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Nonso EZENWA
 Crazy things happen. But an 8-goal pummeling on
such a quiet night and before a worldwide
audience is as crazy as it gets. The Coach of
Beşiktaş Football club, Ertuğrul Sağlam, rightly
apologized for their role in that ignominy. And
it so easily could have been double digits. Such
a pity! It would be perfectly understandable too
if their long suffering fans decided to put
their hard-earned money elsewhere. For, money is
not exactly a major point of concern for this
well-established club with a huge army of
(admittedly, Turkish) supporters.
But somewhere along the line, they have lost the
plot and the joyride has turned into a long,
long nightmare. How sad! On the positive side
though, Turkey can be proud of the achievements
of its other big club, Fenerbahçe, and its
national team. Fenerbahçe first. Boasting a
mélange of big-name foreigners and playing some
delightful football, they, deservedly navigated
through a very robust group, which included the
Italian giants, Internazionale, the moneyed
Russian outfit, CSKA Moscow and a strong Dutch
PSV side. A very good report card. But from here
on, they’d have to incorporate ruthlessness and
effectiveness into their elaborate game. That is
the missing piece. For instance, in the game
against Inter at the San Siro, which they lost
by three goals, Fenerbahçe had several clear-cut
chances to have been a couple of goals to the
good, before the Italians upped the gears. That
just won’t be good enough against a Barcelona, a
Milan or a Chelsea, all of who are possible
second round opponents. Manchester United, Real
Madrid, Sevilla and Porto complete the list of
permutations from which Fenerbahçe must take its
slot. An unenviable task indeed. Whatever
pairing they get on the 21st of December, it
would take a good dose of on-field heroics and
good fortune to get past the next round.
Fenerbahçe fans might as well start praying now.
They would surely need it.
Moving on to the bigger picture, the Turkey
national side showed incredible resilience
(especially in their last two games) to make it
to Austria and Switzerland, mauling the
defending European Champions on the road, for
good measure.
However, patchy performances against football
nobodies like Malta and Moldova nearly cost them
dear. But they made it in the end and there ends
that debate. The whole country can now look
forward to a summer treat, from the 7th of June
through to the 29th.
And so they should, with pride too. For not so
many was that lucky (or good). Just look at
England. Grouped with co-hosts Switzerland, the
Czech Republic and Portugal, it may not turn out
to be a treat after all. But Turkey does have a
chance; a fighting chance. It is imperative that
they don’t lose their first game against
Portugal in Geneva on the opening day. They can
draw courage from their plucky display against
Greece (and remember, defending Champions) in
the qualifiers, who had in the opening game four
years ago, stunned a great Portuguese side that
were tipped for glory. Deja vu? The Turks have
good players in the top leagues in Europe and
shouldn’t feel any form of stage fright. (They
finished in third place at the 2002 World Cup in
Korea/Japan, for crying out loud!). True the
class of Şaş, Şükür and Baştürk is a rarity
nowadays, but still…
Summer could be another bright spot in Turkish
football, but just in case the treat turns sour,
they should just think Beşiktaş. It can never
get as bad as that night at Anfield, can it?
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