Denizli wants his team to focus on league title
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 16, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - A well-deserved big victory over Fenerbahçe in the Fortis Turkish Cup final is good, but not enough for Beşiktaş, coach Mustafa Denizli says. The Turkish coach tries to prevent his players from getting carried away with the cup win and says they must focus on the league
High on ousting its archrival and grabbing the first trophy of the year, Beşiktaş now returns to the Turkcell Super League with the Ankaragücü game.
The Black Eagles enjoyed a 4-2 victory over Fenerbahçe in the Fortis Turkish Cup final on Wednesday night to claim its eighth win in the competition, but now needs to get over it in order to complete its bid to achieve a rare trophy double. Beşiktaş is in the commanding position of the league two points ahead of second-place Sivasspor with three games to play. Three wins in those games will give Beşiktaş its second ever trophy double after taking its first in the 1989-1990 campaign.
Coach Mustafa Denizli believes his side should not be carried away with the cup title glory and should focus on the league.
"I thank all my players who won the Fortis Turkish Cup for our team," Denizli was quoted as saying in the daily Hürriyet. "But our job is not done yet. There is the league title, which we haven’t won in the last six years. We have three games in 16 days to claim it and there is nobody we can’t beat as long as we want to."
Beşiktaş Vice President Ertunç Soğancıoğlu’s words prove the confidence within the club, as he said that the cup was a preparation for the league title.
"We played well against Fenerbahçe and were a worthy winner," said Soğancıoğlu. "I believe that the victory in İzmir was a preparation for the league championship." But he said Beşiktaş was not taking any of the oppositions lightly. "Nobody should expect that the game against Ankaragücü will be an easy one," he said. "The position of our opposition shows that it will be tough."
Relegation-battler Ankaragücü is 13th and only one point ahead of the red zone. So it may be expected that the team from the capital city will play fully aware that everything is at stake in this game.
The game kicks off at 8 p.m., like seven other games on Sunday.
Hard battle
Trailing Beşiktaş from a three-point distance, Trabzonspor will play arguably its most difficult game left in the fixture when it welcomes Bursaspor at the Avni Aker Stadium. Bursaspor is chasing for the fourth spot to win qualification for the Europa League, which will replace the UEFA Cup next season, and on a marvelous form of eight unbeaten games. The Crocs were only held to a draw once during this period.
Trabzonspor, however, is on a promising run with two consecutive wins. The Black Sea Storm suffered a shock 3-0 win at the hands of Sivasspor three weeks ago, which resulted in the resignation of coach Ersun Yanal, but went on to close the gap with the top after the appointment of reserve team coach Ahmet Özen. Sivasspor’s game at Hacettepe is the only game on Saturday. After leading the league for more than four months, Sivasspor entered a rough period of two consecutive losses, and gave the top spot to Beşiktaş. It will try to end its dismal run against lowly Hacettepe, which is one of the two teams losing all hopes of surviving relegation.
Sivas needs a win to continue its bid for winning its first-ever league title, or at least taking the second-spot for qualifying for the Champions League.
The Hacettepe-Sivasspor game starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.
FENER DENIES ARAGONES SACKING CLAIMS
Fenerbahçe denied that it is firing coach Luis Aragones before the end of the season. The Spanish coach was under fire following his team’s 4-2 humiliation at the hands of Beşiktaş in the Fortis Turkish Cup final on Wednesday, and many reports suggested he would be immediately fired by the Istanbul club.
"There was some news in the Turkish media saying that the Fenerbahçe board sacked coach Luis Aragones," said the statement released from the club’s Web site. "This subject will be discussed once the season ends, as we have done in recent years." However, several media reports suggested that Aragones would definitely leave at the end of the football season. Meanwhile, Chairman Aziz Yıldırım declared that he would run for presidency for three more years. The club’s presidency elections will be held next week.
The Black Eagles enjoyed a 4-2 victory over Fenerbahçe in the Fortis Turkish Cup final on Wednesday night to claim its eighth win in the competition, but now needs to get over it in order to complete its bid to achieve a rare trophy double. Beşiktaş is in the commanding position of the league two points ahead of second-place Sivasspor with three games to play. Three wins in those games will give Beşiktaş its second ever trophy double after taking its first in the 1989-1990 campaign.
Coach Mustafa Denizli believes his side should not be carried away with the cup title glory and should focus on the league.
"I thank all my players who won the Fortis Turkish Cup for our team," Denizli was quoted as saying in the daily Hürriyet. "But our job is not done yet. There is the league title, which we haven’t won in the last six years. We have three games in 16 days to claim it and there is nobody we can’t beat as long as we want to."
Beşiktaş Vice President Ertunç Soğancıoğlu’s words prove the confidence within the club, as he said that the cup was a preparation for the league title.
"We played well against Fenerbahçe and were a worthy winner," said Soğancıoğlu. "I believe that the victory in İzmir was a preparation for the league championship." But he said Beşiktaş was not taking any of the oppositions lightly. "Nobody should expect that the game against Ankaragücü will be an easy one," he said. "The position of our opposition shows that it will be tough."
Relegation-battler Ankaragücü is 13th and only one point ahead of the red zone. So it may be expected that the team from the capital city will play fully aware that everything is at stake in this game.
The game kicks off at 8 p.m., like seven other games on Sunday.
Hard battle
Trailing Beşiktaş from a three-point distance, Trabzonspor will play arguably its most difficult game left in the fixture when it welcomes Bursaspor at the Avni Aker Stadium. Bursaspor is chasing for the fourth spot to win qualification for the Europa League, which will replace the UEFA Cup next season, and on a marvelous form of eight unbeaten games. The Crocs were only held to a draw once during this period.
Trabzonspor, however, is on a promising run with two consecutive wins. The Black Sea Storm suffered a shock 3-0 win at the hands of Sivasspor three weeks ago, which resulted in the resignation of coach Ersun Yanal, but went on to close the gap with the top after the appointment of reserve team coach Ahmet Özen. Sivasspor’s game at Hacettepe is the only game on Saturday. After leading the league for more than four months, Sivasspor entered a rough period of two consecutive losses, and gave the top spot to Beşiktaş. It will try to end its dismal run against lowly Hacettepe, which is one of the two teams losing all hopes of surviving relegation.
Sivas needs a win to continue its bid for winning its first-ever league title, or at least taking the second-spot for qualifying for the Champions League.
The Hacettepe-Sivasspor game starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.
FENER DENIES ARAGONES SACKING CLAIMS
Fenerbahçe denied that it is firing coach Luis Aragones before the end of the season. The Spanish coach was under fire following his team’s 4-2 humiliation at the hands of Beşiktaş in the Fortis Turkish Cup final on Wednesday, and many reports suggested he would be immediately fired by the Istanbul club.
"There was some news in the Turkish media saying that the Fenerbahçe board sacked coach Luis Aragones," said the statement released from the club’s Web site. "This subject will be discussed once the season ends, as we have done in recent years." However, several media reports suggested that Aragones would definitely leave at the end of the football season. Meanwhile, Chairman Aziz Yıldırım declared that he would run for presidency for three more years. The club’s presidency elections will be held next week.