UEFA CUP 2009 FINAL ISTANBUL LOGO UNVEILED!...

Turkish Football(soccer) Federation unveiled the new logo for UEFA CUP Finals 2009 which will be played at Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on May 20th of 2009.

The special event took place in Istanbul Süreyya Opera House to announce the new logo on Tuesday with a large attendance from UEFA and Turkish officials.

Turkish Football(soccer) Association (TFF) President Mahmut Ozgener said,"We feel proud because we can make the name of our city and country heard," "I believe this final will open the door for Turkey to host some bigger events, such as the UEFA European Championship. Our aim is to see at least one Turkish team in the final."

The only Turkish member in the UEFA organization, Senes Erzik, also talked about how he was excited about having the finals in Istanbul , UEFA vice-President and honorary TFF President,Senez Erzik said, "I am excited and proud. Istanbul has learned from past experiences like the UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan in 2005. I can assure people coming to the final that they will received a traditional Turkish welcome next May."

Tickets will go on sale from Friday at 12.00 Local Turkey time and end at the same time on 23 January of 2009. Fans in Turkey will be able to purchase a maximum of two tickets, with prices ranging from €75 to €130.

ROBERTO CARLOS WAS THERE TOO!....

Fenerbahce's Brazilian soccer star Roberto Carlos poses with the logo of the UEFA Cup Final 2009 during a presentation in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. The UEFA Cup 2009 Final will take place at Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul in May 20, 2009.(AP)

FORMER GALATASARAY CAPTAIN BULENT KORKMAZ WAS ALSO THERE........


Former Galatasaray captain Bulent Korkmaz, left, and Fenerbahce's Brazilian soccer star Roberto Carlos pose with a symbolic match ticket of the UEFA Cup Final 2009 during a presentation in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. The UEFA Cup 2009 Final will take place at Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul in May 20, 2009.(AP)


AHMET TURGUT

TURKISH-AMERICAN YOUTH,’ "SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR" IN NEW YORK...

According to report from FiveBoroSports , Turkish-American Youth , Cemil Turan was choosing the "Player of the Year" in the High School competition in the Staten Island.

Cemil Turan who plays for St. Peters High School, scored 29 goals in the league wants to play in Turkey according the report.

Also,, another Turkish-American youth player Kemal Gurel, who plays for New Dorp High School made it to "ALL-STATEN ISLAND FIRST TEAM "

I just hope , Turkish Football(soccer) national team coach Fatih Terim will turn his eyes to the Turkish- American youth who are getting really good training her in the United States.

I wonder how many of kids like Cemil Turan, who are playing youth level football(soccer) in the United states....

Please respond, if you are current youth players playing in the youth level (ages 6 to 18) in the United States and Canada.

Drop a line to me,please...
contact@turkishsoccer.net

AHMET TURGUT

GUTSY GRANDPA ARAGONES BEAT MUSTAFA DENIZLI'S BESIKTAS

Fenerbahce's Spanish coach Luis Aragones talks to his Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos during their Turkish Super League derby soccer match against Besiktas at Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. Fenerbahce won the match 2-1.(AP)

Call it luck ....call it Gutsy.......

The match of the week in the week 13, in the Turkcell Super League was the most important match of the week.......

As I wrote in my previous article, Fenerbahce was done in the Champions League, after losing against Porto at home on Tuesday....

I said, they were going to be ready for this match, if they were going to stay the course in the league...

This was the match they had to win....

The whole world knew this, accept,Besiktas's humble coach Mustafa Denizli!...

If he knew, a win would make him the top team in the league! ......

He would play differently.....

Instead, he was going for a draw ..........

He started the match with Nobre on top while guys like Bobbo, Holosko, and set play master Tello were with him on the bench!.....

I wrote it before the match.......

I said, both keeper have to have flawless match.....

Well, Volkan did, but Besiktas keeper Rustu did not........

In the 11th minute of the match on a corner kick , Selcuk Sahin scored the exactly same goal that he score against Galatasaray.

The stupid defense and Rustu Rechber made a huge mistake, on this goal....

Nobre evened things up for Besiktas in the 21st, but, another stupid mistake cost the second goal on a brake away , and Spanish International player Guiza scored the Fener's second goal in the 27 minute of the match.......

In the 41th minute. after Cisse getting his second yellow card, Besiktas was left with one man short on the field....

When every one thought , at the half, Holosko, who was warming up, was going in to the match .....

But, it was changed in the last second by Mustafa Denizli!.........

He decided not to inject any player until 20 minutes remaining of the match......

While grandpa Aragones was sending fresh players on the field, Besiktas's Mustafa Denizli was day dreaming from the sideline !....

The fear and wrong tactics cost the Besiktas this match........

A player like Holosko who scored a goal and made a assist ,one week before, had to start this match...

He was the only guy that will brake the Fenerbahce defense from the center.....

We all saw Young Serdar Ozkan did in the first half of the match.......

He had a lot of miss hits and wide shots...........

At the end Besiktas loss this match because of Denizli's mistakes..

There is no ifs or buts about it!......

With this 2-1 win, Fenerbahce, back in this race for the first time this season..

Thanks to Mustafa Denizli................


AHMET TURGUT

TURKISH TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE WEEK 13,RESULTS

Friday Nov 28, 2008 Kayserispor 1- 1 Trabzonspor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 BB Ankaraspor 0- 1 MKE Ankaragücü
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Sivasspor 3 - 0 Gaziantepspor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Eskisehirspor 4- 3 Denizlispor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Fenerbahce 2- 1 Besiktas
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Bursaspor 1-1 Antalyaspor
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Genclerbirligi 0-0 Istanbul BB
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Kocaelispor 3 -0 Konyaspor
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Galatasaray 3- 1 Hacettepe

WEEK 13, AT THE TURKISH TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE

The week 13, will take a start on Friday in Kayseri.

The top team of Turkish Turkcell Super league Trabzonspor will have another hurdle in the week 13.

They will face a rough and though team Kayserispor in Kayseri.

This is the only match on Friday.

Three week to go to the end of the first half of the league, Trabzonspor could extend the lead with a win in Kayseri. Again, a draw, will probably knock them, out of the top spot.

That will give, second place team Besiktas, who is two points behind, a morale boost, before the derby match, against Fenerbahce on Saturday.

On the other hand, Kayserispor really struggling as far as scoring goals...

After Gokhan Unal left the team to go to Trabzonspor, Kayserispor has a problem scoring!...

In the 12 matches they scored only eleven goals.....

But, Kayserispor defense has only allowed six goals in 12 matches.

"GAME OF THE WEEK"

The biggest match of the week will take place on Saturday between Fenerbahce and Besiktas.

Besiktas who is ahead of Fenerbahce in the League will face Fenerbahce in the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

Fenerbahce after saying farewell to Champions League on Tuesday , now have to turn their attention back to the league.....

If we look at the last six weeks in the league Fenerbahce is better form than Besiktas. out of six matches Fener collected 14 points while Besiktas collected only 11 points. Fenerbahce leads the league form table in the last six weeks.

In this form table we see Ankaraspor second place and Istanbul Buyuksehir on Third place !...........

Warning to the teams that will play these teams this weekend!......

Getting back to , the Game of the week match.....

Rustu Rechber will face his former team in Besiktas goal for the first time!...

On the other hand Fenerbahce Keeper Volkan Demirel having problem handling the ball!...

The Keepers will have to have a flawless match on Saturday...

The mistakes by keepers will result out come of this match....

Lastly, looking at both teams rosters , Besiktas has better players.....

But, Fenerbahce have, Guiza, Carlos Alberto who are world known players....
Who ever takes the control at the midfield will win this match....

So, Alex for Fenerbshce and Delgado for Besiktas in the midfield will be big factors in this match.......

On top. Besiktas has better front attackers........

If Fenerbahce uses Guiza like a striker , he will cash in for Fenerbahce!...

This is not the only important match on Saturday......

The third place team Ankaraspor and forth place team Sivaspor will play on Saturday in a day matches..........


Before the Saturday Night match, Ankarspor could capture the second place from Besiktas before Besiktas even takes the field on Saturday against Fenerbahce.

Ankaraspor will play at home against ailing Ankaragucu and Sivaspor will also be at home against Gaziantepspor .

So, Leagues most important matches will take on Friday and Saturday in the week 13! ......
Here is the week 13 matches........

Friday Nov 28, 2008 Kayserispor Trabzonspor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 BB Ankaraspor MKE Ankaragücü
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Sivasspor Gaziantepspor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Eskisehirspor Denizlispor
Saturday Nov 29, 2008 Fenerbahce SK Besiktas JK
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Bursaspor Antalyaspor
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Genclerbirligi SK Istanbul BB
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Kocaelispor Konyaspor
Sunday Nov 30, 2008 Galatasaray SK Hacettepe SK



AHMET TURGUT

Galatasaray 0 - 1 FC Metalist Kharkiv

Galatasaray's qualification for the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup was put on hold as Metalist Kharkiv sealed a 1-0 smash-and-grab success in Istanbul.

Edmar's late goal ended the Turkish giants' 100% record in Group B, but goalkeeper Alexandr Goryainov was the visitors' real hero with a series of impressive saves.

Milan Baros had a goal ruled out for offside just after the half-hour mark for Gala, who remain top of the pool, but otherwise they could find no way past an inspired Goryainov.

Galatasaray suffered an ignominious exit from last season's competition, going down 5-1 on aggregate in the last 32 to a Bayer Leverkusen side coached by Michael Skibbe - now in charge of Galatasaray/

And failure to break down a Metalist side in a match they dominated almost from start to finish does not bode well for their hopes this time.

The hosts almost made an early breakthrough here when Volkan Yaman's right-footed shot was tipped round the post by Goryainov.

The stopper excelled himself again in the 11th minute to tip Arda Turan's 20-yard effort from the left channel over the bar.

And the same player forced two more routine saves from Goryainov in quick succession as the hosts peppered the Metalist goal.

Their pressure looked to have told in the 31st minute when Lincoln laid a pass across the face of goal from the left and Baros slotted the ball home at the far post, but his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.

The over-worked Goryainov then had to be alert to save from Sabri Sarioglu as Skibbe's men continued to monopolise the attacking play.

The one-way traffic showed no sign of stopping in the second half and Goryainov athletically tipped away another Sabri effort to keep the Ukrainians in the contest.

Baros also saw a shot kept out by Goryainov, easily his side's best performer on the night, but it was Edmar who stole the headlines with an 81st-minute winner.

The Brazilian finished into the bottom corner from the left side of the area to stun Gala and give Metalist their first win in the group.

Match Stats
Galatasaray FC Metalist Kharkiv
Shots (on Goal) 11(9) 6(4)
Fouls 10 8
Corner Kicks 7 3
Offsides 4 0
Time of Possession 47% 53%
Yellow Cards 2 1
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 3 9

Match Information
Stadium: Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Turkey
Attendance: 20,000
Match Time: 13:00 ET
Official(s):
J Granat (Referee)

Feldkamp back in Galatasaray as adviser!...

Galatasaray said in a statement on Wednesday that Feldkamp was appointed as the adviser to the team.

Former Galatasaray coach Karl Heinz Feldkamp is back in Istanbul as the new "technical adviser" to Turkey's defending champions.

Galatasaray said in a statement on Wednesday that Feldkamp was appointed as the adviser to the team.

Feldkamp coached the Istanbul side twice in the season of 1992-1993 and last year. He was also the
technical adviser to the team in 1993-1994.

"I have returned to Istanbul as a staff of Galatasaray," Feldkamp told reporters at his arrival to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

"We will be the champions this year just like last year," he said.

Source: Turkish wires