Appiah's Brilliance Clinches Title
The following article appeared in today's edition of "The Statesman" newspaper out of Ghana. For the full article, please visit http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=3453§ion=3Appiah's brillance clinches title BBC , 15/05/2007
Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah spoke of his "fantastic feeling” after setting up the goal that sealed the Turkish league title for Fenerbahce.
Fenerbahce twice fought back from a goal down on Sunday and held Trabzonspor to a 2-2 draw to win their 17th title in their centenary year.
With two matches to go before the end of the season, Fenerbahce top the table with 64 points, six points ahead of arch-Istanbul rivals Besiktas, who lost 3-0 to Bursaspor.
Fenerbahce have the better record from matches between the two clubs this season.Even if they lose both of the remaining games and Besiktas win theirs, they would still be champions under the rules of the Turkish league.
But the Istanbul giants had to wait until the 85th minute when Appiah turned his marker inside out before clipping in a precision cross to Brazilian Deivid de Souza, who headed into the empty net.
Huseyin Cimsir's opener after just two minutes was cancelled out by Sanli Tuncay in the 5th minute before Guinean forward Ibrahim Yattara restored the visitors" lead.Appiah, who played through the pain barrier as he is yet to overcome a knee injury.
“It is a fantastic feeling. We thank God for giving us the title in our centenary year,” the Ghana captain told BBC Sport.“I really wanted to help the club win the title that’s why I agreed to play even with the injury.“Even though I can still feel the pain I think the risk has paid off and I am happy that the fans are happy.”
The result was a major relief for the new champions after Galatasaray snatched the title away from them in the final game of last season.
posted by Nathan L. Redd at Tuesday, May 15, 2007
2 Comments:
Appiah is a great defensive midfielder, whose also got some superb attacking skills.
However, the whole season, Arthur Zico used him as a right winger, which diminished his efficiency. That's why I don't think he's happy now.
If Zico stays, Appiah would probably leave. And if you ask me about it, I prefer Appiah to stay...
Yes, I know what you mean. I've always liked Appiah, and his performance in the World Cup last year made me admire him even more. I think a lot of players are unhappy with Zico's system, including Kezman and Tuncay. Tuncay is the one guy that I would most hate to leave, but I think he has his sights set on England or Italy now. It will be interesting to see if Aziz Yildirim keeps Zico or not.
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