Change In Plans

This post is about the Fenerbahce vs. Genclerbirligi football match that Zola and I went to watch this evening.

Turkey has gotten very good at football, making it to the semi-finals of this year’s Euro Cup, and beating Germany along the way. They have taken the sport seriously for a long time, and have a well developed domestic premier league, with old clubs and established rivalries.

Tonight, Zola and I went to see Fenerbahce play. Fenerbahce (which I think is pronounced “fen-ur-BAH-chay”) is one of the famous Turkish football teams, founded in 1907. Even though Fenerbahce was not playing one of its big rivals (Genclerbigligi from Ankara), and the game was a 3-0 blowout, it was a special experience for us both, and it was a great father-son evening. Zola was particularly excited because the stadium is across the Bosphorus, on the Asian side of Istanbul, and it represented his first trip to Asia. He has now been to five continents at the age of eight.

Because the game started so late (9pm), India stayed at the hotel with Tallulah, watching our newly acquired Elmo DVD in Turkish on her computer, and filling in a Turkish Strawberry Shortcake sticker book.

This was the first time that either Zola or I had been to a big-league soccer match, much less one in Turkey. We were surprised by many things:

1. The security/police presence was very heavy. Zola and I went through metal detectors, and were body searched at all four of the gates we entered (I didn’t understand the tickets, and we ended up walking all the way around the stadium to find the right place. Minor Dingle on my part). Zola was particularly interested in the dozens of guys with riot shields. Every officer was armed, and we saw hundreds. They don’t appear to have much of a hooligan problem now, if they ever did have one.
2. Observation #1 notwithstanding, the whole experience was very wholesome and family oriented. Roughly 75% of the fans were wearing Fenerbahce shirts and/or jackets and/or scarves, and there were loads of kids in the crowd. Everyone seemed to participate: cheering good plays (from both teams), booing bad referee amd linesman calls. Without a trace of irony, the fans sang and chanted and waved scarves throughout the game. Zola and I had a grand time singing along, although we had no idea what the words and shouts meant.
3. The only refreshments available were bags of sunflower seeds and cups of spring water. (note to Fenerbahce management, there may be a revenue-enhancement opportunity there). At halftime, as people got up around us, Zola asked, “Where are they going? There is nothing to buy.” When we bought two cups of water they gave Zola a free candy bar, which was good, because we hadn’t gotten dinner before we went to the game.
4. Turkey is rich enough, and its football is big-time enough, that it attracts professionals from other countries to play here. Fenerbahce’s first goal was scored by a Brazilian forward (one of three players named “De Souza” on the team). Overall, there appear to be 11 non-Turks (of 27 players) playing for Fenerbahce, and 9 non-Turks playing for Genclerbirligi.
5. We could see essentially the whole stadium, and aside from Zola and me, no one left the game early. When we ran for the taxi stand after 82 minutes of play, everyone was still singing and clapping and chanting.

More about our first days in Turkey in a later post. This was a great experience for Zola and me.