
Youth clubs
Skive IK
Randers FC
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2005-present Randers FC 29 (13

Ipswich Town gets Sumulikoski from Bursaspor

Bursaspor and FYR Macedonia international player Velice Sumulikoski ,will move to Ipswich Town, subject to a medical and the acquisition of a work permit.

Sumulikoski, who was also linked with a move to Blackburn Rovers, has agreed personal terms with Town and a fee has been reached with his club, Bursaspor.

He started his career with NK Publikum and also played for FC Slovacko and Zenit St Petersburg before joining Bursaspor in 2006

MALDANADO IN ISTANBUL FOR FENERBAHCE

Chile defensive midfielder Claudio Maldonado signed with Fenerbahce on Tuesday on a 1 1/2-year contract.

Details of the 28-year-old player's contract were not released.

Fenerbahce was reportedly seeking a strong midfield player with defensive skills after Stephen Appiah, who transferred from Juventus in 2005, was seriously injured and could be out of action for the remainder of the season.


Signing Maldonado, a 39-time international, might make up for Appiah's absence as Fenerbahce looks toward the second round of the Champions League, where it faces Sevilla.

Fenerbahce signed Roberto Carlos last June, another high-profile player that moved to the Turkish team in recent years after France striker Nicolas Anelka and Serbia forward Mateja Kezman.

Claudio Maldonado coming to Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce is finaly getting Claudio Maldonado a Chilian soccer player.
He is due to arrive in Istanbul late tonight.

Hi real name is Claudio Andrés del Tránsito Maldonado Rivera, but he is known as Claudio Maldonado.

Born on January 3, 1980 in Curicó, Chile) is a Chilean football player who is captain of the national side. He is a similar type of player to the likes of Ivan Campo, Mahamadou Diarra and Claude Makelele. Maldonado poseeses a great big engine, top passing and tremendous battling qualities and is thought of by many as one of the best players in South America in his position creating an iron shield infront of the defence. He rarely goes forward, his goal tally is less than ten, although 3 of the goals were a hat-trick against Manchester United in a friendly in 2007, but what he lacks in scoring Maldonado makes up for in tenacity and an ability to break down the opposition with great efffectiveness.

He spent three seasons with São Paulo FC making 35 appearances with the team.

For the 2006 season, Maldonado was reunited with former Cruzeiro's coach Luxemburgo at Santos Futebol Clube for a fee of $4.5 million. However at the end of the Brazilian season was scheduled to have ankle surgery which caused him to be miss up to two months. After recuperating Maldonado continued playing for Santos reaching the semi-finals of the 2007 Copa Libertadores. Currently Santos has completed the 2007 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in second place and are eligible to compete in the upcoming Copa Libertadores 2008.
Maldonado has appeared in 39 games with the adult squad and has netted one goal. For 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Maldonado was a regular with the first team and has since gained the captaincy of the national team. As of recent Maldonando has been called up to serve on the Chilean national team that is managed by Marcelo Bielsa.