Turkey beat Sweden with Cenk Tosun's two goals !

Turkish Natioanl team started the new year on a good note with 2-1 against Sweden ...

Thirt thousand fans filled Antalya' newly build stadium to support the National team.

This was a morrel booster for the team before the Euro 2016 tournament this coming summer ..

Cenk Tosun scored two great goals  one in the first half and one in the second half after Sweden tied the match !

Fatih Terim's boys played good in this match...


One interested thing was pretty much whole match Terim played without stopper on the pitch

Barca player Arda Turan played more like attacker on the left side of the wing ...

At times he was in the middle directing the team from the middle .

Selcuk Inan's pass was superb on Cenk Tosun's goal.....

Keeper Volkan Babacan was good in the net for Turkey.

Terim used some young players  along with the the old players...........


After Hakan Balta was injured , young Ahmet Calik came in the game on defense.

Players like , Oguzhan Ozyakup , Ozan Tufan and Kerim Frei saw action ...

Terim even put Altinordu's young talent Caglar Söyüncü and another promising young star   Yunus Malli from Germany in to the match for few minutes !

After the match Terim said , he was happy with the play and his players...

Turkey will play their second friendly match in Austria on March 29th .

Before the big tournament in France, Turkish National team will play couple more warm up matches
One of the is against England in England !

Turkey will play against Croatia, the Czech Republic and Spain in Group D in the Euro 2016 . 

Only in Turkey ! Trabzonspor player shows referee the red card

 Trabzonspor's Salih Dursun  was sent off for showing a red card to the referee in a Super Lig match against Galatasaray.

Dursin was upset  by showing the red card as his teammate Luis Cavanda was sent off by referee Deniz Bitnel on Sunday which left Trabzonspor with only eight men. And with Salih Dursun receiving the red  card, Trabzonspor were reduced to only seven players.

Following Cavanda's red card, Trabzonspor's players surrounded the referee, causing him to drop his  red card on the pitch . Salih Dursun  grabbed the card and showed  it  to confuse Turkish referee Deniz Bitnel who then snatched it back and showed the red card to Dursun ! 

It was a bazaar scene...

All of  his calls were wrong ....

Including two of the penalty kicks...one for Trabzon and the winning  penalty  for Galatasaray !

Today, Turkish referees head of person admitted, referee Deniz Bitel made a lot of mistakes in this match ....

This is on going  problem in the Turkish football !

The refs are really bad ...

And this will not be the end ,if they don't shape up ..

American- Turkish Youngster Called Up to U.S. U18 National Team Camp !

American Turkish sooccer player  Arda Bulut who plays in the U.S. Development league for San Jose U-16 team , called into U.S. U18 National team camp in Florida .......

The camp will start January 17 and end January 23 .

Out of this camp, U18 new coach, former Iran's coach Omid Namazi will pick his 20 players out of the 36 players for Argentina tournament .


Arda Bulut has been in the U.S. National team pool of players since age 14 ....


If he is chosen to U-18, he will be the first American-Turkish player to play for USA national team !

Arda Bulut was born in 09/30 1999 and he is only 16 years old ...

Arda plays as striker and in the 2013-2014 season he scored 33 goals with De Anza Force Academy U-14 team


This season, Arda Bulut scored 14 goals in 15 matches with San Jose U-16 team

Arda  Bulut is one of the top goal scorer in the league....

 Last years College soccer champions  Stanford University offered  scholarship  to Arda at the age of 15 !

Arda will graduate from high school year 2017.....


I have talked to Arda  Bulut and his mother on the phone and they are really excited with the news.

Arda wants to stay in the school, play soccer  and go to Stanfard University  to finish his education...

Arda Bulut has 4.75 GPA in his current high school....

Arda's father and mother are both from Ankara ,Turkey and they are working as professionals in San Jose area .

It is nice to see American-Turkish youngster getting attention from USA National team and very good University ..


I wish him all the best !

He is going to make a name for him self ....

If he does, he will be American version of Arda .....

Just watch his video  ,,,,

Here is the video for Arda Bulut ...


Ahmet Bob Turgut

Arda Turan Makes His First Start with Barcelona

Waiting is over for Arda Turan and Barcelona ....

After transferring to Barca last summer, finally Arda  played his first match today in a cup match !

With his number 7 jersey , Arda Turan was on the pitch for  68 minutes ...

He played in the midfield and looked good while he was on the pitch ...

 Arda Turan nearly scored a goal, after being played through by Messi , seven minutes before he came out of the match ! 

Goalkeeper  Pau Lopez to deny him with an excellent near-post save.

Overall Arda , was no shape to finish to match ...

That's why his coach took him out at 68 minute ! 

HOW WILL ARDA TURAN FIT IN .......


Let's not forget this was cup game for Barcelona...

To order to start in the league matches it will be different story !
 

With Barca' s 4-3-3 formation ,Arda will replaces one of the big names ,Messi, Neymar  and Suarez
When they are injured !

For him to start in the midfield ,he has to be much better ....

If he is fit, we will see him come off the bench and play more in the cup matches !

For sure, Arda Turan is the pride of TURKISH football now ...

His work just began ,if he wants to be there permanently!

I think, he has learned the new work ethic there , and he could still be better ...

He is idol to many Turkish kids around the world ...

Not to many TURKISH players have chance to play next to Messi !

I wish him the best ...

Fatih Terim's Turkey,returns to big stage with drama !

Turkish National team reached the semifinals of the World Cup in 2002 with Senol Gunes at helm and  finished third, and made it to the last four in Euro 2008 with Fatih Terim !

But it took them another eight years to get back to a major tournament, and only after a new round of drama and help from Kazakhistan National team... 

Their hopes looked to be over when Gokhan Tore was sent off in the 78th minute but Inan's last-gasp goal earned them the win over Iceland

Let's face it , we don't have to kid our self about what happened that night !

 Kazakhstan beating Latvia 1-0 courtesy of a 65th-minute Islambek Kuat goal ended Hungary's chances to finish as the best third-placed team.

 Terim's hopes looked to be over when Gokhan Tore was sent off in the 78th minute but Inan's last-gasp goal earned them the win over Iceland !  

Yes, Selcuk Inan's goal was very important but , If Islambek did not score that goal against Latvia ,Turkey was not going to big dance in France ....

We should never forget this .....

With a huge luck, Turkey made it to France !

Turkey will be in Group D ...

Along with Spain, Croatia , Czech Republic....

Very difficult group...

But, Fatih Terim likes difficult things and drama ! 

Selcuk Inan's goal and the team's emotional celebrations that followed became an instantly famous moment in the country's sporting history, sealing a turnaround after a terrible start that saw Turkey claim just one point from the opening three matches.

Fatih Terim's touch on  the defense and bring in younger players and watched his team climb back up the world  ! 

Here is a look at three of Turkey's key players and its coach:

Arda TURAN " Turkey's captain and energizer-in-chief Arda Turan started his international career as a senior at age 19 and has been the key figure in the team's transition back to success, already tallying 87 appearances. Most football fans outside Turkey know the 28-year-old from his time at Atletico Madrid, when he helped his team to an all-Spanish 2014 final in the Champions League, missing the match that was won in extra time by Real Madrid. Turan has had more time for the national side since his high-profile summer move to Barcelona, having to sit out of Spanish matches for the rest of 2015 due to transfer rules.

BURAK YILMAZ " Selcuk Inan's goal against Iceland may have been Turkey's most decisive, but Galatasaray teammate and strike partner Burak Yilmaz has scored more for Turkey. The 30-year-old found the net four times in six qualification matches to bring his total to 19. At 1.88 meters (six-foot-two), Yilmaz's height is an asset for coach Terim who can also rely on midfielder Turan as a goal-scoring threat.

 HAKAN BALTA " His last name is the Turkish word for ax, and little gets past Hakan Balta. The Berlin-born 32-year-old helped Terim's plans to tighten up Turkey's defense, pairing as a center-back with Serdar Aziz. Safety at the back was decisive for Turkey, which started qualification with a 3-0 loss in Iceland but conceded only once in its last five matches.

COACH: FATIH TERIM " Turks calls him "The Emperor." Plain spoken and intense, Fatih Terim is currently on his third spell as national coach, credited as a team-builder who can take on opponents with a higher individual market value. The former Galatasaray player and coach missed qualification for the World Cup in Brazil last year. He publicly demanded more from his players after disappointing early results in the Euro qualifiers. Following Turkey's opening loss to Iceland, he declared: "The Turkish national team is a place where you have to give more than 100 percent."

 

Turkey still alive ; Late goals give Turkey win !

Turkey beat Czech Republic 2-0 in Prague and main a two-point-lead over Netherlands with a game to spare in Group A

 Two second half goals led Turkey to a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in their Euro qualifier on Saturday to keep alive the away side's chances of making the tournament in France next summer. 

The already-qualified Czechs squandered an opportunity to overtake Iceland for top spot in Group A but could not make their early possession pay in a mostly drab game in which neither side generated many scoring chances until late.

Turkey, needing four points from their last two games to clinch a play-off spot, broke through in the 62nd minute after Czech defender Filip Novak conceded a penalty for a foul on Serdar Aziz in the box.

Selcuk Inan converted the spot kick for the Turks, who doubled their lead in the 80th minute when Hakan Calhanoglu beat his marker and slotted home after latching onto Ara Turan's lofted pass into the penalty area.

The Czechs, playing without a number of regular players, including goalkeeper Petr Cech, remain in second place behind Iceland in Group A.

Either Turkey or the Netherlands will finish third after Tuesday's final qualifiers.

Both sides have a game remaining after Saturday’s fixtures — Turkey face Iceland while Netherlands take on the Czechs.

Even a possible draw against Iceland on Tuesday — in the Turkish central province of Konya, where Turkish national team thrashed the Dutch 3-0 last month — will be enough to thrust Turkey into the playoff stage, without regard to the outcome of the Netherlands – the Czech Republic game in Amsterdam.

During Saturday’s match in Prague, Turkish National team players wore black armbands to protest the twin bombings in Turkish capital Ankara that killed 95 people on Saturday. Before the kick-off both team players stood in silence to commemorate the victims.

The blasts targeted a peace rally in Turkey’s capital in the morning, leaving at least 95 dead and 246 injured, according to the prime minister’s office. The number of casualties makes the attack the deadliest in recent Turkish history.

 

– Group A results:

Czech Republic 0-2 Turkey

Iceland 2-2 Latvia

Kazakhstan 1-2 Netherlands

 

– Group A standings:

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
Iceland	9	6	2	1	17	5	12	20
Czech Republic	9	6	1	2	16	12	4	19
Turkey	9	4	3	2	13	9	4	15
Netherlands	9	4	1	4	15	11	4	13
Latvia	9	0	5	4	6	18	-12	5
Kazakhstan	9	0	2	7	6	18	-12	2

Never give up ! Turks going to France 2016 !

Huge 89th minute strike from Selcuk Inan booked Turkey's place at Euro 2016 ! 

 

Selcuk Inan was Turkey's hero as his country secured automatic qualification to Euro 2016 with a last-gasp 1-0 Group A win over Iceland.

Needing victory to secure a passage to next year's tournament in France as the best-ranked third-place team, Fatih Terim's side were reduced to 10 men 13 minutes from time when Gokhan Tore was dismissed for a rash challenge on Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

But up stepped Galatasaray midfielder Inan in the final minute of normal time to curl a sumptuous 25-yard free-kick beyond visiting goalkeeper Ogmundur Kristinsson and spark wild celebrations in Konya.

The Turkish party could only truly get underway when Kazakhstan's win by the same scoreline over Latvia in Riga was confirmed, dropping the hosts to bottom place and meaning Turkey edged Hungary as the best third-placed team.

Iceland also progressed from Group A as runners-up to the Czech Republic, who ensured Netherlands were eliminated amid ignominy and a 3-2 defeat in Amsterdam.