Soccer Mania
After three amazing comebacks to reach the semifinals, Turkey is wild with rejoicing and hope. Two consecutive wins would make Turkey the Euro 2008 champion. But first the Turks have to clear the German hurdle in the semifinals in Basel, Switzerland, this evening and then take care of the other semi winner between Russia and Spain on Thursday in the grand finale on Sunday. (click for article)
From the bouts of cheering I hear from my balcony in Istanbul, the game isn’t over yet. The whole city is buzzing. The Bosphorus bridge is outlined in red lights and occasionally flashes like a crazed fan. A few streets down, someone has set a big TV on a chair on the sidewalk, attached to a long extension cord. A groups of neighbors have set up folding chairs and a small table on the opposite sidewalk. To watch the game, click here.
Turkey just shot its first goal and the whole city went wild, boat horns honking, people roaring from their balconies and windows. On TV at the game Turkish president Abdullah Gul jumped in the air and his wife fell into someone (else’s) arms. So much for all those debates about whether a pious Muslim should shake someone’s hand.
OK, four minutes later Germany shot a goal. It’s very exciting.
Germans 2, Turkey 1
3 1/2 minutes to go and Turkey scores another GOOOOL!! Outside imagine 12 million Istanbul inhabitants shouting, honking….
oh oh Silence. Germany scored a last-second goal. Game over. The Bosphorus Bridge is blue now. A sad bridge.
Great game, though! The BBC commentators raved over Turkey’s performance, even though they didn’t win in the end.
On a humorous note, from Burak Bekdil’s column in Today’s Zaman:
An imam in some remote town of Anatolia took the mosque’s microphone shortly after Turkey defeated Croatia and began to say an after-midnight ‘funeral prayer.’ “Croatia has passed away,” he announced to the townspeople who were anxious to learn which fellow had died. So we even had a funeral prayer for Croatia because we beat them in football. Could be a good starter for interfaith dialogue!
On a distressing note:
Sadly, around the country several children were wounded by stray bullets when men fired guns in the air to celebrate, more than 30 people injured so far after the three victories. The prime minister has spoken out and asked people to stop celebrating with guns.
For the game from the viewpoint of Turks living in Germany, click here.
Re: “[…] and his wife [Mrs. Gul] fell into someone (else’s) arms.”
Don’t all women in headscarves look alike? (I may be wrong but I don’t think she was Mrs. Gul.)
Re: “So much for all those debates about whether a pious Muslim should shake someone’s hand.”
Necmiye Alpay of Radikal (click for Turkish) addresses this point quite satisfactorily in my opinion, by saying, “Just as there are no homosexuals in Iran, there is not one child of God’s in Turkey who defends the Sharia.”
According to a Milliyet reader (see comments section), I was right about the headscarved woman giving hugs to the man sitting between herself and President Gul. He says that she was Aysel Dogan, the wife of Football Federation President Hasan Dogan, who must be the fellow receiving the hugs.