Pressure Mounting for Galatasaray and Juventus
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
ISTANBUL (Dec 1, 1998 - 10:51 EST) - Turkey's Galatasaray and Italy's Juventus face Wednesday's rescheduled Champions' League match with mounting trepidation as tension between the two countries over Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan continues.
Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi acknowledges he and his teammates have traveled reluctantly to Istanbul after security concerns led to the group B match being postponed from last Wednesday.
A wave of angry anti-Italian protests swept Turkish cities after Italy refused to extradite Ocalan following his arrest in Rome last month.
"The match between us and Galatasaray will not be a normal one but rather influenced by a whole host of factors," said Peruzzi. "We find ourselves almost forced to play this away fixture but we continue to be very worried."
The Istanbul side are also feeling the pressure of a nation up in arms over Ocalan, known as "Apo" and held responsible by Ankara for 29,000 deaths in 14 years of fighting. Ironically, the guerrilla leader is known to support Galatasaray.
"The other day, a relative of a dead soldier came up to me and said 'play for us and give Apo and those Italians supporting him a lesson'," said Galatasaray striker Hasan Sas.
European soccer's governing body UEFA gave the go ahead for the match in Istanbul after Turkish authorities promised tighter security to calm Juventus fears.
"We have taken all measures so that this match begins and ends in a way befitting our nation and state," Interior Minister Kutlu Aktas told reporters. Nevertheless, Juventus said they had delayed their arrival here until Wednesday as a precaution.
Authorities said 22,000 members of the security forces, including police, gendarmes and troops, will be on duty on Wednesday night, most of them at a distance from the stadium.
"In sending us to play in Istanbul, UEFA, the Turkish and Italian governments have all taken on a serious responsibility and they should be aware of this," Peruzzi said.
Both club and government have appealed for spectators at the notoriously hostile Ali Sami Yen stadium to remain calm, knowing the match, as the only Champions' League fixture of the night, will be televised across Europe.
"I believe the people will confound the expectations of the Italian lobby by greeting Juventus with flowers and seeing them off with flowers too," said Sports Minister Yucel Seckiner.
Even before the Ocalan affair prompted last week's postponment, Juventus had plenty of purely footballing reasons to be worried about meeting Galatasaray.
Juventus goes into the clash after a disappointing spell in which it has drawn four consecutive Champions' League games, and needs victory in Istanbul to keep alive its hopes of reaching the European Cup quarterfinals.
Galatasary, second in the group, are fresh after a 10-day break because fellow Istanbul club Besiktas agreed to postpone its derby match last weekend.
Juventus lost 3-0 away to Bologna on Sunday in perhaps its worst performance of the season.
Yet coach Marcello Lippi believes his side can overcome the setbacks and recover its best form.
"We're going through a bad patch...but we have the technical, psychological and moral qualities to get ourselves out of this situation," he said.
Galatasary coach Fatih Terim says the Italians should try not to be scared by the atmosphere at Ali Sami Yen, famous for its "Welcome to Hell" banners greeting foreign teams.
"Juventus should know fear is no good...(But) there is no escaping Ali Sami Yen," he said. "They will leave empty handed."
Terim will rely on the trusted combination of Sas and Hakan Sukur up front, fed by Romanian playmaker Gheorghe Hagi from midfield. But international midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu will miss the game through injury.
Juventus will be without striker Alessandro Del Piero and Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids, both injured, as well as suspended midfielders Angelo Di Livio and Alessio Tacchinardi.
Frenchman Didier Deschamps, Gianluca Pessotto and Antonio Conte may be joined in midfield by Alessandro Birindelli, leaving French playmaker Zinedine Zidane his customary free role behind strikers Filippo Inzaghi and either Nicola Amoruso or Uruguyan Daniel Fonseca.
Probable teams :
Galatasaray - Claudio Taffarel, Hakan Unsal, Gheorghe Popescu, Iulian Filipescu, Arif Erdem, Fatih Akyel, Umit Davala, Hasan Sas, Okan Buruk, Gheorghe Hagi, Hakan Sukur.
Juventus - Angelo Peruzzi, Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero, Mark Iuliano; Alessandro Birindelli, Didier Deschamps, Antonio Conte, Gianluca Pessotto; Zinedine Zidane; Nicola Amoruso, Filippo Inzaghi.
