Monday, October 05, 2009

ANKARAGUCU SEND GALATASARAY BACK TAE ISTANBUL TAE THINK AGAIN !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Apologies to the author of the Scottish National Anthem for 'borrowing' some of his words !

Well, as usual, Galatasaray came swaggering into Ankara yesterday expecting a wlecome and another 'bent' referee, but they were sadly disappointed on both counts and had to slink out of Ankara suitably chastised and humbled !

ANKARAGUCU 3 Galatasaray 0

What a memorable day for us Ankaragucu Kankas after such a poor start to the season on the field and chaotic season off the field.

We met up in The Chopin - Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Connect Kanka Steve, Phillie Kanka Jamie, and 16 of the 'baby' Yank teachers from Bilkent. I forgot to ask if any of them were Confederates !

Too many to give details, but first names will suffice for now - Christa, Aisha, Kate, Kath, Natalie, Emily, Emma, Tim, James, Glyn, Paul, Joe, Andy, Zach, Charlie and Steve.

All photos and captions are the work of Zach Rosenfeld, one of the new Bilkent kankas. He took a whole heap more photos which can be seen on his Flickr page.

From the left: Jamie, Steve, Random Turk #1, Random Turk #2, Tim, Charlie, and Krista. Charlie and Krista are CSIs, and the other three are English teachers at the high school.

Random Turkish guys LOVE to get their pictures taken with Americans — even if (or perhaps especially if) they'll never even see the finished product. Whenever you take out a camera, you put yourself at risk of being approached by a random Turkish guy who wants to be in your photo album.


Unfortunately we had to sparate due to a logistics problem with the tickets. The Yanks ended up in Gecikondu where they received a tremendous welcome from the Gecikondu Boys. I will leave Connect and Philly Kankas to expand on that in the comments section.

Battle Damaged and I met up with Yankee Kanka and Huso Kanka in our usual position in Maraton near the Anti-X Boys.

Like I said, Turkish people want to be in your photo album! These guys saw me snap a picture of the simit hat guy, and asked me to take one of them.

That boy later gave his scarf to Christa, which was very sweet of him. (She refused at first, but he would have none of it). She gave him an appreciative peck on the cheek, to which all the other guys hooted and whistled. It was pretty cute.


The 3 Ankaragucu strikers were absent again. Vassell is continuing to have contractual problems, and if they are not resolved soon, he could very well be on his way back to England. Surprise surprise ........ it's financial !! Iglesias is injured and Bebbe is still on suspension after his aberration in Antalya 3 weeks ago.

So, it was a similar starting line-up to last week's in Antep, ie,

Serkan
El-Yasa, Ediz, Risp, Broggi
Semavi, Barbaros, Hurriyet, Murat Duruer
Ceyhun and Metin

2nd Half substitutes used were - Mehmet Cakir, Emre and Volkan

The Stadium was almost full and the small band of Galatasaray supporters in the 'away end' were being out-sung and drowned-out by the volume generated by the Ankaragucu tribunes.

The first half of the match was fairly even and I was thinking that if there was no scoring at half time then Ankaragucu would probably step-up their attacking options in the 2nd half. So it proved !

In the first half there were a few close things at both ends with Serkan pulling off a few of his 'agile' saves and at the the other end Ceyhun and Metin combined well to open up the Galatasaray defence only for Metin to blast the ball over.

Into the 2nd half then and Ankaragucu started to open up and attack more. However, Semavi was having a shocker of a match - it just wasn't his day. Seemingly everything he tried didn't work, and it was compounded half way through the half when Ceyhun had carved open the Galatasaray defence (not for the first time in the match) and put him through with only Franco in goal to beat. OK, he didn't do a Metin and send it skywards, but the ball hit the bar when it looked easier to score.

Amazingly, Hikmet Bey didn't substitute him but took Metin off instead !

Ceyhun also had a goal bound screamer of a free kick brilliantly saved by Franco.

Into the last 15 minutes of the match and Ankaragucu was upping the pressure. Again it was Man of the Match, Ceyhun, who did the damage. He put Murat Duruer through and he cleverly sidestepped a frantic tackle before slotting the ball past a helpless Franco with the other defenders arriving too late. A well crafted and well taken goal.

Scenes of jubilation and let's up the volume of the singing.

Galatasaray was in panic mode now and threw most of their players forward in search of the equaliser. However, this only served to leave space for Ankaragucu counter attacks and it was from one of those that Emre slotted in No2 only 2 minutes after coming on to replace Ceyhun.

Volume up yet another level, lots of 'high fives' amongst us and we are all shouting ..... uc uc uc (meaning three three three !!!).

Almost full time now and unbelievably the 3rd goal came. Galatasaray was in total disarray now and it was Hurriyet who did the biz.

Volume further up and the chant went up ...... bes bes bes (meaning five five five !!!!!). We were all on our feet now jumping up and down and singing like I haven't seen for many a year.

I would still love to know how long it has been since we beat Galatasaray by 3 clear goals (if ever) ??!!

Well done team and a rare word of praise from me for Murat Duruer who had an excellent all round performance in addition to scoring the vital opening goal.

Also, well done to the Referee, Koray Gencerler, who had an excellent match and stood no nonsense from BOTH teams. It is not often we have a referee who didn't favour the Istanbul team !!!

Holy crap! Look at all those riot police! Clearly they're used to dealing with potential mobs at every game.

Thanks to Oz Kanka for posting a link to the goals of the match and the after match fighting which we didn't see due to the fact that we left after the final whistle and before the lap of honour. No doubt there will be some comments tomorrow on this disgraceful behaviour. It is to be hoped we are not going to suffer another Stadium closure as a punishment if Ankaragucu supporters were to blame ?!

Most of us ended up back in The Chopin Bar to watch the Fener v Gencler match with Oz Kanka but it was not to be a clean sweep for Ankara as you will have seen in his report.

So, what can I say that hasn't been said about the Ankaragucu performance ? Super, Fantastic, Marvellous ?? Yes, all of them. However, can we maintain this standard is my question ?

We have to wait until weekend 17/18 October away to Kayseri for the answer to that question.

All the best from an upbeat Eski Kanka Jim

3-nil! Galatasaray got their butts handed to them.

And then there is a comment by someone who is probably more used to gridion scores:
Comments

emily.shinay says:
You know it's a good game when the scores are really low ... that's what Dad always says.


The kid on the right was about to hop the fence and run up to the team. He got one of the player's jerseys for his efforts.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:35 pm

    Nice Jim,goals looked good.Especially liked the last one,lovely subtle little through ball and calm finish.Gala looked to be in a state of shock by then anyhow.Looked like it couldnt have been a better day for you all.I'm sure all the American "newbies" who attended will be back for more!They couldnt have picked a better first game.Pity the international break comes this weekend really.
    Anyway well done again.Maybe the stand out result in the whole of Europe this past weekend.No,there's no maybe about it!

    Dublin Neil.

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  2. Haha Jim, thanks for the photocredit, but don't feel like you need to include my commentary. That's just for the benefit of my fellow "yanks" back home (like my girlfriend, who yes, probably is more used to pigskin/baseball/basketball scores).

    Great write-up!

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  3. Mountaineering Kanka9:48 am

    What a fantastic result! I'm so so happy that we finally beat Galatasaray. I didn't get to see that the entire five years I was there! Glad that so many new "recruits" went as well. Hopefully now they are fans for life and understand the glory that can come from supporting your home team! I wish I could've been there. I was however doing my part. On the very same day, I was busy claiming another peak for Ankara Gucu. Photos soon!

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  4. Result of the weekend in Europe ? Aye, I would defo go along with that statement !!

    Dundee Utd 'stealing' at point at Fortress Easter Road Stadium pales into insignificance alongside the feat of Ankaragucu !!!

    btw, upcoming league fixtures -

    Sunday 18 October KO 3pm -

    Genclerbirligi v Sivas
    Kayseri v Ankaragucu

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  5. Further information about fixtures, especially for the Bilkent 'Baby Teachers' who may be 'straining at the leash' to re-visit 19 Mayis Stadium to see another Ankaragucu victoreeeee -

    The next home match will be way into the future on weekend of 7/8 November against Kasimpasa.

    We were scheduled to play Ankaraspor on 24/25 October, but .............. !!!

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  6. NE MUTLU ANKARAGUCLUYUM DİYENE!!! (when we're not biting our nails over the prospect of relegation that is :-)

    Mountaineering Kanka, any comments about the upcoming match against Kayseri?!

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  7. Connect Kanka Steve12:05 am

    What a day, what a day. Words fail to convey the emotion and utter absurdity of the match. For eighty-two minutes, the football was dull and unmemorable; both teams failed to impress. While I would say that our boys had the better chances in the second half, I always assumed that Galatasaray would poke one in at the end to crush our spirits. Never in a million years did I expect the result we got.

    As Eski Kanka mentioned, all of us 'yabancıs' received a royal welcome from the Gecikondu boys. They stood and applauded as we entered the stadium. A standing ovation from the hooligan faction certainly does a lot to make newcomers feel welcome. We also made a lot of friends both before and after the match, and we managed to fit approximately seven of them into our cab on the way back to Chopin.

    For those that weren't there (alas, Mountaineering Kanka, this is you), the post-match atmosphere outside the stadium was nothing short of euphoric. Everyone was everyone's best friend. We posed for countless photos with our Ankaragücü brethren, including the leader of the Gecikondu, who appeared to be appreciative of the attractive female presence we brought to the match. Cars were driving by, waving flags and beeping horns. Mobs of young (and probably unemployed) men roamed the streets cheering our favorite chants. It was like nothing I had ever witnessed before. This win meant so much to our supporters and our city. It's something that the Istanbul teams, with their perennial dominance, will never be able to comprehend.

    To me, this match represented everything it means to be an Ankaragücü supporter. The oscillation between our highs and lows is simply ludicrous. It's hard to believe that we can go from complete disarray (both on and off the pitch) to probably the most historic win in our club's recent history in only a matter of weeks. Hopefully, we have more of this greatness to come.

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  8. I read something about Vassell being both injured as well as unpaid. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

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  9. Great comment from Connect Kanka Steve ....... and can you feel his passion for Ankaragucu ??

    If only Mountaineering Kanka Robbie had been here to see Steve's enthusiasm and jubilation in the post-match celebrations he would have been proud of his protige. Steve didn't want to leave the Chopin until we dragged him out kicking and screaming !!!!

    As we say in Scotland ..... nae doot he had a sair heid th' morns mornin !!!

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  10. Mountaineering Kanka2:27 pm

    Kayseri, the house of dogs.

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  11. Fit ya kin jimmy?

    It was great to meet the Ankaragucu crew and a wonderful introduction to Turkish football.

    I thought I would give you an update on all of the CSIs from this past week. We proudly wore our Ankaragucu gear at school. All of our students were quite perplexed by the scarves and jerseys ("Why teacher, why?"), but it got them speaking in English at the very least.

    Thanks again for a great Sunday.

    Joe

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  12. Hey Tottenham Spur Kanka Joe, we loved having you all with us and we look forward to seeing you as regular attenders this season.

    Tell mummies to send out some thermal underwear for the winter matches - trrrrrusssst me, you'll need it !

    See y'all for the Kasimpasa match early next month, and keep up the good work brainwashing .... ooops.... I mean indoctrinating, or inculcating Ankaragucu into the hearts of your Bilkent Brats !!

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