Should we BRAG About it?

Well I know it's been a while that I didn't hit any keystroke lately, and I also know lame jokes about Braga victory have already been done about a million times already. However, I couldn't hold of myself. So sue me! :)

To be honest with you I still feel exhausted or burned out to be exact in terms of blogging and even following Turkish League this year. Everything's so fake. The worst part is everybody knows this and everyone accepts it. Cheaters are not punished, Federation officials became all liars and ran away in order to save their beloved clubs, politicians adds up the last drop and the whole mess continues just to create bigger turmoils.

I guess the first defensive statement of a person who still continues to watch the league this year is; "Well, I only follow my team, others don't interest me at all", just like the Turkish saying if the snake doesn't touch me, let it live a thousand years... However, the snake touches everyone, and most of us have chosen to bury our heads into the sand for a long time. At the end, we clearly see that this whole mess that was created by the club officials, will continue full steam as long as they will rule the Turkish Football the same way that they have been ruling for ages. I mean come on now, would it called an election if there's only one runner for the presidency? And that's exactly what's been going on for as long as I remember in TFF. Anyways, I'm sick and tired of this situation like so many others and I just wanted to write about our latest Europa League venture.

After losing three straight games and an away draw we clearly lost our championship chances this year. Even though there will be the ridiculous play-off at the end, the performance shows a very slim chance to come back to the top, in which Galatasaray seems to took off already. There were several reasons for this decline but it should be stated in a season's review or this post will be continue forever. Demirören's non-existent presidency, Carvalhal's January interview about play-off, financial crisis among the players, fixture makers for the league and the punishment system of PFDK would be the highlights, of course.

So, the status didn't look so bright prior to an away game in Braga, who were one of the finalists of the very same competition last year. I thought a three goal deficit will suffice and hoping that anything more than that will not be the case this time around. When I saw the team sheets, the only thing that made me happy Tanju's fielding instead of Ekrem in the back line. Moreover, when you look at the squad, it seemed more like a Denizliesque one rather than a Schuster style. Maybe it was the only option to get something out of this game, just like Trabzonspor away game in the first half of the season. After the first 15 minutes, Braga seemed to attack more an our only hope was Q7 whom happened to gain about 15-20 pounds extra in the personal winter break that he took in Portugal. However, a miracle happened and the referee reduced our opponents with a red card that have turned all the odds on the table. Five minutes later, Sivok's header from the corner spot -which is becoming a classic this year-, brought in the belief of success to the whole squad and the supporters all around the world.

10 men Braga fought well into the second half, but our boys used an opportunity really good when Fernandes paved the way for Simao to score and maybe even secure the round in favor of Beşiktaş. Surely, a third or maybe a fourth goal should have been pursued, however when you have a defensive minded coach you can't ask for more.

In the end, "the Portuguese among us" proved themselves even though there's still a second leg for this tie next Thursday, on the 23rd. Now, all heads are turned to the Gençlerbirliği game in which there's a tab to be picked up from the first half...

So I guess it's kind of early to BRAG About it, and we shall still keep our fingers crossed; since there's always an "if" when it's Beşiktaş we're talking about...