Galatasaray’s Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard gambled, and fortunately for him, it worked as his experimental team routed the poor Denizlispor Roosters 4-1 in their Turkcell Super League week two match at İstanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Stadium — dubbed “the den.”
Rijkaard, possibly with Thursday’s UEFA Cup playoff first-leg clash against Estonia’s Levadia in İstanbul in mind, fielded a highly experimental side, featuring some players on the Galatasaray Lions squad who were rarely seen last season in his starting lineup and therefore risked the wrath of the merciless local sports media had the Galatasaray Lions dropped points.
The Galatasaray defense was unrecognizable. Midfielder Uğur Acar, sidelined throughout last season due to injury, was the left back, injury-prone defender Emre Güngor was the center back and 36-year-old Emre Aşık, fighting an uphill battle against age and gravity, was the right back.
Servet Çetin, arguably the best defender in the land, watched the match from the stands alongside Turkey international Gökhan Zan while leftie Hakan Balta came in as a second half substitute.
And the midfield included another unfamiliar name, Volkan Yaman, who played only a couple of matches last season. And the greatest surprise of all was the exclusion of newly signed on-form Brazil playmaker Elano Blumer, who played for the Brazilian national team against Estonia in Tallinn last Wednesday.
Lethargy
At the start, the Lions seemed devoid of ideas because apart from training sessions, some of these had not played together for a very long time. And even though the Lions dominated play in midfield, they could not break the tight Denizlispor defense.
And so the match was a ding-dong affair until the 39th minute when Bulgarian striker Emil Angelov headed in a cross from the right flank by Guinea forward Ibrahima Bangoura to give the Roosters a 1-0 lead.
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But as the naysayers in the merciless sports media were sharpening their swords to slay Rijkaard, young captain-winger Arda Turan was brought down in the Denizli box by Caner Celep in the first minute of added time (46th). And Aussie international midfielder Harry Kewell made no mistake in converting the resultant penalty to give the Lions the equalizer just before halftime.
After the interval, it was the Lions all the way. Arda put the Lions up 2-1 in the 59th, Kewell converted another penalty in the 67th to make it 3-1 and an own-goal by defender Burak Akyıldız in the 74th made it 4-1 giving the Galatasaray Lions their second victory in as many Super League matches.
At his post-match news conference, Rijkaard defended his team selection, saying: “In the final analysis, we are a team and can only operate through effective teamwork. In other words, when some players are tired, others will have to deputize for them.”
“Every player on the Galatasaray squad is part of the team and therefore eligible to play,” he added.
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