Terim laments deadly attack after league win

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim, known for his patriotic stance, says he does not want to talk about football ‘on a night like this.’ AA Photo

Galatasaray might have won its first match of the season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Kasımpaşa on Aug. 20, but coach Fatih Terim stole the headlines after the game for his comments on the same day’s Gaziantep attack rather than the match.

Terim said he was “ashamed to talk about football on a night like this,” referring to the explosion in southeastern Turkey which killed at least nine people and wounded 68.

The explosion happened about an hour before Galatasaray beat Kasımpaşa to start its Spor Toto Super League title defense.

After the game, Terim was asked about Engin Baytar, who was hit with an 11-game ban for attacking referee Cüneyt Çakır in a prior game, and Real Madrid’s Kaka, who is linked with a move to Galatasaray.

“I will answer your questions on Kaka or Engin Baytar later, but now I am not in the mood for talking about football after what has happened in Gaziantep,” Terim said.

“It is impossible not to be affected by that [attack],” the 58-year-old said. “What a shame! What is happening to this country? Every day there is one, or two [deaths]. Now shall I go and enjoy our three points? I would be ashamed to talk about football and say, ‘I am happy that we won, we got three points,’ on a night like this. There is no meaning to playing sports if that happens.”

Continuing his comments, the coach said, “We are in sports, but we are not only reading the back pages of the newspapers, we are saddened by these [other events].”

Journalists’ ovation

Terim received an ovation from assembled journalists at the conclusion of his news conference.
The 2-1 win came the hard way for Galatasaray, who needed a late winner by Umut Bulut.

The hero of the day, Umut Bulut, scored the winner in the 87th minute, tapping the ball in after a cross ball by Emre Çolak found him unmarked. Bulut also opened the scoring with a goal in the 36th minute.
Defender İlhan Eker equalized for Kasımpaşa in the 69th minute.

It looked like Galatasaray would join rival title contenders Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor, who all finished the first week with 1-1 draws against Elazığspor, Istanbul BB and Karabükspor, respectively, in tying its first match before Bulut saved the day.

The win was good enough to put Galatasaray second in the young season behind Ankara’s Gençlerbirliği, which beat Antalyaspor 3-1 to finish the first week on top of the league for the first time in 14 years.

Gençlerbirliği rallied from a one-goal deficit to claim the win with three late goals. Uğur İnceman, Oktay Delibalta and Ermin Zec all scored in the last 10 minutes to lead the Red-Blacks past their Mediterranean opponents.