Turkey (National Football)

TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE WEEK 20,RESULTS..

Antalyaspor 1 Galatasaray 0

Eskisehirspor 0 Genclerbirligi 0

Ankaragucu 3 Gaziantepspor 1

Bursaspor 1 Sivasspor 1

Fenerbahce 7 Hacettepe 0

Ankaraspor 1 Istanbul B.S.Bld.Spor 2

Denizlispor 2 Konyaspor 1

Kocaelispor 1 Kayserispor 2

Besiktas 1 Trabzonspor 1


STANDINGS P W D L F A GD Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------

1.SIVASSPOR 20 12 6 2 33 13 20 42

2.TRABZONSPOR 20 12 6 2 29 16 13 42

3.GALATASARAY 20 11 4 5 41 23 18 37

4.FENERBAHCE 20 11 4 5 39 21 18 37

5.BESIKTAS 20 10 6 4 30 19 11 36

6.ANKARASPOR 20 10 3 7 28 18 10 33

7.KAYSERISPOR 20 8 8 4 21 12 9 32

8.GAZIANTEPSPOR 20 8 6 6 28 26 2 30

9.BURSASPOR 20 8 6 6 26 26 0 30

10.ISTANBUL B.S.BLD.SPOR 20 7 4 9 22 30 -8 25

11.ESKISEHIRSPOR 20 5 9 6 28 28 0 24

12.ANTALYASPOR 20 5 7 8 20 26 -6 22

13.GENCLERBIRLIGI 20 5 6 9 24 28 -4 21

14.KONYASPOR 20 5 6 9 19 29 -10 21

15.ANKARAGUCU 20 4 6 10 19 30 -11 18

16.DENIZLISPOR 20 5 3 12 25 37 -12 18

17.KOCAELISPOR 20 3 3 14 24 46 -22 12

18.HACETTEPE SPOR 20 2 5 13 11 39 -28 11

Top goal scorers

15 goals: Milan Baros (Galatasaray)

11 goals: Mehmet Yildiz (Sivasspor),

10 goals: Youla (Eskisehirspor) and Tabata (Gaziantepspor)

9 goals: Taner Gulleri (Kocaelispor), Gokhan Unal (Trabzonspor) and Alex (Fenerbahce)

GALATASARAY WENT DOWN AS FENERBAHCE EVENS THE POINTS WITH SCORING SEVEN GOALS!

Just think, if Fenerbahce had won their match last week ,they would be on top of Galatasaray in the standings today with three points ahead of them!...

But, they made it up today against, leagues worst team Hacettepespor...

They scored seven unanswered goals ....Alex made hat trick and Turkish Striker Semih Senturk scored two goals..

Roberto Carlos and Deived also scored for Fenerbahce..

Make no mistake though, Fenerbahce will never find a team like Hacettepe again!

Hacettepe, should not be in this league at all. It is disgrace and a shame.

Politics and favoritism in this league , keeps teams like Hacettepe, Istanbul Buyuk sehir Belediye and Ankaraspor in this league!..

And I don't like it!.....


FENERBAHCE smashed seven goals past Hacettepe to climb level on points with Galatasaray, who lost ground on the leaders with a defeat away to Antalyaspor on Saturday.

Hat-trick hero Alex got things started with two goals in the space of five minutes early in the match, and further strikes from Diego Lugano, Semih Senturk and Deivid de Souza made it 5-0 at the break.

Fener were not done, though, and Senturk got his second soon after the re-start before Alex made the match ball his with a 58th-minute strike.


GALATASARAY CRASH!.....

It was a very different story for Galatasaray however as they went down to Ahmet Kuru's 59th-minute goal in Antalya, against Antalyaspor..

Both teams,Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are on 37 points, four behind Sivasspor and Trabzonspor who share the top spot in the Turkish Turkcell Super League..

Elsewhere ON Saturday....

Ankaragucu pulled themselves three points clear of the drop zone with a 3-1 win over Gaziantepspor.

Silvino Joao Jaba and Murat Duruer scored in the final five minutes of the first half and, although Rodrigo Tabata scored a 49th-minute penalty for the visitors, Jaba's second in the 73rd minute locked up the points.

Eskisehirspor and Genclerbirligi shared the points in a goalless score.

COMING UP ON SUNDAY...

SUPER SUNDAY IN THE TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE...

It will be a show time in Besiktas's Inonu Stadium on Sunday...

League's top team Trabzonspor will face another "up and down" team Besiktas!...

Besiktas with a win here, could capture the third spot and surpass Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

Actually, Besiktas could do a favor to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce too..

The gap will still be patchable,,,,,

But, Trabzonspor is very good...fast and aggressive team!...

It is going to be a good match! .....

If , Trabzonspor wins this match , Besiktas will pretty much will be out of top spot race.

Because, at the end of the 20th week, Besiktas will have 35 points and the top teams Sivasspor and Trabzonspor will put a though fight for the top spot!.....

On the other hand, Speaking of Sivasspor will be away...

They have a real test against Bursaspor in Bursa....

Bursaspor , will have their 12th man , in the stands to effect out come of this match too!....

Sivasspor, has to win this match if they want to stay on top, just like Trabzonspor!..

Also, on Sunday in the early matches, Ankaraspor will face İstanbul BB in Ankara,
In Denizli, Denizlispor will host Konyaspor, this is a must win match for Denzilispor if they lose this match, they could kiss good- bye this league , in my opinion. I think they made a huge mistake by firing their former coach Umit Kayihan.

Last time, last season when Vestel Manisaspor did that , they went down to the lower division. Manisaspor at the time fired Giray Bulak and Hired a part time coach and part time LIG TV commentator Yilmaz Vural and that was it!,,,, You just can"t do that.. now they are paying for it.....
Denizlispor is looking like this too, in my opinion....

Lastly Kocaelispor will host a strong Kayserispor at home.

So, Enjoy your Turkish Soccer on Sunday!...

AHMET TURGUT/www.turkishsoccer.com

Sivasspor moved back into shared first place after beating Kocaelispor 2-0 on Saturday.

Sivasspor's new goal scorer, Frenchman Yanick Kamanan, scored the first goal in the 17th minute, and Israeli Pini Balili netted the second goal for Sivasspor.

On Friday, Trabzonspor was saved by the bell! They scored the winning goal in the last seconds of the match against Ankaragucu. They won the match 2-1.

Galatasaray Held by Referee and Kayserispor!

Galatasaray dropped two important points in a 1-1 draw with Kayserispor. Nonda did put Galatasaray ahead on 27 minutes, but Kayserispor's Mehmet Eren scored a dramatic and last-minute goal to make it 1-1.

Galatasaray's keeper made a huge mistake on this goal.

Also, the referee of the match was just awful in this match. Referee Selcuk Dereli should quit reffing. He is just bad. He sent Lincoln off with a second yellow card in the 29th minute!

Besiktas and Fenerbache Have a Chance To Catch Galatasaray on Sunday

The race for the top is heating up.

While Sivaspor and Trabzonspor share the league's top spot with 41 points after Galatasaray claps in Istanbul, thanks to the referee of the match, this race could heat up if Besiktas and Fenerbahce win their matches on Sunday. They could catch Galatasaray and share the third place spot with 37 points.

So we could see three teams tied up for third place at the end of this weekend.

But it will not be easy, because in the early match that will be broadcast live on LIGTV, Besiktas will be in Konya.

They are desperate for points to get out of the danger zone and they are playing at home. It will be hard for Besiktas to win this match.

On the other hand, Fenerbahce will also play a team who has been struggling. Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediye is also in the hot seat. If they don't get a point or points out of this match, it will be a disaster for them.

These are the two games that will be broadcast live by LIGTV on Sunday, but there are three other matches on Sunday during the daytime. So, enjoy your Turkish Soccer on Sunday!

What a match!....120 minutes of up and down soccer and than penalty kicks!...

Sivasspor after beating Galatasaray in the league match they have just eliminate them from Fortis Cup!...

The Cinderella team foR Turkey, while still sharing the league spot they now will play in the Semi- Finals of Fortis cup...

Galatasaray scored the first goal in ninth minute of the match by Arda.

Sivaspor tied the match in the 30th minute by their new player from France, Yannick Kamanan.

The score stayed same during the full ninety minutes and in the 30 minute over time the score did not change ...

Then, the penalties came!....

In the first set of the penalties, both of the keepers saved the shots!....

But, Sivasspor keeper Micheal Petkovic, who also plays for Austria National team
saved the day for Sivasspor.

I think he was the man of the match in this match!...

He saved Umit Karan's and Yaser's penalty kicks after saving Arda's first penalty kick!...

At the end of the match Sivaspor beat Galatasaray 4-2 ...

And eliminate a Turkish giant Galatasaray from Turkish Fortis Cup...

Michael Skibbe's Galatasaray was missing their stars , Milan Baros , Lincoln, and Herry Kewell in this match!....

I just wonder when Lincoln and Henry kewell is going to help Galatasaray! Maybe after they lose all the tournaments!

Just think, Galatasaray team just got eliminated by a team, whole salary equals to Galatasaray's player Lincoln!...

This team eliminate Galatasaray and this team is on top of the Turkish Super League!...Desire, courage, and hard work made this Cinderella team Sivaspor!...

Lastly, I did not like what Sivaspor player İbrahim Dağaşan did after the match!...

He blew it for Sivaspor in my opinion!..

After the match, while his whole team was celebrating and greeting the fans in the stadium with Israeli soccer player Balili holding the Turkish flag, he ran around with Palestinian flag!

This was absurd in soccer stadium! I am against any political stuff in the stadiums. This really damage the Sivasspor image, in my opinion....

While your team mate who is from Israel, runs around with Turkish and Sivasspor flag , Ibrahim Dagasan has no right to do this...

I hope, Turkish Football Federation and Sivasspor fine this absurd soccer player.

AHMET TURGUT

WWW.TURKISHSOCCER.COM

Just when every one thought, Sivasspor was going to stay on top all by himself, guest what happened on Saturday in Adana, Turkey!...

The team who plays home games in Adana, Kayserispor stopped, Sivasspor for a nil-nil tie match.

On the other hand, Trabzonspor in away match won their match and catch up Sivasspor, on top again.

They now share the leagues top spot with 38 points.

The important moment of the match between Kayserispor and Sivasspor came in the 89th minute when both Furkan Ozcal of the home side and Fabio Bilica of the guests were sent off.

Trabzonspor scored against Ankaraspor,in the ninth minute of the match, with Gokhan Unal. The second and final goal came from Umut Bulut on 74 minutes.

As such, Trabzonspor are back in shared first place as both they and Sivasspor have 38 points from 18 matches.

GALATASARAY ON THE MOVE TOO!...

Galatasaray beat Denizlispor 0-2 with goals from Milan Baros and Shabani Nonda and remain at two points behind of Trabzonspor and Sivaspor.

LOOKING AHEAD!...

On Sunday, it could well be catch up time for Besiktas and Fenerbahce too.

If Fenerbahce wins on Sunday against Gaziantepspor at home they could catch up Galatasaray and be only two points away from the top spot. But, Gaziantespor is no easy roller team.

During the winter transfer season they got quality of players signed. the Brazilian famous player Julio Cesar Santos Carrea will play against his former team player Roberto Carlos in this match. I am going too get up early in the United Stated and watch this match.

It will be a good match...

Also, Besiktas with a win against Antalyaspor the team they beat in the Fortis Turkish Cup, could move on top of Ankaraspor and move to fifth place with 34 points and only four points behind the leader of the league.

Catching up is also at the bottom level teams too...

Ankaragucu, the who will host Konyaspor at home could well pass Konyaspor in the standings if they win the match.

Ankaragucu just signed former Ankaraspor player and Mexican international Player Antoniode Nigris, earlier in the week and could well do a damage to Konyaspor in this match.

But, Denzilispor in the last days of the Transfer days, just signed Roman Kratochvil, from Denizilispor,
With this transfer Konyaspor has gain big confidence on the defense in my opinion.

If Konyaspor lose this match it could be disaster for Konyaspor they will be a new candidate for relegation's...

So, the week 18th in the Turkish Turkcell Super league will be remembered as a catching up week, in my opinion.

Catchers will smile this weekend!...

Jan. 31, 2009

Kayserispor 0 - 0 Sivasspor...at Adana, Turkey
Kocaelispor 0 - 2 Genclerbirligi
Ankaraspor 0- 2 Trabzonspor
Denizlispor 0- 2 Galatasaray

Feb. 1, 2009

Bursaspor - Hacettepe
Eskisehirspor - İstanbul BB
MKE Ankaragucu - Konyaspor
Fenerbahce - Gaziantepspor
Besiktas - Antalyaspor

AHMET TURGUT/WWW.TURKISHSOCCER.COM

On Sunday, Trabzonspor had  many changes against Fenerbahce  in Istanbul but, their forwards  Umut Bulut, Gokhan Unal and  Isaac Promise could not cash in and waisted many opportunities.

On the other hand Fenerbahce had a chance to capture the second place with a win against Trabzonspor. They also missed a lot of chances  in the second half of the match too...

Fenerbahce  keeper Volkan Demirel and Trabzonspor 'keeper Tony Slyvia, mad some huge saves in this nil nil draw.

Fenerbahce  0- 0 Trabzonspor

AHMET TURGUT/TURKISH FOOTBALL(SOCCER) COLUMNIST

WWW.TURKISHSOCCER.COM

When you say great Turkish football, I bet most people will name Galatasaray forward Hakan Sükür. In Turkey, most people think their nation has produced a striker far more talented then the "Bull of the Bosporus." I present to you, Lefter Küçükandonyadis.

I have to admit, when I first read the name in a football game, it sounded like something I'd order at a kebab shop. "I'll have a Lefter Küçükandonyadis please and some fries." It also sounded like a name TV and radio reporters would hate, or a nice name when playing Scrabble.

Some more research dug up an interesting tale. Lovingly referred to as "Ordinaryus" or "Professor", Lefter plied his trade for Istanbul giants Fenerbahçe. The fans dubbed him Professor, as he taught everyone a lesson in goalscoring with his clinical finishing.

His goalscoring record is an impressive one, both domestically and at international level. In 615 matches, Lefter bagged a staggering 423 goals for "Kadıköy". For the national side, he put the ball away 22 times in 55 international games.

In a time when Greece and the former Ottoman Empire were still at each other's throat, Lefter was a multi-cultural player. Born in 1925 as the son of a fisherman of Greek descent and a Turkish mother, he grew up in Istanbul and learned to play football at local club Taksim.

A big fan of Fenerbahçe, Lefter was delighted when he was allowed to play a test match for his favourite side. After excelling in a trial match and scoring four goals, he vanished for a while however. He was afraid he had put his idols to shame and he was afraid the team would reject him.

Fenerbahçe showed no grudges and snapped up the then 22-year-old forward. It was the start of an impressive career that would be high-lighted by many goals and several foreign adventures, which was rather unusual at the time.

Lefter would be the first Turkish players to ply his trade abroad on a professional level. He spent a year in Italy with Fiorentina and a year in France with Nice, before returning to his beloved Fenerbahçe, where he kept breaking goalscoring records.

A saying of the time characterises his enormous drive to score goals and his killer instinct inside the box. Whenever a match had started, the fans used to chant “Ver Leftere yaz deftere,” which roughly translated as "pass the ball to Lefter and we will score."

If you want the chant to sound better, you could go for the English translation that goes like this: "Give Lefter a look, he'll put it in the book."

Breaking record after record, Lefter is still considerd one of the all-time heroes of Turkish football. He was also part of the Turkish squad that managed to beat the Magical Magyars in the late '50s. The Hungarian team, led by star-player Ferenc Puskas hadn't lost in over a year before going down 3-1 in Istanbul, with Lefter scoring twice for Turkey.

His legendary goalscoring skills are still remembered in Turkey, where young talents upfront are not deemed the new Hakan Sükür, but the new Lefter Küçükandonyadis.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)

People had started questioning the 33-year-old Dutchman’s international longevity against quality attacks. After his country’s Euro 2008 campaign, the critics were truly put in their place. Van Bronckhorst continues to defend the way the Netherlands have always preferred to: by going forward and pressing hard.

He proved his value as a stable hold, both in defence and attack, culminating in a now famous passage of play against the Italians. During that Group C match, he cleared the ball off his team’s line, and then embarked on an epic counterattack that led to him scoring at the other end with a header.

Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben may dominate games with their flair, but there is always a small-statured fullback who holds the Oranje ship steady when it matters, even excelling in a holding midfield role when his team was looking for an equaliser against the Russians in the quarterfinals.

Artur Boruc (Poland)

"The Holy Goalie", so called for his continuing religious symbols in the sectarian world of Scottish football, must have crossed himself the right number of times during the tournament, because the Celtic star was amazing at Euro 2008.

One could argue that Buffon or Casillas had the saves of the tournament, but Boruc was under far more pressure in a strictly average team that looked like hemorrhaging goals left, right, and centre. If it wasn’t for his reflexes, they might well have capitulated that badly. He certainly was the only impressive thing about the Polish side.

That 1.93m frame had miraculous performances, stopping one of the highest percentages of shots in the tournament, including three first-half saves against the Austrians in Group B that were nothing short of phenomenal. Celtic fans may well be disappointed this summer when bigger clubs come calling.

Marcos Senna (Spain)

He may not be Zinedine Zidane, but the 32-year-old Brazilian-born midfielder is mightily effective. An excellent passer of the ball with either foot, he can inject some much-needed pace into a game when required, and also slow it down if necessary.

Both in attack and defence, Senna’s determination is there for all to see, with an engine that runs and runs and runs. Cool under pressure to score a penalty in the quarterfinal shoot-out win over Italy, it is no wonder Manchester United were keen to sign him a few years back before deciding on Owen Hargreaves.

Xavi may have a greater passing range, and Iniesta a better long-shooting ability, but the holding midfielder is Spain’s most valuable player just for his ability to dictate the play and allow those more expressive players to win the game uninhibited by defensive duties. How he deserved a goal in the final!

Alexandr Anyukov (Russia)

With those overlapping runs and bursts into the opposition's box, it is hard to believe that the Zenit St. Petersburg player and UEFA Cup winner is a right back, but that’s exactly what he is: a virtuoso fullback that defends and attacks with equal verve.

On the left side, Yuri Zhirkov, dubbed ‘the Russian Ronaldinho’, may have picked up the column inches, but Anyukov’s inspired match-winning displays, last-ditch tackles, scintillating performances high up the pitch, and the versatility to play anywhere on the right were a joy to watch.

He had a solid answer for everything opposition attacks threw at him, including the right balance between defending and moving forward. If only the Russian central defence was as assured as its flanks, then the team might have pushed for a final spot with more poise than they did against the Spanish in the semifinals.

Arda Turan (Turkey)

Nihat Kahveci and Semih Senturk were undoubtedly Turkey’s lifesavers when the team looked down and out, but young Arda, at the tender age of 21, with his precise passes, his ability to get past defenders, and his determination was one of the inspirations.

One of the best things about tournaments is the emergence of young stars who may not have been known on a global scale, and this midfielder, whose game-winning goal lifted Turkey to a 2-1 win against Switzerland in Group B, fits the bill perfectly.

He followed that performance with equally impressive ones for a player so young. At his club Galatasaray, people have compared him to club legend, Gheorghe Hagi, and if Arda can attain half the results the Romanian managed, he will certainly have an illustrious career. Then, when people ask where you first saw him, you can proudly spout: Euro 2008.

The Turks have always been known to be fighters since time immemorial. But, Euro 2008 has shown us the true tenacity of the Turks.

They fought till the very end of every match that they played and got the requisite results but, unfortunately for them—Germany proved to be too strong or perhaps, just luckier than them on the night.  

Most of us thought that Turkey would go out of the Euros without so much as a whimper. Most of us thought that they were the luckiest team on Earth. These thoughts, especially after last night’s game should be reversed. When Turkey needed their luck the most, it deserted them.  

Let’s not forget that this was a Turkey team shorn of its players due to injuries and suspensions. Their captain, Emre Belozoglu, was unavailable for most of the matches in the tournament. Recber Rustu might have been the first choice keeper in the previous major tournaments, but his ultimate successor Volkan Demirel was banned until the finals.  

But, the likes of Colin-Kazim Richards, Hamit Altintop, Arda Turan, and Nihat showed some real grit and determination to grind out the results at every given opportunity and get to the semi-finals.

It is quite sad that only the former two players mentioned of the four played in the semi finals—showing the extent of which the injuries and suspensions hampered the Turks.  

Their character has to stem from a fighter of a manager and in Fatih Terim, Turkey had a superb man/manager and a great motivator.

He perhaps used all of the 23 players in his squad during this tournament and even used his reserves during the tougher phase, but their performances couldn’t have been a coincidence.

Terim, nicknamed “Imparator” or "Emperor," is one who made his team an organized and disciplined unit and you could very well say that this Turkish team was an embodiment of its manager.  

It was great to see a coach so candid even though his team had lost in such a heartbreaking manner at such a big stage. Terim said after the defeat:  

"I congratulate Germany for their win and wish them success for the final but I am proud of my players. We were able to show the world what a good team we are.

"I never used suspended or injured players as an excuse. I said I'd have 11 players out there and I had 11 players."

Turkey defied all the odds to get to the semi finals and when they got there, they ensured that even if they did leave, they would leave with their heads held high—and for that, we should all take our hats off to them.  

This article was first published on Goal.com by Shyam Parthasarathi.

When the Turkish team's jet flew in from Istanbul towards Switzerland and Austria, nobody gave them a chance of taking glory home.

Pitted in a group against Portugal, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, they were not even favourites to make it out of Group A, but they kept hope in their abilities.

The "comeback" kings, as they are now known, defeated Switzerland (2-1) coming from behind, and shocked Czech Republic (3-2). Considering the fact that they were down 2-0 until the 74th minute against the Czechs, they staged a remarkable comeback using goals from Arda Turan (75) and Nihat (87, 89).

The Turks were having an incredible run when they faced Croatia. Volkan Demirel (first-choice goalkeeper) was suspended, but they brought in the experienced Rustu, and using Fatih Terim's "never say die" attitude, they defeated a tough Croatian side featuring Luka Modric in unbelievable circumstances.

No goals in 90 minutes of play, extra time came calling, where Croatia stunned the Turks scoring in the 119th minute, but less than 60 seconds later, Semih Senturk silenced the Croatian crowd. The game went to penalties where Rustu held his nerve as Modric and Rakitic both missed and another incredible match had been witnessed by the world.

In the semi finals, they were pitted against Germany, who were favourites. Many said Turkey would run out of gas, but they didn't. The Turks were a depleted side, including only 13 fit players.

Nihat, Tuncay, Arda, Emre, Servet Cenin, Demirel, Emre Asik, and Kardeniz were all missing. In spite of such a huge loss, the Turks went into the game positive and motivated.

They truly had nothing to lose, they had already stunned the world playing some incredible football. Hats off to Fatih Terim and Turkey for keeping hope until the final whistle, for believing the "impossible" could be achieved.

Turkey dominated the first 20 minutes of play, during which Colin Kazim Kazim (Richards) hit the cross bar twice (he probably thought his luck was out).

Ugur Boral did well to put in the shot which had rebounded from the cross bar the second time. Lehmann looked helpless. 1-0 Turkey in the 21st minute.

Bastian Schweinsteiger made an incredible run through the middle three minutes later, and used Lukas Podolski's pin-point cross to level the score with a "world class" finish.

The game toddled along, with both side having opportunities. Podolski should have scored at the hour mark, but he failed to hit the target.

Sabri and Ugur Boral came close, but never really looked like scoring. Semih Senturk was kept very quiet by Metzelder and Friedrich.

When everyone thought extra time beckoned, I had a funny thought—could Turkey do it again?

Mirsolav Klose put the Germans ahead in the 79th minute erasing all doubts. A horrible error by Rustu, who should have held his ground, caused the Germans to go up 2-1.

Semih Senturk scored in the 86th minute using a low cross from Sabri to put it past Lehmann. Everybody must have thought, "Wow! This is incredible! Not again! Can they do it again?"

Unfortunately for the Turks, Phillip Lahm engineered a moment of brilliance to snatch the match from Turkey's grasp.

When full time and extra time was almost inevitable, Phillip Lahm charged up field, and cutting in from the left wing, he found Hitzlsperger, who had earlier hammered some incredible strikes, high and wide.

Hitzlsperger's brilliant return ball found Lahm, who took an incredible first touch and kept composure to fire Germany into the final.

The "killer blow" ended Turkey's run, but I salute the Turks for playing their heart out and entertaining the world. Their attitude was inspiring, Fatih Terim proved his credibility, and the Turks fought on despite missing several key warriors.

Turkish football will benefit a lot due to this performance. Interest in Turkish football will grow and their players might be captured by big clubs.

That's a wrap, hats off to Turkey! Spain and Russia meet tonight. I think the other dark horse, Russia's run, will end tonight, and Spain will eventually triumph against Russia.