Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Win taught UEFA a lesson - Hakan
ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Galatasaray striker Hakan Sukur says his team's 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus on Tuesday taught ruling body UEFA a lesson after its decision to move the fixture to Germany from Istanbul.
Turkey had accused UEFA of favouring Europe's big teams when it moved the fixture and the Champions League match between Besiktas and Chelsea citing security concerns after four bomb attacks in Istanbul in November that killed 61 people.
Hakan scored both goals in the Group D game against Juventus which was played in Dortmund's Westfalen stadium. The win maintained Galatasaray's hopes of reaching the knockout phase. Juve had already qualified.
'I said before the game that we would give the correct reply to UEFA and Juventus on the pitch. I guess we taught them both a sound lesson,' Hakan said on his personal website.
UEFA's decision sparked uproar in Turkey's fiercely partisan press. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused UEFA of bowing to terrorism after Galatasaray and Besiktas were banned from playing their home fixtures in Istanbul.
'One for UEFA, one for Juve,' was the headline in Turkish daily Hurriyet on Wednesday. 'The Galatasaray lions set off a bomb on the pitch,' said popular daily Sabah.
BESIKTAS APPEAL
Hakan grabbed the opener against the Italian champions two minutes into the second half and then sealed the victory with an injury-time strike.
The result moved Galatasaray above Olympiakos into third place in the group, two points behind their opponents in their final match - second-placed Spanish side Real Sociedad.
Fatih Terim's side must win in Spain next week if they are to proceed to the knockout stage of the competition. Terim on Wednesday praised the Dortmund crowd, many of whom were ethnic Turks living in Germany, for getting behind his team.
There were so many Turkish supporters in the ground that the start was delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic congestion.
'We don't even see such support in Istanbul. We needed them, they came, and I thank them,' Terim said.
UEFA plan to stage Turkish champions Besiktas's game against Chelsea in Gelsenkirchen's Arena AufSchalke stadium in Germany on December 9.
Chelsea have secured their place in the knockout phase of the competition while Besiktas, who beat Claudio Ranieri's side at Stamford Bridge in October, will join them in the last 16 with a victory.
Turkish tour firms have already begun advertising travel packages to the game, although all parties concerned are awaiting the outcome, expected on Wednesday, of the Turkish club's appeal against moving the Group G match.
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I've heard a lot of Turkish fans, and Gala fans not least, call Sukur an idiot but I've never had a reason to take a stand on the issue. Now with this statement, I'm tempted to tilt in a certain direction on the issue.
There are a couple of basic flaws in Sukur's logic here. So Uefa conspired against Gala, in favor of Juve, to what end exactly? We were already qualified, there is nothing to be done about that. In fact, we only needed one point from two games to win the group, based on our CL form this year prior to the Gala game, who would actually believe we couldn't at least get a draw with Olympiakos in our own back yard? To argue that Uefa wanted to do us a favor takes a fair bit of convincing. So what was the motive exactly? To help Sociedad qualify?
As Sukur, I would be counting my blessings. Di Vaio blew several huge chances and from every report I've read, it's a wonder that we didn't take the lead in the 1st half. Meanwhile Gala *had* to win the game. And they did, in fact they got better support in Dortmund than they would at home, according to Terim. So how exactly have Gala been wronged? I fail to grasp the point.
Win taught UEFA a lesson - Hakan
ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Galatasaray striker Hakan Sukur says his team's 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus on Tuesday taught ruling body UEFA a lesson after its decision to move the fixture to Germany from Istanbul.
Turkey had accused UEFA of favouring Europe's big teams when it moved the fixture and the Champions League match between Besiktas and Chelsea citing security concerns after four bomb attacks in Istanbul in November that killed 61 people.
Hakan scored both goals in the Group D game against Juventus which was played in Dortmund's Westfalen stadium. The win maintained Galatasaray's hopes of reaching the knockout phase. Juve had already qualified.
'I said before the game that we would give the correct reply to UEFA and Juventus on the pitch. I guess we taught them both a sound lesson,' Hakan said on his personal website.
UEFA's decision sparked uproar in Turkey's fiercely partisan press. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused UEFA of bowing to terrorism after Galatasaray and Besiktas were banned from playing their home fixtures in Istanbul.
'One for UEFA, one for Juve,' was the headline in Turkish daily Hurriyet on Wednesday. 'The Galatasaray lions set off a bomb on the pitch,' said popular daily Sabah.
BESIKTAS APPEAL
Hakan grabbed the opener against the Italian champions two minutes into the second half and then sealed the victory with an injury-time strike.
The result moved Galatasaray above Olympiakos into third place in the group, two points behind their opponents in their final match - second-placed Spanish side Real Sociedad.
Fatih Terim's side must win in Spain next week if they are to proceed to the knockout stage of the competition. Terim on Wednesday praised the Dortmund crowd, many of whom were ethnic Turks living in Germany, for getting behind his team.
There were so many Turkish supporters in the ground that the start was delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic congestion.
'We don't even see such support in Istanbul. We needed them, they came, and I thank them,' Terim said.
UEFA plan to stage Turkish champions Besiktas's game against Chelsea in Gelsenkirchen's Arena AufSchalke stadium in Germany on December 9.
Chelsea have secured their place in the knockout phase of the competition while Besiktas, who beat Claudio Ranieri's side at Stamford Bridge in October, will join them in the last 16 with a victory.
Turkish tour firms have already begun advertising travel packages to the game, although all parties concerned are awaiting the outcome, expected on Wednesday, of the Turkish club's appeal against moving the Group G match.
===
I've heard a lot of Turkish fans, and Gala fans not least, call Sukur an idiot but I've never had a reason to take a stand on the issue. Now with this statement, I'm tempted to tilt in a certain direction on the issue.
There are a couple of basic flaws in Sukur's logic here. So Uefa conspired against Gala, in favor of Juve, to what end exactly? We were already qualified, there is nothing to be done about that. In fact, we only needed one point from two games to win the group, based on our CL form this year prior to the Gala game, who would actually believe we couldn't at least get a draw with Olympiakos in our own back yard? To argue that Uefa wanted to do us a favor takes a fair bit of convincing. So what was the motive exactly? To help Sociedad qualify?
As Sukur, I would be counting my blessings. Di Vaio blew several huge chances and from every report I've read, it's a wonder that we didn't take the lead in the 1st half. Meanwhile Gala *had* to win the game. And they did, in fact they got better support in Dortmund than they would at home, according to Terim. So how exactly have Gala been wronged? I fail to grasp the point.
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