Fenerbahce 4 - 2 Ankaraspor: Alex le Sonsuza

Fenerbahce 4 - 2 Ankaraspor: Alex le Sonsuza
By Ozgur R. Nazilli

Let's start with a small explanation for the non-Turkish speaker visitors of our website: "Alex'le Sonsuza" is a pun on Alex de Souza's name, meaning "Forever with Alex". I saw this play on words at Antu after I was visiting the forums to observe the general mood of the fans, and was so amused by the aforementioned pun that I decided to carry it to Fenerbahce Worldwide. Also, it is a perfect way to sum up today's game against Ankaraspor: Alex gets what Alex wants. Therefore, he will always have a place in Fenerbahce.

The game started off... Well, with a goal. Just in the third minute of the game Fener was up by one thanks to Alex, who after latching on to a perfect pass by Deivid, went by the goalkeeper and flicked the ball of into the empty goal. It was a classy goal, but it was only a small preview of what more was to come.

When Semih tallied another one for himself, the Fener fans knew that they could sit back and enjoy the rest of the game. A side not is in order here: Semih is by far the most efficient goalscorer of the league: He has 6 goals to his name and 4 assists, and he only started in 7 games this season! There is something special about this player, and Zico and Alex both are vouching for it, so there is no doubt in my mind that he is a very special player. He has been proving this over and over again this season, hopefully, he will continue like this.

The rest of the game was nothing too extraordinary: Fener conceded two and scored two, ending the game 4-2. There were two noteworthy positions here: The first one was Fener's 4th, Alex's 3rd goal, where Vederson tried a long range lob kick, which was barely saved by the Ankaraspor goalie, which in turn was smashed towards the goal by Semih, where it bounced back off the woodwork ending in front of Alex, who feinted once with the ball and then kicked the ball into the same corner over a helpless goalkeeper. The amazing thing was the whole position from the Vederson's start to Alex's finish was completed in less time it took me to tell it. Alex showed his futbol genius by feinting once with the ball, throwing everyone including the goalkeeper off, and then kicking it into the same corner, leaving everyone helpless to do anything. His joyous laughter after the goal was a sight to behold, but was overshadowed by another laughter by Carlos a few minutes later:

The second noteworthy position of the game was when Deivid took the ball into the penalty area and tried unsuccessfully to go around the goalkeeper. The ball again found its way to Alex, who from a long distance tried to lob the ball into the goal. The goalkeeper was again powerless to do anything, but was lucky enough that the ball "licked" the post as we like to say in Turkey and ended up on the wrong side of the woodwork. However, Roberto Carlos, so confident in Alex's ability, was already celebrating the goal with his back to the position. His disappointment when he found out that the ball was not in the net as he hoped, which quickly turned into laughter, was another heart-warming moment in the game.

All in all, it was a very successful performance by Fenerbahce, after a long break for the international week. Some of the key players like Semih and Aurelio were taken out of the game early to preserve their energy for the "real" match of the week against Inter, and some others like Deniz and Gokhan Gonul were out with injuries, so the 4-2 scoreline is a very good one.

Fener put their league campaign back on track after a slow start, and now they are back in the race stronger than ever. This is especially true when you consider today's performance and the time it took place in: Right after the international week and right before a very critical Champions League game.

Fenerbahce is going to be on the pitch again in 3 days, and they will be there to make history. If Fener comes back with a victory from that game, they will take over Galatasaray's record for the team with the most points in a single Champions League campaign. Also, they will secure their qualifying spot out of the group, most likely taking the first place ahead of Inter. Even a draw will be good, since it will ensure qualification for Fenerbahce to the next stage. The confidence amongst the fans is high, and morale in the team is even higher.

Let us wait and see the fruits of this positive atmosphere.

(Photo courtesy of Hurriyet.com)