How the West barely won over the underdogs
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 02, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Beşiktaş took the Turkcell Super League title from Sivasspor’s hands in the last three weeks, but the Central Anatolian team should bear in mind that it is not the first outfit that had a bid to end Istanbul’s domination in Turkish football but lost dramatically in the end
Sivasspor missed out on the chance to win the Turkcell Super League title due to a late poor performance, but may be consoled by the fact that it was not the first.
In the last 25 years since Trabzonspor won the biggest prize in Turkish football, there was not a single team that managed to take the trophy out of Istanbul’s hands. That is not to say that it was never tried, however, as a couple of Anatolian hopefuls barely lost the trophy to Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray.
The Central Anatolian minnow Sivasspor seemed to break Anatolian teams’ bad streak with about one month before the league’s ending, but lost its pole position with three defeats in the last five games, handing the top spot to a consistent Beşiktaş. Kocaelispor, Gaziantepspor, Gençlerbirliği and even Trabzonspor, the very first and the only team to win the title outside "the big three," have been there, done that, tried to bring to the trophy to Anatolia before Sivasspor, but failed dramatically in their bid to make Constantinople fall again.
Some rued to limited budgets and squads failing in depth, while some blamed "the system" for protecting the big boys, a few of them got exhausted in the long marathon, and the rest were knocked down by losing one final match but in the end they all threw in the towel at some point. However, they still had a huge impact on the game, and even though history is written by the winners, some Davids tried to oust the Goliaths and have been remembered as much as the victors. They won the hearts of everyone rooting for the underdogs, and those who believed that miracles always have their place in the folklore of the beautiful game.
With Sivasspor’s title bid being barely denied by Beşiktaş recently, it is time to remember the ones who tried to sneak away with what seems to be Istanbul’s possession.
INDUSTRIAL CITY’S BRIGHT NEW COMERS
The team from the Northwestern city, known for being an industrial spot, made history on 1992-93 season, when it was promoted to the top-flight.
Güvenç Kurtar’s team was a good blend of Balkan defenders and a group of skilled Turkish veterans up front. It managed to be the winter champion, but failed to maintain its spot and ended up third, seven points behind champion Galatasaray in the end. However, Kocaelispor’s legacy lived on through several teams who attacked the team during the transfer season: its Saffet Sancaklı and Stavica Kuzmanovski moved to Galatasaray, but the main deal was Fenerbahçe’s purchase of midfielder Bülent Uygun, who would later start his own Anatolian revolution, as Sivasspor coach.
A STUNNING STOP TO A MAJESTIC RUN
Despite being a regular in the top-flight, it was not until the beginning of the decade that the Southeastern outfit managed to play for the title with a well-structured squad, which had striker Fatih Tekke, Brazilian midfielder Batista and promising anchorman Kemal Aslan.
That team really had a shot of winning the league, especially on April 21, 2001, playing at leader Fenerbahçe for the 29th match day. After leading the first half 3-0, Gaziantepspor, which was two points behind the top spot, was an inch closer to getting in the driving seat, but a stunning comeback ended the game 4-3, leading Antep to finish third. "We were expecting a dead silence when we returned to Gaziantep," a player said. "But we saw the whole city celebrating Fener’s victory."
A SEASON OF GOAL FRENZY IN ANKARA
Coach Ersun Yanal’s surrealistic attack with the Red-Blacks made it a hard team to match in 2003. With three defenders spending most of their time at the opposition half, Yanal’s system could have blown up, but it worked, so well that seven-goal games were not rare occasions in Gençlerbirliği games that year. The Ankara team was only four points behind leader Beşiktaş with six weeks before the end, but its fabulous run stopped with a 3-3 draw at Altay, in a game where it conceded the equalizing goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
That team failed to win the title and ended up being third, but earned a place in football romantics’ hearts with its dazzling play, which had 13 goals more than the champion Beşiktaş.
SOMETHING BIGGER THIS WAY COMES
After a successful playing career and a short stint as a player agent, Bülent Uygun was a rookie when he was appointed as head coach, but in less than a year, he managed to turn Sivasspor into a mid-table team and then into a serious title contenderin 2007-2008 campaign. He constantly played down his side’s title chances, keeping on saying, "We won’t be champions," but his team managed to get 70 points, a feat that was never achieved by a team except the big three and Trabzon. If it could take more points than just a Beşiktaş win in six games against the top clubs, the Red-White team, which finished fourth, could have snatched the title.
However, the following year, they were about to show the country that they were learning from their mistakes.
THE FIRST, AND STILL THE LAST, ANATOLIAN WINNER: TRABZON
The only team outside Istanbul to have won the Turkish title tries so hard to match its achievement. However, among all of its many bids to win a seventh league title, the 1995-1996 campaign was a standout, as Şenol Güneş’s side was only 10 minutes away from the trophy.
With a total of seven Turkish international players joined by Georgian star twins Shota and Archil Arveladze, the Trabzonspor squad was the closest it was to the ultimate Black Sea tradition, which won it several victories in the 1970s and early 1980s, fans and the community were ensured that the "local boy" notion would translate into a trophy once again.
Despite leading the league by one point with just three weeks to go, Trabzonspor blew a huge advantage in a defeat to Fenerbahçe 2-1 on May 5, 1996. Even one point would have been enough to maintain its spot, but Trabzon let a one-goal advantage slip from its hands, and eventually lost the game.
That defeat led to even bigger losses, as many of Trabzonspor players moved to other clubs, disbanding a great squad. Even today, there are pundits suggesting that the 1996 trauma is to blame whenever Trabzonspor fails.
In the last 25 years since Trabzonspor won the biggest prize in Turkish football, there was not a single team that managed to take the trophy out of Istanbul’s hands. That is not to say that it was never tried, however, as a couple of Anatolian hopefuls barely lost the trophy to Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray.
The Central Anatolian minnow Sivasspor seemed to break Anatolian teams’ bad streak with about one month before the league’s ending, but lost its pole position with three defeats in the last five games, handing the top spot to a consistent Beşiktaş. Kocaelispor, Gaziantepspor, Gençlerbirliği and even Trabzonspor, the very first and the only team to win the title outside "the big three," have been there, done that, tried to bring to the trophy to Anatolia before Sivasspor, but failed dramatically in their bid to make Constantinople fall again.
Some rued to limited budgets and squads failing in depth, while some blamed "the system" for protecting the big boys, a few of them got exhausted in the long marathon, and the rest were knocked down by losing one final match but in the end they all threw in the towel at some point. However, they still had a huge impact on the game, and even though history is written by the winners, some Davids tried to oust the Goliaths and have been remembered as much as the victors. They won the hearts of everyone rooting for the underdogs, and those who believed that miracles always have their place in the folklore of the beautiful game.
With Sivasspor’s title bid being barely denied by Beşiktaş recently, it is time to remember the ones who tried to sneak away with what seems to be Istanbul’s possession.
INDUSTRIAL CITY’S BRIGHT NEW COMERS
The team from the Northwestern city, known for being an industrial spot, made history on 1992-93 season, when it was promoted to the top-flight.
Güvenç Kurtar’s team was a good blend of Balkan defenders and a group of skilled Turkish veterans up front. It managed to be the winter champion, but failed to maintain its spot and ended up third, seven points behind champion Galatasaray in the end. However, Kocaelispor’s legacy lived on through several teams who attacked the team during the transfer season: its Saffet Sancaklı and Stavica Kuzmanovski moved to Galatasaray, but the main deal was Fenerbahçe’s purchase of midfielder Bülent Uygun, who would later start his own Anatolian revolution, as Sivasspor coach.
A STUNNING STOP TO A MAJESTIC RUN
Despite being a regular in the top-flight, it was not until the beginning of the decade that the Southeastern outfit managed to play for the title with a well-structured squad, which had striker Fatih Tekke, Brazilian midfielder Batista and promising anchorman Kemal Aslan.
That team really had a shot of winning the league, especially on April 21, 2001, playing at leader Fenerbahçe for the 29th match day. After leading the first half 3-0, Gaziantepspor, which was two points behind the top spot, was an inch closer to getting in the driving seat, but a stunning comeback ended the game 4-3, leading Antep to finish third. "We were expecting a dead silence when we returned to Gaziantep," a player said. "But we saw the whole city celebrating Fener’s victory."
A SEASON OF GOAL FRENZY IN ANKARA
Coach Ersun Yanal’s surrealistic attack with the Red-Blacks made it a hard team to match in 2003. With three defenders spending most of their time at the opposition half, Yanal’s system could have blown up, but it worked, so well that seven-goal games were not rare occasions in Gençlerbirliği games that year. The Ankara team was only four points behind leader Beşiktaş with six weeks before the end, but its fabulous run stopped with a 3-3 draw at Altay, in a game where it conceded the equalizing goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
That team failed to win the title and ended up being third, but earned a place in football romantics’ hearts with its dazzling play, which had 13 goals more than the champion Beşiktaş.
SOMETHING BIGGER THIS WAY COMES
After a successful playing career and a short stint as a player agent, Bülent Uygun was a rookie when he was appointed as head coach, but in less than a year, he managed to turn Sivasspor into a mid-table team and then into a serious title contenderin 2007-2008 campaign. He constantly played down his side’s title chances, keeping on saying, "We won’t be champions," but his team managed to get 70 points, a feat that was never achieved by a team except the big three and Trabzon. If it could take more points than just a Beşiktaş win in six games against the top clubs, the Red-White team, which finished fourth, could have snatched the title.
However, the following year, they were about to show the country that they were learning from their mistakes.
THE FIRST, AND STILL THE LAST, ANATOLIAN WINNER: TRABZON
The only team outside Istanbul to have won the Turkish title tries so hard to match its achievement. However, among all of its many bids to win a seventh league title, the 1995-1996 campaign was a standout, as Şenol Güneş’s side was only 10 minutes away from the trophy.
With a total of seven Turkish international players joined by Georgian star twins Shota and Archil Arveladze, the Trabzonspor squad was the closest it was to the ultimate Black Sea tradition, which won it several victories in the 1970s and early 1980s, fans and the community were ensured that the "local boy" notion would translate into a trophy once again.
Despite leading the league by one point with just three weeks to go, Trabzonspor blew a huge advantage in a defeat to Fenerbahçe 2-1 on May 5, 1996. Even one point would have been enough to maintain its spot, but Trabzon let a one-goal advantage slip from its hands, and eventually lost the game.
That defeat led to even bigger losses, as many of Trabzonspor players moved to other clubs, disbanding a great squad. Even today, there are pundits suggesting that the 1996 trauma is to blame whenever Trabzonspor fails.