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Can the Fener Canaries break the jinx this time around?
Midfielder Mehmet Güven, a Galatasaray reject, redirected a cross by Lyon-born Cameroon defender Jacques Momha into the back of the Fener net in the 15th minute to give Manisaspor an early lead.
But captain-playmaker Alex De Souza evened things up for the Canaries in the 65th minute. The natural leftie scored a cracker of a shot with the right foot after a superb cross by prolific midfielder Mehmet Topuz to settle the score: Manisaspor 1, Fenerbahçe 1.
“I have appeared in six cup finals [in Turkey since 1993],” Fenerbahçe coach Christoph Daum said at his post-match news conference. “I have won two of them, all for Beşiktaş [and none for Fenerbahçe]. Hopefully we will succeed in next month’s final,” he further stated.
It is worthy to note that Daum was the Fenerbahçe coach when Galatasaray walloped Fener 5-1 in the cup final in 2004-05.
Manisaspor defender Hüseyin Tok, on the other hand, rued his team’s missed chances. “All in all, we were the better side,” he said after the match.
“We aimed to say the course, but it was not to be. We had several glaring chances but could only convert one. And in football if you don’t outscore your opponent, you don’t win,” he added.
Cup drought
Come May 5, the Canaries have another opportunity to break the cup curse that continues to hang around their necks. But playing in the Turkish Cup final is not what really matters; winning is what’s important. The simple reason is that it has been the same old story for the Canaries, who have played in six cup finals in the last 26 years without a single triumph.
The Canaries were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Beşiktaş in the final in 1988-89; 2-1 on aggregate by Galatasaray in 1995-96; 4-1 in a penalty shootout by Gençlerbirliği in 2001-02; 5-1 by Galatasaray in 2004-05; 3-2 by Beşiktaş in 2005-06; and 4-2 again by Beşiktaş in 2008-09.
Fenerbahçe Turkey striker Semih Şentürk was born on April 29, 1983, and was a little baby boy when the Canaries last clinched the cup. And the sad thing is, the situation remains exactly the same.
Will things change for the better this time around for the Canaries? We will all see after the final on May 5.
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