Soccer Week (3 of 8) International Players in Turkish Super Lig

There are no American players in the Turkish Premiere League as Maurice Edu of Bursaspor headed to play in the English Premiere League, but there is one Canadian. He is Atiba Hutchinson (pictured) who left PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to play for Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash.

Here are 11 international players in Turkey:

1. Pablo Batalla (Argentina) plays for Bursspor (his name is not spelled right on the tags)
 
2. Ufuk Budak (Azerbaijan) plays for Eskisehirspor

3. Mervan Celik (Sweden) plays for Ankara Genclerbirligi

4. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) plays for GalataSaray

5. Anton Fernidand (England) plays for Antalyaspor

6. Atiba Hutchinson (Canada) plays for Besiktash

7. Marc Janko (Austria) plays for Trabzonspor

8. Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) plays for Fenerbahce

9. Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) plays for GalataSaray

10. Rodrigo Tello (Chile) plays for Eskisehirspor)

11. Abdou Traone (Burkina Faso) plays for Gaziantepspor 


http://www.turkish-football.com/

http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

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

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