Fenerbahce 1-1 Vestel Manisaspor... Yet Another Draw For Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce 1-1 Vestel Manisaspor... Yet Another Draw For Fenerbahce
By Ozgur R. Nazilli

So another game ended in a draw for Fenerbahce, and the disillusionment amongst the fans is growing exponentially. It was not that big a deal when the team dropped points in the first 2 or 3 games, but after the 8th week, a person cannot help but wonder "When will the winning streak begin?"

The game started at a very high pace, with both teams threatening the opposition goal more than once in the first few minutes. Most fans would have bet big on Fener winning the game by 2-0 or 3-0 when Aurelio headed Alex's perfect cross into the net, but the things started going downhill for the Yellow Canaries when Vestel Manisapor, soon to be only Manisaspor due to the sponsor Vestel withdrawing its support, got one back just after 3 minutes the Fener goal. When the score was 1-1 at only 10 minutes into the game, everyone, especially the Fener fans, expected a game with a lot of goals, possibly ending with a good winning margin for Fenerbahce. However for the rest of the game, other than one or two possible scoring chances, not much happened, until the controversy of the night took place at 15 minutes to the end. Kezman was running hard to catch up with a long ball that was headed towards Bulent the goalkeeper, but the ball was too fast for him and the goalie got to it before Kezman could. Kezman could not slow his advance and had to jump over the goalkeeper, however he stepped on Bulent's leg in the process, causing him to cry out in pain. The referee Bunyamin Gezer deemed it appropriate to award Kezman a straight red card for the position. Kezman's pleas of course fell on deaf ears and Volkan Balli and Zico had to drag him off the pitch. However, his reaction was an unusual one, since instead of losing his temper and yelling at the referee as normal players do, Kezman broke into tears. Zico's and Balli's interventions were not to stop Kezman from harming anyone in the moment of rage that players get when shown a red card, but instead to calm him down and to try to stop his tears.

It was a weird moment for the fans watching the game, and the reactions were mixed, as can be seen on Antu forums. While some "fans" went as far as saying that "they were glad that Kezman was kicked out of the game", most reasonable fans were sad and disappointed. I myself was doubly sad, both for losing Kezman and having to play the last 20 minutes (with a 6 minute loss time) with 10 players, and for seeing Kezman cry like that. I do not care what people say, as long as Kezman wears the Fenerbahce jersey, he is my player, equally liked and appreciated as the other members of the team. Until the time comes when Kezman is sold/traded/released from Fenerbahce, I will continue to support him, which might seem "stupid" in the short run, but in the long run, the benefits of supporting players in their bad days will be easy to see. Just a small example: If the major decisions in the team were made based on the momentary feelings people have, we would not have Deivid this year. That would mean that, amongst other things, instead of the 4 points we have in the Champions League, we would only have 1 point from the Inter game, and 0 (zero) points from the CSKA Moscow game. This shows that coming to conclusions too quickly is usually not the most logical choice, especially considering the costs associated to getting rid of a member of the team, which range from monetary (since a player that is being unloaded by one team will not be worth too much to another team) to psychological (the other members of the team getting disillusioned by the removal of their teammate/friend).

On match days, some players will have good days and some players will have bad days, and this trend will vary from match-day to match-day. If all the players in the team always had perfect days, then there would not be much point to watching futbol? The "flavor" of the game comes from winning some games, and losing or drawing some others. So I prefer to think about what the team will be like in the long term, instead of saying everything that comes to my mind due to the emotions of the moments after a game.

I apologize for the length of this article, since it is not the custom of Fenerbahce Worldwide to have such long recaps of games, but I felt that some things were needed to be said. I am as disappointed with the Vestel Manisa draw as the next Fener fan, but I am one of those people who believe that continuous support and belief have much more positive effects on the team than harsh criticisms. Whatever they do, Fenerbahce will still be my team, and my team will always have my support.

(Photo courtesy of Hurriyet)