Head Games :Amsterdam Calling Fenerbahce

Coach Aykut Kocaman (C) of Fenerbahçe SK speaks to his players 
Photo by Getty Images

It is huge and historic match for Fenerbahce on Thursday in Lisbon !

A win or draw will take them to UEFA's Europa League final in Amsterdam....

It is a huge match for both teams....

But, Fenerbahce winning the first match gives a little edge to Fenerbahce

On the other hand, Benfica is unbeaten in their 13 home matches!

Fenerbahce, yet to lose in the last 6 away matches in this tournament...

At the end of the match on Thursday, something is going to give in !

Will that be Fenerbahce or Benfica?

Ninety minutes on Thursday will show us this!

Fenerbahce's coach Aykut Kocaman and his players calm and waiting for the kick of on Thursday.

If Fenerbahce comes out clean from Thursday match,they will reach the European Final  for the first time and
they will set a UEFA Europa League record with seven away matches win.

Key player for Fenerbahce : Dirk Kuyt

Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe SK)

Dirk Kuyt of Fenerbahçe SK during a training session ahead of the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg against SL Benfica


WHAT THEY SAID....

Aykut Kocaman : "One of the most important in our history .Benfica are a more experienced side and have played many European matches. Even with us being 1-0 up in the tie, the chances are equal for both teams.

"We're facing very strong opponents, we have a one-goal advantage but we're not through yet – we'll only know that after 90 or 120 minutes," 

"In the last training session we worked on penalties, but it's more important to be mentally ready to take them. We didn't play well in the first game, but we played the way we were able to. Benfica are stronger here and have the home support with them, while we have the result on our side. For me we're even."

JORGE JESUS : "Our goal is to turn this tie around – 1-0 is a tricky result, but we know and have the confidence that we can go through. We have European experience in both the Champions and the Europa Leagues and we know what it's like to be at this stage. We are calm and won't change anything. We are very confident and hope our fans can help us to reach the final – that's what we all want.

"It's not the most important match of my career, or Benfica's. It's good to be in a semi-final and it's important for the club's image, but a final is even better. We're just one game away and the first-leg result allows us to believe that it's possible to make it real. I'm not nervous because I'm an experienced person and we all know how is to be here. I feel normal and hope my players are the same. It's a sign of both confidence and that we are ready to achieve our goal."

Fenerbahce ended Benfica's 38-match unbeaten run in all competitions, in Istanbul, On Thursday, if Fenerbahce defeats Benfica , they will ruined their 13 -match home win record too!'

Fenerbahce has to do it without  midfielder Mehmet Topal and striker Pierre Webo, who are both suspended, while midfielder Raul Meireles is injured.

The match will be on Fox soccer 2go  and the match will start at 2.55 ET

Galatasaray Need a Win This Weekend to Capture the Tittle

It is all up to this weekend's match against Sivasspor in front of their loud fans at Ali Samiyen  Arena Stadium !

After winning this past weekend in Gaziantep with narrow win and Fenerbahce coming back from behind and win it late with a penalty kick,the gap between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce stayed the same..

Galatasaray is ahead of Fenerbahce with 7 points....

This coming weekend Galatasaray host Sivas and Fenerbahce will face the team who is in deep trouble, Istanbul Buyuksehir at Ataturk Stadium....

If Galatasaray wins on Sunday, celebrations will starts at the end of the match!

Defending champions Galatasaray with a seven point gap going in to the last two weeks in the league, will pretty much deserve to celebrate.

But, if Fenerbahce wins and Galatasaray draw or loses, 33th weekend match between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in Kadikoy will be very interesting!

That could well be the biggest match of the season......

Fenerbahce who are going to face Benfica this coming Thursday, in the Europa League semi-final, second leg match , will come to Istanbul very tired on late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Fenerbahce is the only Istanbul team who is still competing in three different competition...

Turkish Super League title , Turkish Cup  and Europa League Semi-Final !

The most important one for them is playing in the final at Amsterdam ...

After winning at home 1-0 against Benfica, they are focused to eliminate  Benfica on Thursday an play in the final match .

Buyuksehir team looks like already trow the towel in the Turkish Super League....

After the last weekend's match, their coach Bulent Korkmaz ,was not happy with his team performance and he said that to the LIG TV reporter!

For Orduspor and Istanbul Buyuksehir, this weekend is going to be do or die weekend....

A draw or loss for both teams will send them to the lower division along with Mersin, this season....

Orduspor will face Bursaspor at home on Saturday while Buyuksehir will host Fenerbahce on Sunday.

There are also three or four teams feelingt the heat from the bottom....

Teams like, Akhisar,Karabuk, Elazig and Gaziantep  has to win their games.....
In case of , Orduspor and Buyuksehir winning this weekend , they could still feel the heat....

As long as they win their matches this weekend or draw they should be in good position....


RIZESPOR AND KAYSERI ERCIYES BACK IN THE TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE AGAIN....

Two weeks to go in the Turkish League One, Rizespor and  Kayseri Erciyes already promoted to  Turkish Super League.
Rizespor will finish on top and Kayseri Erciyes will finish  second, in the League one...

The third team who will be promoted to the Super League will come out of the play off at the end of the season.

Playoffs will be between 3rd and 6th place teams at the end of the season.

Back in December, after huge pressure by politicians to Mustafa Denizli, Denizli took over  the Rizespor as a coach.

It was risky but he knew what he was getting in to. He did all the winter transfers and got what he wanted.

With quality players coming over to Rizespor and his experience Rizespor wishes came through..

Rizespor tired to do this last year but,they loss that chance during the playoffs......

 There were no politicians backing Rizespor, last year!

Anyway, the man who won three championship in the Turkish Super League with three different Istanbul team took a huge risk in his career and won championship in the League one (second division )

I could tell you this, playing in the Turkish Super League and coaching Rizespor won't be same as coaching Fenerbahce, Galatasaray or Besiktas!

The real question is , will  Denizli be suspenseful with Rizespsor in the Turkish Super League?

We will find out, won't we!

AHMET B  TURGUT

Important Win for Fenerbahce

EGEMEN KORKMAZ , WHO SCORED FENERBAHCE'S ONLY GOAL.


Lets face it, we saw a Fenerbahce team we have not seen in the Turkish Super League matches,tonight.

As a whole team , they played their hearts out and before the Egemen Korkmaz's goal they hit the woodwork three times including missing the penalty kick by Baroni hitting the post!

But, they never lost the team composure and started the second half of the match with same tone.

Fenerbahce keeper Volkan Demirel made some key saves in the first half.....

In the 72 minute , Egemen Korkmaz header put  Fenerbahce up 1-0 .

After the match, Dirk Kuyt  thanked  Fenerbahce coach Aykut Kocaman, for preparing the team for Benfica clash... he said " our coach told us everything about Benfica and how to play against them  and  that is exactly what we did on the field tonight "

"That is why I like to thank Aykut Kocaman ", he said.

Kuyt went on to say , "This is great night for Turkish soccer "


Even though 1-0 win is a narrow win, Fenerbahce showed, they could bring down Benfica.

The way Fenerbahce played tonight, they really want to play in the final match.

Exprience player like Dirk Kuyt ,could take Fenerbahce to Amsterdam to the finals.

Aykut Kocaman's game plan and regrouping the players is huge for this match.

After the match, Fenerbahce coach Aykut Kocaman  thanked all of his players and said, they played great tonight.

On defense, Gokhan Gonul, Joseph Yoba from Nigaria and Egemen Korkmaz  was excellent .


On bad thing about Fenerbahce is, they will be missing a few players for second leg match in Benfica.

Webo and  Mehmet Topal will be missed because of  2 yellow card suspensions..

Also injured Meireles will not play due to injury in the second leg match.

At the end,starting with Kocaman,all of the players believed in beating Benfica and they did it.

They did it with Aykut Kocaman's good planing and regrouping his players...

It is not all done yet , but Fenerbahce and Fenerbahce fans could enjoy this huge win tonight.

AHMET "BOB" TURGUT

Fenerbahce Need to Refocus ! Fenerbahce vs Benfica

www.foxsoccer2go.com

Fenerbahce has to refocus quickly ahead of their UEFA Europa League semi-final match against Benfica.

 Aykut Kocaman's Fenerbahce lost for the first time in 11 matches in all competitions on Sunday when they went down 2-0 away to Genclerbirligi in the Turkish Super League!

That put a huge dent to their title hopes in the Turkish Super League!


Thursday's match will be Fenerbahce's first appearance in the final four of a European continental competition and Kocaman will be stressing the importance of winning their home leg.

In the 12 UEFA Europa League semi-final matches since the competition's name was changed from the UEFA Cup, 10 have been won by the home side, suggesting that if Fenerbahce fail to defeat Benfica at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, they will probably miss out on a spot in the final.

Fenerbahce have been led by Brazilian midfielder Cristian Baroni and Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt in their run to the last four.

Baroni, in his fourth season with Fenerbahce, has three goals and three assists in the UEFA Europa League, while Kuyt (three goals, one assist) has also been important for Fenerbahce.

Former Liverpool and Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles  is also expected to start in midfield, while  Joseph Yobo from Nigeria will be on defense.

Benfica will head to Turkey after a 2-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon in the Derby de Lisboa on Sunday.

Benfica are undefeated in the UEFA Europa League this season and last lost a match at the end of February when they were knocked out of the Portuguese League Cup on penalties by Sporting Braga.

 Aykut Kocaman will need to warn his defense about Argentine midfielder Eduardo Salvio, who has scored three goals in Benfica's past four matches, including the opener against Sporting.

Meanwhile, Benfica head coach Jorge Jesus will hope his players are inspired by the only previous encounter between the Portuguese club and Fenerbahce.

In the 1975/76 European Cup, Benfica thumped Fenerbahce 7-0 in Lisbon and then held on for a 7-1 aggregate victory after a narrow defeat in the second leg in Turkey.

The match will be broadcast live  in the United  States  by Foxsoccer2go.com

Recent form

Fenerbahce: WDWDL

Benfica: WWWDW

Possible lineups

Fenerbahce: Demirel; Korkmaz, Yobo, Ziegler, Gonul; Meireles, Baroni, Ucan, Erkin; Kuyt, Webo

Benfica: Artur; Almeida, Garay, Luisao, Melgarejo; Gaitan, Matic, Perez, Salvio; Lima, John

Fenerbahce qualified for semi-finals

Fenerbahce qualified for semi-finals
Lazio: 1 - Fenerbahce: 1

Turkey's Fenerbahce football team qualified for semi-finals in the UEFA Europa League after a 1-1 draw in Rome that earned the Istanbul side a 3-1 win on aggregate against Italy's Lazio in the second leg of a quarter-final game.

Stadium: Rome Olympic Stadium
Referees: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic), Roman Slysko (Slovakia), Martin Wilczek (Czech Republic)
Lazio: Marchetti, Biava, Ciani, Cana, Radu, Hernanes, Ledesma, Lulic, Candreva, Ederson, Kozak
Fenerbahce: Volkan Demirel, Gokhan Gonul, Yobo, Egemen Korkmaz, Ziegler, Selcuk Sahin, Meireles, Kuyt, Cristian, Caner Erkin, Webo
Scorers: min 60 Lulic (Lazio), min 73 Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce)

Source : AA News Agency

First semi-final is very close for Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce is in very good position to advance to the semi finals for the first time !

After beating Lazio at home 2-0 , Fenerbahce will travel to Rome to play Lazio on Thursday.

Because of  Lazoio's suspension by UEFA  second leg match will be played behind close doors.


Lazio, beaten UEFA Cup finalists in 1998, are unbeaten at home in the competition this season but will be playing their second home match behind closed doors as a punishment for the poor behavior of their fans, which has marred their campaign.

Fenerbahce, whose most recent appearance in a European quarter-final ended in defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League five years ago, have lost on all six previous visits to Italy.

"I think playing without supporters is a disadvantage for any footballer, because you want to play for the supporters," Fenerbahce forward Dirk Kuyt said.

Dirk Kuyt and Pierre Webo will be Fenerbahce's top guns on Thursday against Lazio ....

Fenerbahce's Sow, will not be on the pitch due to injuries.

Galatasaray vs Real Madrid 3:2 HIGHLIGHTS

Galatasaray vs Real Madrid 3:2 HIGHLIGHTS

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyvieh_galatasaray-vs-real-madrid-3-2-highlights_sport#.UWT8oqJJOAg