Turkish Soccer Results_ Fenerbahce Caught Looking Ahead

Our good friend (well, we don't know him personally, but we do know him via Twitter) Ahmet Bob Turgut is very excited about tomorrow's UEFA match-up between Turkish soccer power Fenerbahce (Istanbul) and the Swiss club Basil, but was Fenerbahce looking ahead?

In domestic play, the Canaries fell to Ankara Genclerbirligi by a 2-0 margin with a goal coming from Aykut Demir (pictured bottom) in the fifth minute of play to pull off a seemingly major upset.

One of the other three Istanbul mega-teams Besiktash also had a bad weekend as they stunningly fell to Akhisar 4-1 thanks to two goals from Greek national Theofanis Gekas (we imagine he gets hate mail from old men in Cyprus for playing for a Turkish team; pictured top). The Black Eagles did not help their own cause by getting Gokhan Suzen kicked out with a red card in the 56th minute of play.

But, it was a good weekend for the third Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray as they beat Elazigspor, a team from the eastern city of Elazig 3-1 on goals from international stars Burak Yilmaz and Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast national scored goals in the 20th and 26th minute of play. Serdar Gurler provided the lone goal from Elazigspor in the 22nd minute.

And, our favorite Turkish Premiere League player Pablo Battalla, an Argentina national, kicked in the only goal in the match to assist his BursaSpor to a 1-0 win over Antalyaspor; that goal came in the 73rd minute of goal. Maurice Edu, an American soccer player, also plays for BursaSpor.

Nigerian national Kalu Uche scored both goals for fifth place Kasimpasha in the team's 2-0 win over struggling Orduspor, a team from the eastern Black Sea city of Ordu.

In league standings, GalataSaray leads with 62 points, followed by Fenerbahce (55), Besiktash and BursaSpor (49 points, each) and Kasimpasha (46 points) 

Here are the results of last weekend's play:

1. GalataSaray 3 Elazigspor 1

2. Kasimpasha 2 OrduSpor 0

3. Akhisar 4 Besiktash 1

4. Karabukspor 1 Mersin 0

5. GaziantepSpor 2 Istanbul BB 0

6. Kayseri 1 SivasSpor 1, tie

7. BursaSpor 1 AntalyaSpor 0

8. Ankara GB2 Fenerbahce 0

9. Trabzonspor 1 Eskisehir 0

http://www.turkish-football.com

http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Sports Desk- Disappointing Big Game in Turkish Soccer

The major Turkish soccer game of the week was yesterday's clash between two Istanbul powerhouse rivals, Galatasaray and Besiktas, but in spite of all the hype, the game ended in 0-0 tie.

But, some teams in the league scored major victories. This included Bursaspor (pictured here) which scored a 1-0 home win in Bursa over Samsunspor today with a goal from Moroccan national player Michael Chretien, who previously played for the French team Nancy, in the 72nd minute.

In other games, Liberian national Tonia Tisdell scored the game-winner in the 74th minute for Ankara Gucu in the team's 2-1 win over Karabukspor.

For traditional soccer power Fenerbahce (Istanbul) Cameroonian national player Henri Bienvenu scored the game-winner early in the 14th minute over Eskisehirspor in the team's 1-0 win.

And, second place Trabzonspor, which is also competing in the UEFA Cup, tied the port city of Mersin's Idmanyurdu team 1-1. Turkish national player Giray Kacar scored for Trabzonspor and Brazilian Andre Moritz scored for Idmanyurdu.

Here are the complete results:

Trabzonspor 1 Idman Yurdu (Mersin) 1

Bursaspor 1 Samsunspor 0

Galatasaray 0 Besiktas 0

Fenerbahce 1 Eskisehirspor 0

Ankara Gucu 2 Karabukspor 1

Kayserispor 1 Orduspor 0

Gaziantepspor 1 Manisaspor 1

Antalyaspor 2 Istanbul BB 1

Sivasspor 1 Ankara Genclerbirligi 1

Things We Learned on Google Today- Ajax Amsterdam Has Won It All

Today, we continue our look at soccer teams around the world (most entries have been for European teams), which has been on both of my blogs. And, we move to the Netherlands/Holland, where we asked the might Google: How many domestic titles has Ajaz Amsterdam won?

The answer is an astonishing 30 Dutch Premiere League titles dating back to the 1917-18 season (the team was founded in 1900). The latest title was won by last year's team.

This seaon Ajax Amsterdam is participating in the UEFA Champions League where they are currently in third place in Group D, behind Real Madrid (Spain) and Lyon (France), but they are ahead of last place Dynamo Zagreb (Croatia).

Over the weekend, in domestic play, Ajax Amsterdam tied AZ Alkmaar 2-2. Their next Dutch game will against rival Feyenoord Rotterdam in a game that will be played on Oct. 23 at 6:30 a.m., New York time (yikes!).

The team captain for Ajax Amsterdam is Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen, 24, (pictured) and the co-captain is Dutch mid-fielder Theo Janssen, 30. The team also consists of many star players, including Uruguayan Nicolas Lodeiro.

On an interesting note, while researching this piece, we saw that Aras Ozbilis, 20, was on the team's roster. We don't know all the details of his personal history. But, Ozbilis is a person of Armenian heritage who was born in the Bakirkoy suburbs of Istanbul, not far from where my late Turkish aunt resided. He apparently moved to the Netherlands with his family. And, earlier in the week, he was rewarded with Armenian citizenship which will make him eligible to play for the Armenian national team.

On a personal note, I want to wish the Turkish soccer team Trabzonspor from Trabzon, Turkey, a city in the eastern Black Sea region, well. The team is currently on top of Group B in UEFA play. Domestically, Trabzonspor beat Ankara Gucu 3-2 over the weekend. Goalie and team captain Tolga Zengin has been helping his team in their early successes so far.

We also learned that my two favorite teams BursaSpor and GalataSaray met this weekend, with GalataSaray prevailing 2-1. On Youtube, there is apparently a video of Kobe Bryant trying to kick a penalty kick against GalataSary goalie Ufik Ceylan while on a visit to Istanbul.

SIDEBAR: We forgot to mention in our last entry that Barry Manilow is playing a regular gig at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas from now until at least the end of the time.

SPORTS SIDEBAR: Since we mention the University of North Carolina Tarheels' succesful week of play in women's volleyball, we thought it was only fair to give equal time no not to the Duke BlueDevils, but the 'other UNC.' That would be the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. Ironically, I saw a bumper sticker for that school during a visit to Chapel Hill a few years ago.

The UNC in Greeley, Colo., call themselves the Bears and their volleyball won a home match in straight sets thanks 15 kills from Amanda Arterburn.

My alma mater Radford University in Radford, Va., also had a solid week in women's volleyball action as they won home games over both Charleston Southern (in straight sets) and Coastal Carolina (a five-set nail-bitter).

Carly Fleming lead the Highlanders with 15 kills against Coastal Carolina for the major Big Conference win.

Turkish Soccer Results....

It has been a busy hectic week, and it's only Monday?!

Anyway, it is for this very reason, that we are putting off some other blog entry projects until a day when life is as slow as it on a Sunday afternoon in War, West Virginia, in the far southwestern part of the state which is perhaps a good place to go (aside from an asylum or a prison) if you want to read all 1,225 pages of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in its entirety!

So, with that in mind, let's turn to sport as they say on the BBC, and here are the results from weekend action in the Turkish Premiere League. I should note that my late father came from Turkey, and since his favorite team was GalataSaray, I know he would want me to jeer those who root for their arch rival Fenerbahce, but alas those fill-in-the-blank Yellow Canaries** won as well!:


Kayseri 1 Eskisehir 1

Istanbul BB 1 Antalya 1

Gaziantep 1 Manisa 0

Ankara Genclerbrligi 2 Konya 1

Trabzon 2 Bucaspor 1

GalataSaray 3 Kasimpasha 1

Fenerbahce 1 Karabukspor 0

Sivas 1 Ankaragucu 1

It should be noted that the game between the BursaSpor Crocodiles* (yes, we don't think there are any crocs in Turkey, not even at the Ankara Zoo!) and the Besiktash Black Eagles was cancelled. We presume, given the fervent passion of the fans on both sides, it was for security reasons. Elif Batuman, a fellow Turkish-American I've never met, wrote an excellent, haunting piece about Besiktash fans for "The New Yorker" several issues ago. Amazingly enough, Che Guevara is one of the fans' icons! Since many of the most fervent soccer fans in Turkey are a bit right-wing, this came as quite a surprise to me!

And, as a gesture of ethnic political goodwill, which will of course do absolutely nothing to ease tensions between us Turks and our Armenian friends, I will mention that the three teams atop the Armenian Premiere League are Ulisses, Gandzasar and Pyunik.

As I jokingly tell my friends who have neither ethnic background, if a Turk and an Armenian happen to come across each other at a Buddhist temple during a mutual tourist visit to Bhutan, yes they would probably go at it!

But, as far as the dispute we have with our Greek comrades over who has the better yogurt and feta cheese, well, of course, it is us Turks! Of course, I'm overlooking the fact that an Egyptian friend of mine said that Bulgarians were actually better at making these products than either of us.


*-There is actually a notorious man-eating crocodile named Gustave in the central African country of Burundi; I wonder how that country's tourism department gets around that!

**- Yes, Turkish soccer teams have nickanmes which are almost as strange as some minor league baseball teams--my favorite nickname is the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who are based in Appleton, Wisc., where there might be six people of Turkish and Armenian heritage combined!

April 23 was Children's Day in Turkey

Today was Children's Day in Turkey, where it is now circa 11 a.m. (Saturday), so this entry is already a bit dated but we hope the children in Turkey, my late father Mehmet Gokbudak's country had a festive holiday.

This picture is from the resort town of Kushadasi where tourists have perhaps already started flocking to. I know Kushadasi is very popular with Swedes and Norwegians, perhaps because the water is significantly warmer in Turkey. We hope that they are also able to get home without any Icelandic volcano fiascoes.

I heard a BBC reporter who was vacationing in Istanbul decide to take a bus to France to eventually get back to England, and she was stranded on the Bulgarian-Macedonian border because of a bureaucratic problem with her passport!

There is also a major soccer match this weekend as league leaders GalataSaray (Istanbul) and BursaSpor clash in a key game. They just happen to be my favorite teams, but I get to watch Turkish futbol as often as I get to go out on a date with Jennifer Love Hewitt!

Turkish Soccer Update- Bursaspor Beats Fenerbahce in Istanbul!

One of my favorite Turkish soccer teams Bursaspor in Bursa, Turkey, the country's fourth largest city, upset traditional Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce on the road by a 3-2 margin. It was a come from behind victory.

Bursaspor trailed 2-0 when Andre Santos of Fenerbahce scored a goal in the 21st minute. But, two goals from Ozan Ipek of Bursaspor and another one from Argentian teammate Pablo Batalla (pictured here) allowed for the 'crocidilees' (Bursaspor's nickname) to triumph.

The team's win was a crucial one for Turkish Premiere League standings as it firmly moved Bursaspor into a tighter race with Fenerbahce and GalataSaray. Right now, Bursaspor is in third place in league standings with 43 points. Fenerbahce has 45 points, and GalataSaray is ahead of the pack with 47 points.

My friend Ugur Celikkol who contributes to the the Turkish-language site bursaspor.net said: "Now is the right time for us to finally win a cup."

Another contributor to the site Levent Gencelli said: "Today is like a holiday for all Bursaspor fans."

In other important Turkish league games, GalataSaray tied another Istanbul power Beshiktash 1-1. The GalataSaray goal was scored by Adra Turan in the 68th minute. Tomas Sivok scored for the rival Eagles in the 82nd minute.

Here is a complete list of the scores from this weekend's play in the Turkish Premiere League:

Bursaspor 3 Fenerbahce 2

GalataSaray 1 Besiktash 1

Ankaragucu 2 Antalyaspor 2

Denizlispor 2 Diyarbakir 0

Trabzonspor 0 Istanbul BB O

Sivas 1 Manisa 0

Eskisehirspor 0 Ankara Genclerbirligi 0

Kayseri 3 Ankaraspor 0 (game was awarded due to Ankaraspor's league violations).

Turkish Soccer Update- Gaziantepspor Upsets Besiktash

In Gaziantep, Turkey, the home team Gaziantepspor scored an upset over traditional Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash by a 2-0 margin thanks to goals by Brazilian Julio Silva Cesar in the 11th minute and Cameroonian Armand Deumi (pictured) in the 50th minute of the match.

Gaziantepspor also features Argentinian team captain Christian Zurita, Brazilian star Joringho and Turkish player Mehmet Yozgatli who was a member of the Istanbul powerhouse squad GalataSaray's 2000 UEFA League championship team.

In other Turkish soccer games over the weekend, Bursaspor, one of my personal favorite teams, tied Trabzonspor 1-1 in a home game at Ataturk Stadium in Bursa. Argentinian Pablo Battalla scored for Bursa, a city three hours south of Istanbul, while Turkish forward Umut Bulut, known for being a fast and physical player, scored Trabzon's goal.

Another Istanbul powerhouse team Fenerbahce was the current league leader until their rival GalataSaray edged them by a mere one point in the standings. GalataSaray was awarded a 3-0 victory over Ankaraspor, which has been kicked out of the league for administrative violations.

GalataSaray will face the Spanish team Atletico Madrid at 3 p.m. (east coast American time) today, while Fenerbahce plays the French squad Lille Metropole. Both are games in the UEFA European League.

Among returning to Istanbul, Galatasaray will need to get ready for Sunday's game with rival Besiktash. Bursaspor also plays Fenerbahce over the weekend.

Bursapor is in fourth place with 40 points while Besiktash is fifth place with 38 points.

The nickname of Gaziantepspor, currently in eighth place, is the Falcons.

Here is a complete list of scores from this past weekend. The home teams are marked with an asteriks.

*Gaziantepspor 2 Besiktash 0
*Istanbul BB 1 Ankaragucu 1
GalataSaray 3 Ankaraspor 0 (game was not actually played)
Kasimpasha 2 *Ankara Genclerbirligi 0
*Bursaspor 1 Trabzonspor 1
*Diyarbakirspor 1 Sivasspor 1
Eskisehirspot 2 *Antalyaspor 1
*Denizlispor 1 Kayserispor 0
*Manisaspor 2 Fenerbahce 2