Turkcell Super League Week-30

Turkcell Super League takes a start on Friday with Besiktas against Genclerbirligi Oftas match.
Because of punishment by TFF disciplinary committee Besiktas will play this match in a empty stadium.
Turkish Soccer Federation Professional Soccer Discipline Committee has ordered Besiktas to play one home game behind closed doors and another home match at a neutral stadium while also fining the team YTL 80,000 as punishment for the misbehavior of its fans during the Fenerbahce match last weekend.
Besiktas can't afford to lose this match!.....

April 11th, Friday:
Besiktas v Genclerbirligi Oftas Spor

April 12th, Saturday:
Denizlispor v Istanbul B.sehir Belediyesi
Genclerbirligi v Gaziantepspor
Galatasaray v Trabzonspor

April 13th, Sunday:
Kayserispor v Sivasspor
Vestel Manisaspor v Ankaragucu
Konyaspor v Bursaspor
Kasimpasa v Caykur Rizespor
Ankaraspor v Fenerbahce

Turkey slips five places in FIFA rankings

The Turkish national soccer team fell five places to 23rd in the latest FIFA world rankings released yesterday. Getting a 2-2 draw at minnow Belarus recently in a friendly game, Turkey is on 860 points.

European champion Greece rose to its highest ever position of eighth in the FIFA world rankings. With Argentina still at No. 1 at the head of an unchanged top seven, Greece rose two places in the list released after beating Portugal 2-1 last month in a friendly.

The game was a rematch of the nations 2004 European Championship final, in which Greece surprisingly beat the hosts 1-0. With Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic and France filling out the rest of the top seven spots, Portugal dropped a place to ninth and the Netherlands a place to 10th. Ghana remained Africa's highest ranked team at No. 14, with Mexico two spots back as CONCACAFs best side.

ZICO WANTS UNLIMITED FOREIGN PLAYER RULE!

Coach Zico has called for an end to restrictions on the number of foreign players at Turkish clubs after Chelsea knocked his side out of the Champions League.

The Istanbul club lost the quarter-final 3-2 on aggregate after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

"I believe that if we can invest just a bit more and if our players can be strengthened and given more experience, we can become one of the major teams in Europe," Zico said.

He said the team was affected by the absence of veteran Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos, who is still recovering from an injury sustained in the first leg of their last 16 tie with Sevilla.

"Another factor is the limit on the number of foreign players that we can field. When you look at our opponents they have many more alternatives in who they can play," Zico added.

"Not so much in defence, but we could want more of a contribution in the areas of midfield and in attack. I hope that the (Turkish Football) Federation will give this the proper consideration. The limits should be abolished.

In Turkey, six foreigners can be fielded at anyone one time, plus another two foreigners on the bench.

Alongside Roberto Carlos, Fenerbahce's squad includes Brazilians Alex, Deivid and Edu, as well Uruguayan Diego Lugano, Chilean Claudio Maldonado, Ghanaian Stephen Appiah and Serbian Mateja Kezman.

Several other players have joint Turkish and foreign nationality, including Brazilian Mehmet Aurelio.

Fenerbahce have repeatedly complained about the limits on foreign players.

But the chairman of Turkey's Football Federation Hasan Dogan said last month the 6+2 system would continue until UEFA had made a ruling on the issue, saying that although clubs wanted restrictions lifted this would harm the national team.

Zico said after Tuesday's match that his representative would hold talks with Fenerbahce on his future at the club.
SOURCE(Reuters)

Cech will not play against Fenerbahce

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been ruled out of the Champions League quarter-final second leg with Fenerbahce after undergoing surgery on a facial injury.

The 25-year-old - who only recently returned to training following a period out with ankle ligament damage - sustained the injury when he collided with a team-mate in training.

It will be a fortnight before he returns to action, according to Sky Sports.

A statement on the club website read: "Petr Cech underwent surgery yesterday following a training ground accident which left him with lacerations to his lip and chin.

"Petr will begin his rehabilitation immediately and we hope to have him back playing as soon as possible."

Blues boss Avram Grant was expected to recall the shot-stopper for Tuesday's game at Stamford Bridge, but Carlo Cudicini is now expected to stand in as he has for the past six weeks.

Otherwise Chelsea have no major injury concerns as they hope to overturn a 2-1 deficit after last week's defeat in Istanbul.

Roberto Carlos is a doubt for Fenerbahce after recovering from a knee injury, while Ghana midfielder Stephen Appiah has not played since December due to an unusual problem which threatened to end his career.

Appiah had suffered knee injuries for the previous year and was diagnosed with a blood clot, prompting Fenerbahce to remove him from their roster for the second half of the 2007/8 season. Colin Kazim-Richards could be handed a start on his return to his hometown after he scored for the Canaries in the first leg.

Full-back Gokhan Gonul returns from suspension.

Source:Wires

TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE ROUND- UP

Galatasaray and Fenerbahce wins it late,Besiktas back in the race........

Galatasaray kept in touch with Fenerbahce at the top of the Turkish Turkcell Super League with a last-gasp 1-0 win against Genclerbirligi. On the other hand, League Leader Fenerbahce on Saturday did the same thing against strong Kayserispor,Besiktas after beating Sivasspor in Sivas 2-1 ,got back in the race.



On Sunday,Galatasaray had to wait until the 88th minute for Cassio Lincoln to score the winning goal that keeps the Turkish giants two points behind Fenerbahce with five games left.



Sivasspor and Besiktas remain three points behind in third and fourth respectively. The two sides met with Besiktas edging the contest 2-1 thanks to two early goals from Filip Holosko.The Slovak striker struck in the ninth and 14th minutes to put Besiktas in charge, before Mehmet Yildiz set up a tense finish with a goal for Sivasspor in the final minute of the game after Ibrahim Kas had been sent off for Besiktas.



At the end of the table Caykur Rizespor and Konyaspor failed to ease their relegation worries with a 2-2 draw.Fifth-bottom Konyaspor took the lead in the first half through Veysel Cihan before second-half substitute Dos Santos Anderson equalised after being on the field just two minutes.Cihan scored again in the 79th minute, but second-bottom Caykur Rizespor drew level again a minute later through Fahri Tatan and hung on for a point despite Tatan seeing red with 10 minutes to play.



Elsewhere on Sunday, Manisaspor stayed in the bottom three after Eser Yagmur's fourth-minute goal for Bursaspor earned them a 1-0 win.



Gaziantepspor beat Ankaragucu 2-1 with Bulent Bolukbasi scoring in the 29th and 90th minutes after Gokhan Emreciksin had levelled on 55 minutes, while Ankaraspor beat Istanbul Buyuksehir 1-0 thanks to a 44th-minute goal by Mehmet Yilmaz.

On Saturday, Fenerbahce have left it late with a last-gasp victory over Kayserispor.Substitute Semih Senturk struck in stoppage-time to earn the hosts a 2-1 victory after De Souza Alex's 65th minute penalty had equalised Alioum Saidou's 32nd-minuteopener.



Also on Saturday,League bottom team, Kasimpasa picked up a rare win away to Genclerbiligi thanks to a 10th-minute effort from Berthel Askou but remain almost certainties for relegation.



On Friday, In th openning match of the week, Trabzonspor leapfrogged Denizlispor by beating them 2-0 to move into sixth place in the Turkish Turkcell Super League.



Umut Bulut opened the scoring for the hosts three minutes before half-time and substitute Adnan Gungor made the game safe six minutes after the restart.Trabzonspor move two points clear of their opponents thanks to the victory.

Fenerbahce star Deivid mocks Chelsea, Cudicini

Fenerbahce striker Deivid has taunted Chelsea ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal return-leg in London.
Roman Abramovich has spent more than £350million on players since taking over the club but Deivid claimed that it will count for nothing.

He said: "In football, names and money don't win games. You have to go out there and play, 11 against 11. Money buys players, but doesn't build teams. We will play until the death and the better side on that specific night will be in the semi-finals."

And the Brazil ace rubbed salt into the Blues' wounds when he revealed that former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman had told the Fenerbahce players that Carlo Cudicini is dodgy at certain shots.

Deivid said: "Before the game I spoke to Kezman and he told me their keeper would have problems if we shot and the ball curled away from his position.

"He told me he used to stay stepping over the goalline, so he had difficulties to react when the ball went too far from him.

"That is what I tried but I never imagined the ball would go where it went - though I think Cech wouldn't have been able to save it either!"
Source:(tribalfooball.com - April 06, 2008 )

PREVIEW: CHELSEA V FENERBAHCE

Chelsea left Istanbul wondering how they had managed to lose their Champions League quarter-final first leg to Fenerbahce but they should recover from the setback in Tuesday's home return.

For all the celebrations of the Turkish side's upset 2-1 victory, the odds remain heavily in favour of the London side, who need only a 1-0 success to advance to a semi-final meeting with either Arsenal or Liverpool.

"We played well in Turkey, not just in the first half but in the second half until they scored," manager Avram Grant said.

"Fenerbahce are a good team with a good coach. Zico was a player I liked very much. It will not be easy but I know we can win. We have a lot of quality and can beat anyone.

"I know what I expect and what we can do. I have confidence in my team, never mind whether we are playing Fenerbahce or Barcelona."

Grant rested half his first-choice side for Saturday's 2-0 win at Manchester City and said the squad factor had been important in enabling the club to challenge on two fronts deep into the season.

"During December and January nearly all the big players were out," he said of the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien.

"This group of players has brought us to the place we are now. They have done a terrific job - so we trust them."

Nevertheless, the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final is not a place for sentiment and the big guns will all be back.

Essien played at right back in the first leg but could give way to Paulo Ferreira while Petr Cech could return from injury in place of Carlo Cudicini.


CLUB BUZZING

It is at the other end where Grant's selection will be vital, however, with a likely starting front three of Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Joe Cole with Nicolas Anelka on the bench.

Chelsea have lacked the panache of Premier League title rivals Manchester United in recent weeks but they have developed a nuggety ability to get the job done and, combined with a two-year 10-game home unbeaten run in the competition, they will back themselves to get the result they need.

Fenerbahce's first foray into the last eight of Europe's elite competition has got everyone around the club buzzing.

However, they just about managed to deal with domestic matters when an injury-time winner earned a 2-1 home victory against Kayserispor on Saturday which consolidated their lead at the top of the Turkish first division.

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, an important element of the club's success last week and expected to be a busy man at Stamford Bridge, was rested on Saturday, while Edu was also out of action after suffering a blow to the head in the Chelsea game.
Leading goalscorer Semih Senturk scored the winner and could provide Zico with a valuable option, probably off the bench, on Tuesday, should they concede and need to score.

Saturday's match also marked a comeback for Roberto Carlos who has been out of action since the first leg of the last 16 tie with Sevilla, giving Zico a defensive dilemma.

"I don't think he is ready yet, he had some difficulties" he said of his compatriot.

The vast experience of Roberto Carlos and Zico's impressive resume have helped build the confidence of the Turkish side, who are really beginning to believe they deserve their place at the top table.

"Our opponents are quality but they do not scare us," Zico said.

Probable teams:

Chelsea: 23-Carlo Cudicini; 20-Paulo Ferreira, 26-John Terry, 6-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Ashley Cole; 13-Michael Ballack, 4-Claude Makelele, 8-Frank Lampard, 11-Didier Drogba, 10-Joe Cole, 21-Salomon Kalou.

Fenerbahce: 1-Volkan Demirel; 19-Onder Turaci, 2-Lugano, 36-Edu, 6-Gokcek Vederson; 33-Claudio Maldonado, 15-Mehmet Aurelio, 25-Ugur Boral; 99-Deivid, 9-Mateja Kezman, 20-Alex

Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

Source:(Reuters)