UEFA Group Pots Determined

Fenerbahce will know their next opponent on Tuesday, October 3rd, when group pairings are announced. However, following yesterday's results, the partipants have been determined. They are divided into five "pots" and the drawings will be from each pot. Fenerbahce is listed in the fourth pot. Here are the UEFA Cup participants and their pots:

Pot 1: Sevilla, Newcastle United, PanathinaikosAC, Parma, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord, AJ Auxerre

Pot 2: Club Brugge, FC Basel, AZ Alkmaar, Sparta Praha, Glasgow Rangers, Celta de Vigo, Paris St. Germain, Lens

Pot 3: Besiktas, Palermo, Espanyol, Heerenveen, Partizan Belgrade, Rapid Bucuresti, Wisla Kraków, Slovan Liberec

Pot 4: Fenerbahce, Austria Wien, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Osasuna, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, Dinamo Bucurest, Livorno

Pot 5: Tottenham Hotspur, Maccabi Haifa, Sporting Braga, Nancy, Eintracht Frankfurt, Zulte Waregem, Mlada Boleslav, Odense

Fenerbahce Defeats Randers 3-0

Fenerbahce played a tentative, conservative game in the first half of Thursday's UEFA Cup action. Fortunately, the second half told a different story. After Zico's halftime adjustments, the offense Fener fans had hoped for ignited the team in the second half, leading Fenerbahce to a 3-0 victory over Randers FC (Denmark). New Canary Deivid de Souza scored the game's first goal in the 62nd minute. The goal marked Deivid's first goal as a Yellow Canary. After he broke the 0-0 tie, Tuncay Sanli got in on the action by scoring two minutes later. Eight minutes later, Mateja Kezman scored the game's third goal.

Deivid's goal decisively put the pressure on Randers, as they entered the game with a 2-1 loss from the first leg in Istanbul. Tuncay's goal two minutes later nearly sealed it for Fenerbahce, but the defense did a superb job in keeping the clean sheet for Rustu Recber.

With the win, Fener advances to UEFA Cup Group Stage. The groups will be drawn next Tuesday.

Game Stats:

Venue: Atletion NRGİ Park
Referees: Pedro Proença , Sergio Serrao x, Jose Tiago (Portekiz)
Randers: Jensen , Soren Pedersen , Ahmed , Ralf Pedersen , Peter Christiansen , Da Silva , Hansen (Tofting 75), Yanchev (Fredgaar 75), Kenneth Pedersen , Jesper Christiansen (Johansen 62), Djiby Fall
Fenerbahçe: Rüştü , Kerim, Lugano, Edu , Ümit (Uğur Boral 76), Appiah , Aurelio , Tuncay, Alex (Selçuk 90+2), Deivid (Tümer 70), Kezman Goals: Deivid (62), Tuncay (64), Kezman (72) Booked: Deivid, Ümit, Tuncay (Fenerbahçe), Peter Christiansen (FC Randers)

Fenerbahce Lineup for Randers Match Set

Fenerbahce will take the pitch today vs. Randers with the following lineup:

Rüştü, Appiah, Ümit, Kezman, Tuncay, Aurelio, Kerim, Alex,Lugano, Edu, Deived

FIFA 2007 for PS2 to Feature Entire Turkcell Super Lig

For the first time, the EA Sports video game "FIFA 2007" for Playstation 2 and XBox will feature the entire Turkcell Super Lig lineup. Previous years have seen Fenerbahce and Galatasaray featured, but no other Turkish teams. Players who wished to play the game with Fener or GS had to create fictional leagues with teams from other leagues. This is the first year that the popular FIFA video game series will feature every Turkcell Super Lig team. The league will only be featured on the Playstation 2 and XBox formats; all other formats will not feature the entire Turkish lineup.

In North America, the game will be released on Tuesday, October 3, 2006.

Referee Named for UEFA Cup Match

It was announced on Wednesday that Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca will officiate today's UEFA Cup game vs. Randers FC.

Aurelio Expected to Play Today vs. Randers

Fenerbahce midfielder Mehmet Aurelio is expected to play in today's UEFA Cup game vs. Randers FC. Aurelio had an MRI earlier in the week and was expected to begin training for today's game. Aurelio was injured in the 40th minute of last weekend's Turkcell Super Lig game vs. Konyaspor. Also, Diego Lugano, who was not eligible to play in the first leg vs. Randers, will be on the pitch tonight for Fenerbahce in Denmark.

Game Day in Denmark

Today is game day in Denmark.....the second leg of UEFA cup action between Fenerbahce and Randers FC takes place this afternoon at 2:30 PM EST. Fener arrived in Denmark yesterday to the always-present crowds of Fenerbahce supporters at the airport. After arrival, manager Zico held a press conference. He addressed the team's approach to today's game and their strategy. "I have no plans for a man marking system against Randers FC, but we will take care of their forward player who created some problems for us at the first match.” Regarding the pressure of today's match, Zico commented “Randers FC need to score this time and this will ease our job as they won’t be defending hard like they did at the first match.”

Following the press conference, Fenerbahce had one final preparation training session in the stadium.

Fenerbahce Defeats Konyaspor 1-0

Fenerbahce defeated Turkish side Konyaspor 1-0 Friday night in Konya. The game's lone goal came from Mateja Kezman in the 31st minute, and the Fenerbahce defense preserved the clean sheet. Fenerbahce was without Diego Lugano who was carded in the Sivasspor match, and Deniz Baris and Mehmet Yozgatli were both unavailable due to injury. Fenerbahce's starting eleven consisted of Rüştü, Appiah, Ümit, Kezman, Tuncay, Aurelio, Kerim, Alex, Önder, Edu, and Deivid.

The game was a much-needed win for the Yellow Canaries as new Manager Zico has been facing increased criticism from the Turkish media. Last week's draw against Sivasspor moved Fenerbahce to second place in the Turkcell Super Lig, and catapulting surprising Vestel Manisaspor to first place. Zico did get a vote of confidence on Thursday from Fener President Aziz Yildirim who said "I have endless confidence in Zico. Sending him away in the middle of the season is out of the question. Three years ago, everybody was criticizing Daum like this. This year is our 100th year and we will do whatever it takes to win the championship in the league and in the UEFA. The team is going through an adaptation process now. We will be patient and supportive."

Fenerbahce will now turn their attention once again to Randers FC from Denmark. The second leg of the UEFA Cup meeting will take place next week in Denmark. Fener holds a 2-1 advantage from the first leg in Istanbul. In the Turkcell Super Lig, Fenerbahce will face Bursaspor next weekend at Sukru Saracoglu in Kadikoy.

Fenerbahce Defeats Antalyaspor 4-2

Fenerbahce returned to action Saturday night at Sukru Saracoglu and defeated visiting Antalyaspor 4-2 behind two goals from new Canary Diego Lugano. The game marked the Fenerbahce debut for Deivid de Souza, Mateja Kezman, and Edu Dracena. Lugano's two goals were accompanied by a goal from Tuncay Sanli and a goal from Alex de Souza. Lugano scored first in the 68th minute off of a header from Alex de Souza. Two minutes later Antalyaspor tied it, but Fener scored again in the 72nd, 76th, and 88th minutes to take control. Fenerbahce took the pitch with the following starting lineup:

Rustu Recber
Umit Ozat
Diego Lugano
Kerim Zengin
Edu Dracena
Tumer Metin
Mehmet Aurelio
Stephen Appiah
Alex de Souza
Deivid de Souza
Meteja Kezman

Tuncay, Selcuk Sahin, and Semih Senturk were used as substitutions. The win puts Fenerbahce five points up at the top of the Turkcell Super Lig headed into this weekend's game vs. Sivasspor.

Deivid de Souza Inks with Fenerbahce

Newly-acquired striker Deivid de Souza signed a formal contract with Fenerbahce this week. The Brazilian player signed a three-year deal, with an option to extend the deal for a fourth year. Deivid, who will wear #99 this season, stated "I’m very happy to have come to Fenerbahçe. I’m here for success. It’s great to be able to play with players like Alex as well."

De Souza is expected to make his Fenerbahce debut next weekend vs. Antalyaspor.

Luciano, Fenerbahce Part Ways

Reliable Fenerbahce defender Fabio Luciano has parted ways with the club, it was announced on Thursday. Luciano played for Fenerbahce for three seasons, but suffered an injury recently that resulted in an early termination of his contract. The Brazilian-born defender had inquiries recently from Besiktas, but appears ready to leave Turkiye rather than play for a Turkcell Super Lig rival.

"It upsets me to be leaving like this. I wish I could help the team. It also upsets me that I can’t work with someone like Zico. I have to get better and I have time to do that. I have respect for Beşiktaş’s offer but I had some great days here and at the moment I don’t want to move to a club other than Fenerbahçe here" stated Luciano.

We wish Fabio and his family the best and thank him for three tremendous seasons with Fenerbahce.

Gursoy, Hanefi Loaned Out for Season

Midfielder Gurhan Gursoy and fullback Mahmut Hanefi have been loaned from Fenerbahce to Sivasspor and Gaziantepspor, respectively, for the 2006-2007 season. The club announced this move on Thursday, August 31.