Galatasaray loses important match in Copenhagen

Daniel Braaten's early goal gave Copenhagen a 1- 0 over Galatasaray in Group B of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Braaten back-heeled the ball in to give FCK a fifth-minute lead and they withstood a second-half charge from Gala to claim the win which sees them climb off the bottom of Group B and level on four points with their opponents.

Real Madrid top the group with 10 points with Juventus now bottom with three.

The Danish champions came into the match at the Parken stadium with just one point to their credit and their hopes of a top-two finish seemingly fading, but they enjoyed the ideal start with Braaten's inventive close-range finish.

Rurik Gislason fired over a low cross from the right and Braaten ghosted in between the Gala backline and goalkeeper Eray Iscan before showing great audacity and no little skill to flick the ball inside the back post with his heel.

Stale Solbakken's troops then came within inches of making it 2-0 two minutes later when Nicolai Jorgensen saw his header from Pierre Bengtsson's free-kick hit the post.

It was looking set to be a long night for Gala at that stage, but they weathered the early storm and were almost on level terms in the 21st minute when Burak Yilmaz's header brought a brilliant save out of Johan Wiland.

The visitors came even closer 14 minutes later when they too hit the woodwork, Felipe Melo's header striking the upright from an Albert Riera corner.

FCK's attacking threat had not disappeared completely though and three minutes before the break they had a great chance to make it 2-0 when Bengtsson sent Braaten clean through but he was denied a second goal by a good save from Iscan

There was still time after that for Roberto Mancini's men to create another chance before half-time and Didier Drogba may feel he should have done better with his close-range effort.

Drogba headed another opening wide at the start of the second half and the Ivorian, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2012, then forced two more saves out of Wiland midway through the period as the Turkish side turned up the heat on their hosts.

Yilmaz was next to test the Wiland with a headed effort eight minutes from time, but the visitors would not get any closer in the closing stages as FCK held on for the win.

Highlights of the Copenhagen vs Galatasaray match......http://msn.foxsports.com/video?videoid=2a6f2a3c-88a3-4f93-b6a7-dde18300b081&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:&from=sharepermalink"Story_MP2_CHAMPIONS%20LEAGUE"

Fenerbahce re-elected Aziz Yildirim !

Aziz Yildirim has been re-elected as the chairman of the Turkish sports club Fenerbahce at the general assembly meeting on Sunday.

The meeting was held in Ulker Sports Arena and votes of the candidate chairmen were counted in 23 boxes in the aftermath of voting process. 

According to the results, Aziz Yildirim received 6,821 votes and Mehmet Ali Aydinlar 2,383 votes whereas 176 votes were invalid. 

Source : englishnews@aa.com.tr

Trabzonspor beat Legia Warsaw 2-0

An early goal from Marc Janko set the Turkish side on course to reach a healthy tally of seven points and Olcan Adin's free-kick defused a late Legia fightback to confirm the win.

News of Lazio's goalless draw at Apollon Limassol then filtered through to the home fans after the final whistle, a result that sees Trabzonspor go two points clear of their Italian rivals in the standings.

Austrian striker Janko has found goals hard to come by since leaving Porto last year but he only needed seven minutes to open the scoring against Legia.

His first close-range effort may have been stopped by Wojciech Skaba but after the rebound came back to his feet in the ensuing scramble, he tucked home.

Chances were at a premium for the rest of the first half but Jakub Kosecki and Tomasz Brzyski both tested home goalkeeper Onur Kivrak.

There was little to cheer after the break either and it was not until the 57th minute that Paulo Henrique forced a brave block from Legia's Jakub Rzezniczak.

Vladimir Dvalishvili sparked the game back into action as time ticked away, his snapshot unsettling Kivrak, whose poor clearance fell to Dominik Furman in a good position.

The Polish midfielder picked his spot from 12 yards but came up against a better save from the recovering Kivrak.

Just when it looked like the visitors might force their way back into the tie, Trabzonspor scored their second goal.

A bad foul on Yusuf Erdogan from Brzyski in the 82nd minute allowed Olcan to step up and steer a free-kick just beyond the reach of Skaba.

Source: Wires 

Trabzonspor takes on Legia i

Trabzonspor is in the driving seat of the Group J along with Lazio, with two teams having four points out of two matches. Apollon Limassol is third with three points and Legia is fourth without a point. 

Trabzonspor started the group with a key 2-1 win over Apollon, but in the following game, it blew a chance when it allowed two late goals from Lazio and was held to a 3-3 draw. 

Coming to the first of back-to-back games with Legia, Trabzonspor will try to maintain its place in the top two, cutting the Polish side’s qualification hopes.

Tonight’s game at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium starts at 8 p.m.(13:00 ET ) 

Galatasaray beats Copenhagen 3-1

 Goals by Felipe Melo, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba gave Galatasaray a convincing 3-1 win over Copenhagen in Group B of the Champions League on Wednesday.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/23/4572160/galatasaray-beats-copenhagen-3.html#storylink=cpy

 Brazilian forward Claudemir scored a consolation goal in the 88th minute.

The win allowed Galatasaray to climb into second place on four points in the group, five points behind leader Real Madrid. Juventus is third with two points after losing 2-1 to Madrid on Wednesday while Copenhagen is last with one point.

Sneijder had Galatasaray's first attempt in the sixth minute but his effort was saved by Johan Wiland. Three minutes later, however, Brazilian international Melo headed home a ball from Dany Nounkeu to put Galatasaray ahead.

The home team continued pressing, and Sneijder doubled the lead in the 38th after a pass from Emmanuel Eboue.

Eboue also helped fellow Ivory Coast international Drogba to add Galatasaray's third in first-half stoppage time.

The home team, backed by a loud partisan crowd, utterly dominated the Danes in the first half but eased off after the break.

"The match was more or less decided at halftime," Copenhagen defender Lars Jacobsen said. "They scored three fine goals, where they outplayed us completely."

The Danish side seemed more attack-minded in the second half as Galatasaray slowed the pace, allowing Jorgensen and Daniel Braaten to test goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. But Galatasaray continued to press and Wiland made a stunning save in the 61st minute, only to find out that Sneijder had been flagged for offside.

Five minutes later, Drogba found forward Burak Yilmaz whose shot went wide.

Source : AP 

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/23/4572160/galatasaray-beats-copenhagen-3.html#storylink=cpy

Turkey's Hopes Dashed by Dutch !

Turkish National team 's  2-0 defeat at home to  Nethearlands  which eliminated them from World Cup 2014 qualification on Tuesday.

Fatih Terim and his boys needed to overcome the unbeaten Nethearlands to guarantee a spot in the Uefa play-offs but goals from  Arjen Robben and Wesley Sniejder denied Turkey !

Coach Fatih Terim was apologetic for the failure to reach their third-ever World Cup but was realistic about his side's loss to Neatherlands .

"First of all, I must thank our supporters, "They came here and the stadium was full. We are sorry for the Turkish people ."

"It would have been a pleasure to have achieved qualification. But we should tell the truth: Holland team is better than us and they play good football. You must score to beat these kinds of teams.

"If we could have scored a goal to tie the match ,everything could have been different. But it just didn't happpen.

"My players tried to achieve what was almost impossible. I'm very sorry. We wanted it so much but sometimes that's just not enough."

Romania defeated Estonia 2-0 to finish second in Group D and grab the play-off spot with Hungary leapfrogging the Turks by beating Andorra 2-0 in their final game, consigning Turkey to fourth.

Crunch Match for Terim and Turkey !

Turkish National team coach Fatih Terim has revealed his side's determination to finish the job in its 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, claiming his players had already booked tickets to Brazil 'in their head and their hearts'.

Turkey starts the final round of fixtures second in Group D but withRomania level on points, Hungary just two behind and unbeaten group leader Netherlands its opponent in Istanbul, it perhaps faces the longest odds of any of the teams still fighting for a place in the play-offs.

But its coach believes it has the will to advance and secure a place for next year's finals.

"Our players are already on their way in their heads and their hearts," he said. "But we also know our tail is still hanging out. The belief is not the same as the reality.

"Obviously the Dutch are not an easy opponent, they are one of the world's best teams.

"They have some of the single most important players in the world. We are aware of this and we intend to do our utmost against them. What we have done in the other games will not be enough, but we are looking forward to it.

"I will not need to give any sort of team-talk. Nothing I could say will add anything extra."

Netherlands has waltzed its way through Group D, amassing 25 points from its seven games, a draw with Estonia the only blot on its copy book.

Last week's 8-1 thrashing of Hungary highlighted the extent of its superiority, and it might seem like Turkey's only hope is that it travels toIstanbul so content with its lot that it does not play with the same intensity as the host.

But defender Ron Vlaar has pointed out that defending its unbeaten record is not the only motivational tool for the Dutch.

Those fringe players are now getting their chance and are determined to show Louis van Gaal they need to be on the plane to South Americanext year.

Vlaar is among that number, but is determined to prove his worth after starting against Hungary.

"I want to make it as difficult as possible for the coach," he told NUsport. "I had a number of matches under Van Gaal and then I didn't play for a while.

"But against Hungary I did well I think, as I have always done when I've started. I was able to take more initiative and it went well, although sometimes I need to show more guts."

Match starts at 2:00  New York time ...