Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 886 The Turkish Team's Racial Talent (Second Update Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The draw would determine the pairings for the Round of 16.
Before the draw, those who hated Chen Hero hoped that Liverpool would draw Inter Milan, a clash of titans, so that Liverpool would be eliminated by Inter Milan. Chen Hero would then have no chance to spout nonsense in front of them, disgusting them.
But things didn't go as they wished.
Liverpool didn't draw Inter Milan.
Their opponent was a Turkish team that was neither particularly strong nor particularly weak—Besiktas.
Judging by the strength of the two sides, Besiktas was clearly no match for Liverpool.
But Besiktas had one advantage: they were a Turkish team.
What advantage was it to be a Turkish team?
It was actually quite significant.
Whether it was Besiktas, Galatasaray, or Fenerbahce, the most prominent characteristic of Turkish teams was that their home stadiums were incredibly intimidating—it was their "racial talent."
There was an incident that vividly illustrated the atmosphere of a Turkish stadium—during a match between two Turkish teams, when a visiting player went to take a corner kick, the corner flag area was bombarded with all kinds of debris thrown from the stands by fans, from lighters and coins to cell phones. Some people even tore off seats and threw them.
Even in England and Italy, regions with high rates of football hooliganism and stadium violence, such an incident would be considered a major event. The referee might even stop the game, riot police would intervene, and a large-scale arrest would begin.
The media would then start to heavily criticize stadium violence and football hooligans for polluting the pure sport of football.
But in Turkey, in that match, not only the players but even the referee ignored it.
The only protection was about twenty fully armed riot police officers holding shields between the player taking the kick and the stands, but even that couldn't stop the rain of debris from falling from the stands.
However, the player taking the kick remained calm. He simply picked up the debris in his kicking area, threw it away, and then kicked the ball out as he would in any other game.
In November 2003, in the same stadium, the English team and the Turkish team had a brawl after the game. Turkish player Alpay, who played for Aston Villa in the English Premier League at the time, was fired for mocking Beckham for missing a penalty and for his active participation in the post-match brawl.
During the 2005 German World Cup qualifiers, Switzerland defeated Turkey on the road to secure a spot in the German World Cup. After the game, a large-scale fight broke out between the two sides in the tunnel, and the visiting Swiss were outnumbered. This was not only because their opponents were fierce Turkic warriors, but also because of the Turkish riot police. The Turkish police attacked them mercilessly and threatened to "cut their throats." Several Swiss players were injured, the most seriously injured being kicked in the groin, causing internal bleeding and being rushed to the hospital for treatment. He was catheterized and continued to bleed in his urine the next day. His teammates were terrified. All the Swiss players were beaten and frightened to varying degrees.
After this conflict, Neil Warnock, the manager of Sheffield United, who had coached in the ***, started a "Weekly Lessons Learned" column in the British newspaper *The Independent*. Regarding this incident, he clearly stated at the beginning of the column: "The first lesson is, never take a team to Turkey without body armor and kung fu training."
He recalled the match between Switzerland and Turkey in this way: "Every time a free kick was taken, eight Turkish players would rush up and push the referee from different angles. The referee couldn't show a red card, because if he did, the entire Turkish team would have to leave the field... I love Turkey, Istanbul is a wonderful city, but I don't want to take my team there to play. Maybe I should threaten my players like this: If you don't get promoted at the end of the season, then we'll go to Istanbul!"
Ireland legend Cascarino also wrote in *The Times*: "The events that took place in Istanbul on Wednesday reminded me of my last appearance for the Irish team, which was against Turkey in the 2000 European Cup play-offs. Players love an exciting atmosphere, but when your heart is racing because your life is in danger, that's another matter. The Turkish police are also part of the problem. They are not there to protect you, but to remind you that you are a foreigner, this is their country, and you are alone. A Swiss player was injured and hospitalized. Do we have to wait until a player dies in Turkey before FIFA imposes severe sanctions?"
This incident aroused FIFA's anger. Logically speaking, the Turkish side should have shown weakness, right? No! You have underestimated the madness of the Turks!
What is a hellish home stadium? A hellish home stadium is one that even FIFA can't handle!
FIFA President Blatter issued a strongly worded statement, saying that Turkey and Switzerland should be severely punished. Swiss players said that they were ready to be banned, even if it meant they couldn't participate in the World Cup, because "being able to escape from Turkey alive is already lucky enough..."
The Turkish side reacted strongly. The Turkish media called Blatter "disregarding human life" and scolded him as a "rogue chairman." At the time, Turkish coach Terim also stated that the international football community was prejudiced against Turkey: "We Turks must act in unity. They are prejudiced against Turks. Even if nothing happens, the opponents will use this prejudice against Turkey."
The conflict even escalated into a diplomatic dispute. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Sahin issued a statement saying: "I cannot accept Turkey being singled out as the guilty party. I regret hearing such a statement from the FIFA president before the match report has been released. He is speaking as a Swiss fan, not as a president." The Swiss Foreign Minister countered by saying that the treatment of the Swiss team was "unacceptable."
In short, it is not surprising that a match can trigger a diplomatic dispute in Turkey.
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From these examples, everyone can more or less understand what the atmosphere of Turkish stadiums is like.
Any team from other parts of Europe that comes to Turkey to play will feel enormous pressure. If their mental fortitude is weak, they may even become weak in the knees and lose all their form. Many teams, even the giants, do not want to play in Turkey.
Although we often say that a certain stadium has a lively atmosphere and puts a lot of psychological pressure on the visiting team, calling it a "hellish home stadium" or "devilish home stadium," you should know that the origin of this term is Turkey—when Manchester United challenged Galatasaray in Turkey in 1993, Galatasaray fans unfurled a very famous banner in the stands, which read: "Welcome to Hell!" Since then, the reputation of "hellish stadium" has spread like wildfire, shocking the world.
Later, the Turkish team's home stadium constantly reinforced their concept and brand image of "hellish home stadium" to the world.
Leeds United fans were stabbed to death, stadium brawls, racial discrimination... all kinds of scandals surrounded Turkish stadiums, and whether good or bad, they all became part of the "hellish home stadium."
But now this term has been overused, and many stadiums are actually not "hellish" or "devilish" at all. The most authentic "hellish home stadium" and "devilish home stadium" only exist in Turkey.
Because if you go to those other "hellish stadiums" to play, you may lose a game. But if you go to Turkey's "hellish home stadium" to play, you may lose your life...
Everyone is a professional player. Playing football is like workers going to work and farmers planting fields. It's all just work.
Since it's work, it's just to make a living, so there's no need to give your life for it, right?
Although Shankly said that "football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that," there's no need for us to be martyrs.
European teams really can't muster the energy to play in places where they might lose their lives...
So considering this, Liverpool drawing Besiktas is not a weak opponent at all.
Moreover, Besiktas plays at home first, and in order to get rid of their opponent at home, they will definitely maximize their home advantage!
Of course, Liverpool is not completely without a chance.
Liverpool played against Besiktas in the Champions League group stage in 2007. At that time, Liverpool lost 1:2 to Besiktas on the road, but when they returned to their home stadium, Liverpool gave Besiktas an 8:0!
So as long as Liverpool doesn't lose too badly on the road, they still have a chance to defeat Besiktas at home.
This draw result can be said to have satisfied both sides, those who support Liverpool and those who hate Chen Hero.
Those who support Liverpool obviously feel that Liverpool's strength is higher than Besiktas's, so passing the round is not a problem. Maybe after returning to their home stadium, Liverpool can replicate the 8:0 miracle of 2007 on Besiktas, and Chen Hero can take the opportunity to score goals, right? It's not impossible to score twenty goals in one game.
And those who hate Chen Hero believe that Besiktas can completely eliminate Liverpool at home. When Chen Hero's fiery temper meets the fiery atmosphere of the hellish home stadium, maybe they will stir up something they like to see... For example, Hero will clash with the opposing players, and then be sent off with a red card. In that case, he will have no chance to complete his goal of twenty goals this season, and Liverpool, without Chen Hero, will be eliminated by Besiktas.
That would be a win-win situation!