Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk excited for Fenerbahçe game

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Nobel laureate writer Orhan Pamuk. DHA photo

Nobel laureate writer Orhan Pamuk said he is eagerly awaiting Fenerbahçe’s crucial Europa League semifinal second leg game against Benfica tonight.

The writer spoke to the Eurosport Turkey website about his long love affair with Fenerbahçe.

“Sometimes I have fallen out, but I have been watching Fenerbahçe games since I was 7,” said Pamuk, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

The writer said he was very excited about the Benfica clash on the night of May 2. After winning the first leg game 1-0, Fenerbahçe has a strong chance of making it to the Europa League final for the first time in its history.

“I am waiting very excitedly and I am relishing this waiting,” Pamuk said. “This will be Fenerbahçe’s biggest European success. We are waiting, we are excited, we are Fenerbahçe fans.”

The 60-year-old said he remembered one particular disappointment on the European stage.

“We were eliminated by MTK after a 3-1 defeat in the third game. It was the Cup Winners’ Cup then,” Pamuk said. “I was listening to the game on the radio. There was no away goals rule and there was a tiebreak match. Even remembering those days are sweet. One feels a sweet chill about those years.”

Fenerbahçe lost to the Hungarian side in the 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup, missing a chance to play in the quarterfinals.