Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: January 27, 2024, 00:01 IST
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Seeking a bonus to his storied profession as a participant and coach in Turkey, Fatih Terim is going through his subsequent problem in neighboring Greece.
ATHENS, Greece: Seeking a bonus to his storied profession as a participant and coach in Turkey, Fatih Terim is going through his subsequent problem in neighboring Greece.
The stressed 70-yr-outdated took cost of Panathinaikos on the new yr and his staff subsequent performs PAOK in Thessaloniki on Sunday. The two groups at the moment high the Super League with 44 factors from 19 matches.
Terim, a former Turkey nationwide staff coach who received eight championship titles as supervisor at Galatasaray, earned the nickname “Emperor” for his serial successes.
He’s made an instantaneous influence in Athens, successful three league matches, holding title contender AEK Athens 2-2 at house and knocking Olympiakos out of the Greek Cup.
In the January window, Terim signed Greece captain Tassos Bakasetas and secured mortgage offers to shore up Panathinaikos’ protection with Turkey worldwide Samet Akaydin and Poland goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski.
All three performed midweek within the first leg of the Greek Cup quarterfinals at Atromitos, in western Athens. Panathinaikos dominated however misplaced its first sport this yr, 2-1.
Α little uncharacteristically, Terim shrugged off the outcome.
“As long as Panathinaikos plays like that, no one should get upset. We will not fear PAOK,” he mentioned after the match, acknowledging that gamers might have been distracted by their upcoming journey north.
In Athens, Terim has taken care to keep away from any touch upon the customarily-strained relations between Greece and his native Turkey.
His excessive-profile transfer comes amid a thaw in relations between the 2 neighbors, who agreed final yr to put aside lengthy-standing disputes over unlawful migration into the European Union and disputed sea boundaries within the jap Mediterranean.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, himself a semi-skilled soccer participant in his youth, telephoned Terim after he landed in Athens in late December to want him luck.
In-form PAOK, hoping to repeat its profitable title run in 2019, will likely be lacking injured Portuguese captain Vieirinha in addition to defender William Troost-Ekong and ahead Mbwana Samatta on the African Cup.
Consistently outspent by its rivals, Panathinaikos hasn’t received a Greek league title since 2010.
“Fourteen years is a long time,” Terim informed reporters after his arrival. “But the same thing happened (when I took over) at Galatasaray — until we beat everybody.” ___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
