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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Kaos In Derby Match In Turkey!

Let me just say this—I am very disappointed with what I witnessed today.

Here on this Blog and my web site and my regular column on Bleacher Report, I always enjoyed writing about Turkish Football .

Until tonight.

What I saw was an unsportsmanlike act by both team players in this match.

There was no goal and no football on the field during the full ninety minutes.

But, at the injury time there was a head butt by Fenerbahce player Diego Lugano to Galatasaray player Emre Asik that started a brawl.

Everyone got involved!

Arda Turan got in a fight with his national teammate Semih Senturk and they punched each other.

After the brawl, the referee showed four red cards.

Lugano and Semih from Fenerbahce and Arda and Emre Asik from Galatasaray.

With this score, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are pretty much out of the top race in the Turkcell Super League in Turkey.

Both sides needed to win in order to remain in the race for Turkey's Super league title.

Lastly, the players who are very young and candidates to be stars shocked me today.

The way they behaved on the field and after the match with their comments was stunning.

After tonight's match, every one in Turkish Football has to look in the mirror one more time.

This should start with the Turkish Football Federation and Turkish National team coach and should go down to team officials.

Again, There should be really harsh punishments for this kind of behavior on the field.

If Turkish Football Federation is not quick to announce the punishments, it will be a disaster for the league and Turkish Football.

AHMET TURGUT

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sivasspor Takes the Top Spot Back From Besiktas

Sivasspor retake the Turkcell Super League top spot after small margin win against Antalyaspor.

The match was pretty even until when Antalyaspor striker Ali Zitouni got his second yellow card and was rejected out of the match in the 82th minute with a red card.

In the 86th minute in side the of the box, Sivasspor's Sezer Bodur received the ball and took a hard shot to score Sivasspor's and matches only goal .

Since 15th week, Sivasspor has been on top of the Turkish Turkcell Super League.


Sivasspor has 55 points and second place Besiktas has 54 points...

So, the race goes on....

Ahmet Turgut

Friday, April 10, 2009

Besiktas Takes the Top Spot in Turkey

Besiktas did it, with a hard way after disaster first half they came back in the second half to beat Kocelispor in Kocaeli with the last-gasp goals. Kocaelispor scored the first goal of the match in the second minute of the match by Agbetu and the first half ended with same score after Kocaelispor shutting down Besiktas team.

But, after Besiktas was awarded a penalty kick , everything turn Besiktas's way , after the 75nth minute.
Zapotochny scored on penalty kick to tie the score first, than Bobo in the 85nth minute and Yusuf Simsek closed the curtain in the 89nth minute . It was a hard fought match for Besiktas.
Kocaelispor players lost the momentum after the penalty kick goal on the field.

So, call it luck or a brake , Besiktas is on top of the league until Saturday night...


If Sivasspor lose point or points on Saturday , Besiktas could close the weekend on top of the Turkcell Super league all by them selfs.

Like I said before, the 27th week in the League is the turning point...
Besiktas, came out clean, after coming behind to beat the team who is looking for live wire to hold on in the league....

Sivasspor will have to do that if they don't want to lose the top spot to Besiktas!


AHMET TURGUT

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Turkish Super League Preview..Week 27

BESIKTAS HAS A CHANCE TO CAPTURE THE TOP SPOT ON FRIDAY...

As we get closer to the end of the season in the Turkish Turkcell Super League, the excitement on top and agony of defeat feeling at the bottom, is in full force...


After all disappointment scores by big guns of Istanbul , Sivasspor just could not open the gap, wide open , instead, they are only one point in front of second place Besiktas and five points away from three teams.

Those teams are,Fenerbahce , Galatasaray and Trabzonspor , they all have 47 points.

Sivasspor has 52 and Besiktas is with 51 points....

So, I think the 27th week, will be the turning point, for the teams who is in the top race, in my opinion.

Sivaspor just can't afford to lose a point or points at home this week.

They are playing against the team who was won their last three matches and most improved team of the year Antalyaspor.

Ever since rookie coach Mehmet Ozdilek, took over the coaching job , Antalyaspor has moved up from bottom to mid level in the league.


Besiktas who plays on Friday could capture the first place, if they beat Kocaelispor in Kocaeli. But, lets not forget Kocaelispor has been the giant killer, this year in the league...

They demolish Galatasaray in Istanbul in front of their own stadium . Kocaelispor is in fire zone of the league.

That's why, it will not be easy match for Besiktas, in my opinion.

Sivaspor and Trabzonspor will play on Saturday.....

MATCH OF THE WEEK, COULD BE THE MATCH OF THE YEAR!..............

The match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce on Sunday, could be the match of the year in my opinion.

The loser might as well just say good bye to the top spot!.....

A draw won't help either team... but, it will help Sivasspor and Besiktas!..

So, Playing in front of full house in Ali Samiyen Stadium, it will be a huge match.

Looking at both teams, they both are hurting, as far injuries..

Galatasaray has no defense and can't less for ninety minutes on the field..

On the other hand, Fenerbahce,is hot and cold!....

Consestancy, is not with Fenerbahce this year...

The midfielder Alex De Souza most likely will not play in this match..

If Bulent Korkmaz wakes up and gives Lincoln a chance to play , Galatasaray midfield will be Strong with Milan Baros on top.

But, let's not forget Semih Senturk and Guiza for Fenerbahce, if they play together, they could spell danger for Galatasaray .

So, "old fox" Aragones against "untrusted and unstable" Bulent Korkmaz...

It is the most important match for both teams.....

If Galatasaray wants to still challenge Sivasspor and Besiktas , they have to win this match.

Because, they still have to face Sivaspor and Besiktas,yet!....

Fenerbahce has to play only against Besiktas...

Let me just remind everybody, that ,Galatasary will be traveling to Sivas to play Sivaspor, in the last week of the Tukcell Super League.....

What a match that would be !...

Again, there is a lot of football to be played yet in the league..
As they say in Turkish, we will see a lot of water running under the bridge yet....

But,the top teams and the teams who are fighting for their life in the league, just can't afford to lose points anymore...


Friday 10 April
Kocaelispor 19 : 00 Besiktas

Saturday 11 April

Bursaspor 12 : 30 MKE Ankaragücü
Istanbul BB 12 : 30 Gaziantepspor
Sivasspor 14 : 15 Antalyaspor
Hacettepe SK 18 : 00 Trabzonspor

Sunday 12 April
Eskisehirspor 12 : 30 BB Ankaraspor
Genclerbirligi SK 12 : 30 Konyaspor
Kayserispor 12 : 30 Denizlispor
Galatasaray SK 18 : 00 Fenerbahce

AHMET TURGUT

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Turkish National Team Drops In FIFA April Rankings

Fatih Terim's Turkish National team dropped in the FIFA's rankingas again...

After losing the 10th spot to Portugal National team in March rankings , Turkish National team went down to 14th place in the FIFA's April rankings.

While Spain stayed on top of the list and U.S National team moved closer to Turkish National Team to 15th place.

The Spanish team has a 31-match unbeaten string and picked up 63 ratings points in the last month with a pair of victories over Turkey in World Cup qualifying. Spain has 1,729 points. Germany, which lost 4 points last month, has 1,362.

The 367-point differential is the largest between the top two teams since FIFA began its rankings in 1993.

Also of concern to the Germans' was the 43-point gain by No. 3 Netherlands, which is 2 points out of second place with 1,360 points.

Brazil improved its latest ranking one place to fourth, dropping Italy to fifth.

Argentina remained sixth but England, which collected a Top 10-best 90 points in the last month, was up two spots to seventh, bumping Croatia and Russia each down one spot to eighth and ninth, respectively. France, which collected 70 points last month, went from 12th to 10th.

The FIFA world rankings are determined by points received from match results over a three-year period, with more recent matches given greater weight. Teams also get more points for playing relatively strong opponents.

Fifa World Rankings: Top 10

1 Spain

2 Germany

3 Holland

4 Brazil

5 Italy

6 Argentina

7 England

8 Croatia

9 Russia

10 France

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

EGO MAN, FATIH TERIM: "I do not deserve to lose the six points against Spain,"

TERIM, BLAMES LOSING IN THE LAST MINUTE TO HIS KEEPER VOLKAN DEMIREL....

Fatih Terim was angry at the press room and it was because he believes his players can not be as innocent in the final minutes of the match. "We found the goal and we were unable to take advantage of it. We did not expect the mistake of the goalkeeper and the penalty unless he meant the tie. At that time was more closely matched the second. In addition, we fail to receive the time and added a goal that we can never receive. do not deserve to lose the six points against Spain. "

Terim told his players they must have respect to Spain, but they confused the message. "Be patient does not have panicked. Spain has given many chances to score and we failed to seize them. Fails to mark the second because everything has changed. We failed to close the game. We played with some fear."

Fatih Terim, said Wednesday that his team "found the goal" but did not "use" after losing 2-1 to Spain in qualifying match for the World South Africa-2010.

"Spain has many chances to score and we failed to seize them. Fails to mark the second because everything would have changed. We failed to close the game. We played with some fear," said Turkish coach, whose team was ahead on the scoreboard before for Spain tie.

"We did not expect the mistake of the goalkeeper and the penalty unless he meant the tie. At that time was more closely matched the second," the Turkish coach.

"I do not deserve to lose the six points against Spain," he concluded after two consecutive defeats to the Red this Wednesday and last Saturday in Madrid (1-0).

The Spanish Villarreal's Turkish striker, Nihat Khaveci said, for its part, the objective now is to save the classification, after falling to third place of Group 5 with eight points on four of the second Bosnia and Herzegovina, and ten of the leading Spanish .

"We still have four games to go. Now, our goal is to win all four and it is not certain that we save, because we now need to lose points Bosnia," said Nihat.

TURKEY LOSE AT HOME TO SPAIN IN THE STOPPAGE-TIME

Albert Riera struck a stoppage-time winner as European champions Spain bounced back from a half-time deficit to defeat Turkey in Istanbul and further strengthen their stranglehold on Group Five.

Spain, who had beaten Turkey 1-0 in Madrid on Saturday, had to do it the hard way after falling behind to Semih Senturk's 26th-minute tap-in but second-half goals from Liverpool duo Xabi Alonso and Riera earned Vicente del Bosque's side the spoils.

The victory means Spain, who have a 100% record after six matches in qualifying, are now a massive 10 points above Turkey - who many felt would be their biggest challenger in the pool - and six clear of second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina, who were 2-1 winners over Belgium tonight.

Aside from that, the win also extended Spain's current unbeaten run to 31 matches - equalling the national record set under Javier Clemente in the 1990s.

Turkey enjoyed the better start at the Bernabeu on Saturday but this time it was Spain who threatened first through Riera's dipping 25-yard thunderbolt in the 13th minute.

It looked destined for the back of the net but Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel produced a brilliant save to keep it out, sticking out his right hand and somehow managing to divert the ball over the crossbar.

Demirel was then called into action again seven minutes later, although this time he had a much easier job of saving Fernando Torres' low shot.

Six minutes after that, though, Spain found themselves a goal down.

Tuncay Sanli got in behind the visitors' defence to collect a dinked Arda Turan pass, and although the Turkey number 10 was unable to get a shot in himself, he poked the ball away from Iker Casillas and gave team-mate Senturk an open goal in which to slot home.

That was the only the second goal Spain had conceded since the group stages of Euro 2008 last summer, and on the previous occasion they managed to fight back from an early deficit against Belgium in October to record a 2-1 win.

A similar feat looked unlikely tonight though as hosts Turkey created two decent openings to increase their advantage either side of half-time.

Both were created by good work by Senturk and both were wasted by Nihat Kahveci, who opted to go for power over precision on each occasion and succeeded only in smashing his shots well off-target.

Turkey were made to play for the Villarreal hitman's profligacy as Spain drew level on the hour mark through Alonso's penalty.

Demirel made a hash of dealing with Xavi's corner and Torres, standing at the far post, sent a header goalward that was blocked at point-blank range by Ibrahim Uzulmez's arm.

The referee immediately pointed to the spot and Alonso coolly sent Demirel the wrong way to level the scores up.

With their tails up, Spain continued to press forward in search of second goal and Torres almost broke clean through only to lose the ball due to a heavy touch.

The Liverpool man had looked out of sorts up front on his own but he almost put the Spanish ahead in the 73rd minute when he latched onto a Santi Cazorla pass before sending a rising shot towards the top corner, only to see Demirel tip the ball over.

Turkey were not without an attacking threat of their own though, and Tuncay brought a good save out of Casillas diving away to his right with 10 minutes remaining.

Then came the knockout punch from the visitors as Riera slotted home his side's winner a minute into stoppage time.

Substitute Dani Guiza, who plies his trade for Fenerbahce in Turkey, collected a long punt forward and eased past his marker before feeding a low ball across the face of goal where Riera, in acres of space, had the fairly simple task of side-footing past Volkan Demirel.


Standings
MP W D L Pts
Spain 5 5 0 0 15
Bosnia 5 3 0 2 9
Turkey 5 2 2 1 8
Belgium 5 2 1 2 7
Estonia 6 1 2 3 5
Armenia 6 0 1 5 1

REMAINING MATCHES....

05/09/09 TBA Armenia - Bosnia-Herzegovina
05/09/09 TBA Spain - Belgium
05/09/09 TBA Turkey - Estonia
09/09/09 TBA Spain - Estonia
09/09/09 TBA Armenia - Belgium
09/09/09 TBA Bosnia-Herzegovina - Turkey
10/10/09 TBA Estonia - Bosnia-Herzegovina
10/10/09 TBA Belgium - Turkey
10/10/09 TBA Armenia - Spain
14/10/09 TBA Estonia - Belgium
14/10/09 TBA Turkey - Armenia
14/10/09 TBA Bosnia-Herzegovina - Spain


Source: wires