GALATASARAY TO OPEN NEW HOME "TURK TELEKOM" ARENA STADIUM

Galatasaray's new stadium in Istanbul, "Turk Telekom Arena", will be open on Saturday.

Turk Telekom Arena has 52,647 spectators capacity, and it is one of the most technological and authentic sports complexes of Turkey.

Galatasaray and Ajax team will play a friendly game at 8:45 p.m, local time on Saturday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony of the stadium.

Ceremonies at the stadium will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

According to Galatasaray President Adnan Polat,the stadium is the only stadium in Turkey to fully satisfy UEFA criteria for hosting the European Football Championship in 2016.

Because of the very limited parking spaces (about 4500 hundred) The club urges fans to use the newly-opened metro line to Seyrantepe in order to avoid causing heavy traffic jams.

One negative thing about this project the roads around the stadium is not completed yet!

FAREWELL TO GALATASARAY'S "HELL STADIUM" ALI SAMIYEN STADIUM

End of an era: farewell to Ali Sami Yen stadium............

The curtain then finally fell on the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which had served Galatasaray for 47 years. The venue was instrumental in the Lions clinching the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 2000, a total of 17 league titles and Turkish Cups, 11 Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Super Cups, 12 Sports Writers (TSYD) Cups, five Chancellor Cups and the 50th Year Cup (1973).

Galatasaray has now moved to it new venue, Aslantepe,Turk Telekom Arena.


VIDEO BY Telegraph Sport .....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE TEAMS WILL GET READY FOR SECOND HALF IN ANTALYA

All 18 teams in topflight Turkish football have chosen Antalya and its environs to prepare for both the cup and the second half of the league season. Defending champion Bursaspor is at the Topkapı Villa Otel in Kundu; leader Trabzonspor at Gloria Golf in Belek; Fenerbahçe at Arcadia in Belek; Beşiktaş at Gloria Serenity in Belek; Galatasaray at Rixos Lares in Kundu; while Antalyaspor is training at its own facilities.


The 18 clubs in the Spor Toto Super League are currently storming both the domestic and international transfer market for players to boost the standard of play of their respective teams before the one-month January transfer window closes. Hence there is bound to be plenty of selling and buying, sooner rather than later, as the teams will be busy offloading the redundant players and replacing them with new ones. The second half of the league season will resume on Friday, Jan. 21, with Besiktas hosting newcomer Bucaspor at the İnönü Stadium in İstanbul. But before that there will be the Ziraat Turkish Cup matches between Jan. 11 and Jan. 17 to play for.



Source: Turkish zaman wire

Bursaspor earns their first point in the last match of Champions League!

Sercan Yıldırım's second-half equalizer gave Bursaspor a 1-1 draw with Rangers on Tuesday, the only point the Turkish titleholder collected in Group C of the Champions League, the Associated Press reported.

The Turkish international striker collected a pass from Ozan İpek to shoot past goalkeeper Allan McGregor in the 79th minute.

Rangers led through Kenny Miller's 19th-minute strike, smashing in a cross from Steven Whittaker into the top corner.

Rangers finished third in the group with six points and will play in the Europa League. It will be the first time the Scottish club continues in European competition after Christmas since 2007, when it lost 2-0 in the UEFA Cup final to Zenit. St Petersburg.

Bursaspor came last in the group after losses in all five previous games. Manchester United and Valencia went through in that order to the last 16.

"We played well: we got into positions, we got the goal and then created even more chances," Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam said after the game. "We did everything we could against a team which played so defensively. I can guarantee that next year, if we qualify, we will perform much better."

Saglam had made eight changes to his starting lineup, including leaving out winger Volkan Şen, who was sent off for protesting against a yellow card during Bursaspor's Turkish Spor Toto Super League defeat against Beşiktaş at the weekend.

Rangers manager Walter Smith fielded his regular team despite having already secured qualification to the second-tier club competition, although Darren Cole was given a debut.

Bursaspor dominated most of the possession, with Yıldırım driving the home side forward. Rangers' goal came against the run of play and ensured the visitors led into halftime.

Bursaspor coach Sağlam brought on Ömer Erdoğan and Pablo Batalla to start the second half, and the hosts kept up the pressure as Bekir Ozan and Batalla both came close soon after the interval.

Teammate Frederico Insua sent a free kick narrowly over on the crossbar in the 75th minute.

Four minutes later, the hosts were rewarded for their pressure - Yıldırım collecting the cross from the left flank and finding the net despite McGregor getting a hand on the ball.

Yıldırım almost made it 2-1 soon after, dribbling into the box but failing to hit the target.

"We applied pressure but we just could not find the second goal," Yıldırım said. "If we had, things would have been better for us."

Still, the draw was enough to save Bursaspor from joining an unwanted group of teams finishing the Champions League campaigns with losing all their matches. Previously, eight teams, including Turkey’s Fenerbahçe have lost all of their group matches in the competition.

Sercan was later named man of the match by the official website of the UEFA and said he savors that honor.

"To be named man of the match is a great honor, especially as I'm just 20 years old and the Champions League is such a massive competition," the forward was quoted as saying on the website. "I have had a taste and I'd love to have more. We have learned a lot during this campaign and I hope Bursaspor can take part in the competition again in the near future and improve by doing so."

Rangers’ striker Steven Naismith, who scored the winner in the two teams’ first meeting in the Group C, also had time for Turkish champion.

"Maybe Bursaspor was naive in some of their previous games, but they're a good team with quality players and I'm sure we'll see them again in the Champions League,” the Scot said.

Bursaspor, which is the first team in 26 years to bring the Turkish title out of Istanbul, is currently second in the Super League standings. The Crocs also became the first Turkish team that is not from Istanbul to compete in the Champions League. Previously, Trabzonspor and Sivasspor played in the preliminary rounds of the competition through the runner-up spot in the Super League, but failed to make it to the Champions League.

TURKEY U-17 NATIONAL TEAM BEAT U.S 17 NATIONAL TEAM AND WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MATCH.......




The U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team finished the 2010 Nike International Friendlies with a 2-0 loss to tournament champion Turkey. Goals on either side of halftime from Ahmet Yilmaz Calik and Enver Cenk Sahin were enough to give Turkey the win and seven points from their three games.

After starting the tournament with a 2-1 win against Korea Republic, the U.S. put up a hard fought scoreless draw with Brazil on Friday evening. Coming into the final game, both teams knew that the winner would also win the trophy.

In front of more than 2,000 fans at the Reach 11 Sports Complex, both teams came out looking for the victory.

In the 16th minute, a Turkish counter attack led to the game’s first dangerous chance. Selahattin Ozcan fired a hard shot that forced U.S. goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh into an athletic save in his first appearance in Phoenix.

Just a minute later, Turkey broke through for the first goal of the game. From a corner kick taken from the left side, the ball fell to the near post, was flicked on and smacked off the far post. Calik was there for the rebound and got off a solid header that beat McIntosh.

Mario Rodriguez, who was dangerous in all three games, drew a number of fouls as the Turkish defense had clearly set out to shut down the U.S. striker. The most dangerous opportunity of the game for the U.S. came after Rodriguez was pulled down and Turkey defender Taha Can Velioglu was sent off for the challenge in the 61st minute.

Marc Pelosi stepped up to take the ensuing free kick and hit it hard toward the upper right corner of the goal, but goalkeeper Sercan Sen came up with a brilliant overhand save that got just enough of the ball to tip it into the crossbar. The rebound popped out to Nathan Smith, but his header toward the far post was picked off by Sen, who had recovered his position quickly after the impressive save.

With the U.S. pressing and keeping players forward, Turkey was able to pounce on a giveaway to start a counterattack. The ball moved forward to Sahin, who ran past the last U.S. defender on a dead sprint and moved around McIntosh to the left. His final shot was impressive, knocking the ball into the far side netting while moving the opposite direction.

The 2010 Nike International Friendlies marked the first time that the event, held annually since 2003, was played as a tournament and crowned a champion. With the loss, the U.S. finished in third place with a 1-1-1 record. Brazil finished second with one win and two draws and Korea Republic finished in fourth place with three losses.


Lineups

USA: 18-Kendall McIntosh; 3-Kellyn Acosta (13-Paul Arriola), 2-Andrew Souders, 6-Mobi Fehr, 4-Nathan Smith (19-Daniel Flores); 16-Dillon Serna (8-Esteban Rodriguez), 5-Tarik Salkicic, 7-Matt Dunn, 11-Marc Pelosi; 9-Mario Rodriguez
Subs not used: 1-Fernando Pina, 10-Alejandro Guido, 12-Joe Amon, 14-Alessandro Mion, 15-Luis Martir, 17-Andrew Oliver, 19-Daniel Flores
Head coach: Wilmer Cabrera

TUR: 1-Sercan Sen, 2-Selahattin Ozcan, 3-Aykut Guler, 4-Taha Can Velioglu, 5-Ahmet Yilmaz Calik, 7-Kadir Ari (17-Okan Deniz), 8-Okay Yokuslu, 9-Ibrahim Yllmaz (19-Berk Ismail Unsal), 10-Recep Niyaz (6-Hakan Calhanoglu), 14-Mehmet Erkut Senturk (13-Burak Yilmaz), 20-Enver Cenk Sahin (18-Tugay Kacar)
Subs not used: 12-Yusuf Mersin, 11-Beykan Simsek, 15-Ilkay Durmus, 16-Burak Kardes, 18-Tugay Kacar

Turkey U17 National Team Squad:

Burak YILMAZ

Beşiktaş A.Ş.

Kadir ARİ

Beşiktaş A.Ş.

Mehmet Erkut ŞENTÜRK

Beşiktaş A.Ş.

Sercan ŞEN

Bursaspor

Okan DENİZ

Bursaspor

Taha Can VELİOĞLU

Bursaspor

İbrahim YILMAZ

Büyükşehir Bld.Spor

Enver Cenk ŞAHİN

Büyükşehir Bld.Spor

Recep NİYAZ

Fenerbahçe

Beykan ŞİMŞEK

Fenerbahçe

Selahattin ÖZCAN

Gençlerbirliği

Ahmet Yılmaz ÇALIK

Gençlerbirliği

Okay YOKUŞLU

Altay

Tugay KACAR

Denizlispor

Aykut GÜLER

Gaziosmanpaşa

Berk İsmail ÜNSAL

Gaziosmanpaşa

Hakan ÇALHANOĞLU

Karlsruher SC

Yusuf MERSİN

Millwall

Burak KARDEŞ

PSV Eindhoven

İlkay DURMUŞ

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim


Source: ussoccer.com

Turkey's Under 17 National Team plays against U.S Under 17 National Team for a Championship.

Turkey and United States ones again will face each other in the Nike Friendlies International Cup,which takes place in Phoenix, Arizona in the tournaments final match on Sunday at 5 PM, ET.

After both teams played for scoreless draw against soccer power Brazil's under 17 national team, Brazil was knock out from playing Championship match....

Turkey first draw with Brazil than beat S. Korea 2-1 on Friday ....

On the same note , Unites States under 17 national team did exactly what Turkey done....

Beat S, Korea and tied with Brazil on Friday night....

The United States U-17 national team out-performed its Brazilian counterparts in much of Friday

night's Nike International Friendlies tournament match at Reach 11 Sports Complex.


United States will play Turkey on Sunday in what has turned out to be the tournament championship game.

Turkey and Unites States end up with dead even 4 points in the standings...

Turkey's under 17 National team is coached by former Turkish National team player who use to play for Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce, Abdullah Ercan.


The match will be broadcast live on Fox soccer channel on Sunday at 5 PM.ET.

Besiktas Returns From Porto with Golden Point!

We saw two diffrent Besiktas on the pitch again...

First half, really bad Besiktas and bad goal keepeing by Hakan Arikan!

But in the second half,after Holosko came in to the match, He made a huge diffrence, on team's attacking football...

Besiktas, I think , missed the three points...

Wood works, saved FC Porto on Thursday night...

In the 35th minute. Porto scored the goal thanks to Hakan Arikan!

HAKAN Arikan came out brought down Falcao and from the resulting penalty,

And Falcao took the kick and scored..

In the second half of the match, things livened up in the 59th minute when

a spat between Rodriguez and Ibrahim Uzulmez saw both players booked

That was Rodriguez's second time and he was shown the red.

Two minutes later Besiktas were level, Nihat picking the ball up from deep and launching a 30-yard rocket which left Helton with no chance.

The numbers were evened up by the 66th-minute dismissal of Ibrahim Toraman for a second booking.

So, for close to twenty minutes both of the teams played man down!

Bobo fired one over the bar for Besiktas in the 70th minute, I sware that could have been the "goal of the year" in the Europa League, if it went in!

Bob came even closer four minutes later when he smashed a volley against the bar from all of 35 yards....

All in all, Besiktas missed the oppurtunity to earn a win and three points but, this was a golden one point for Besiktas in Porto.