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Gunning for UEFA Cup Arsenal enters cup final as favorite over Galatasaray
Posted: Monday May 15, 2000 11:08 PM
FARUM, Denmark (AP) -- A few hundred Turks waved Galatsaray's red and yellow flags and scarves and chanted their team's nickname Monday outside a stadium north of Copenhagen, where the visiting team was training ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against Arsenal. Arsenal, the favorite, hopes that the Danish capital where they won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994, will bring them luck again. Galatasaray is the first Turkish club to gain a European final. "This is an important success," coach Fatih Terim said before leaving Istanbul for Copenhagen. "Insallah [God willing], we will finish this job." Soccer fan Ferhat Yildiz said he would stand by his team no matter what. "Win or lose, we should be happy that we've come so far," the 19-year-old student of Turkish descent who lives in Denmark. "But our hearts say Galatasaray must win." The match has been overshadowed by the outbreak of violence after two English fans were stabbed to death last month on the eve of Leeds' first-leg semifinal against Galatasaray in Istanbul. Last week, Arsenal warned that Leeds hooligans intent on carrying out revenge attacks on Turkish fans might be traveling to Copenhagen. As a consequence, Danish police have mounted its biggest security operation ever with a soccer match in Denmark. "We believe there will fair play inside and outside the stadium," Galatasaray board member Burak Elmas told reporters while the players had a one-hour training session in Farum, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Copenhagen after arriving earlier Monday. Arsenal, led by coach Arsene Wenger, were to arrive Tuesday. "We believe we can win," Elmas said. "Our team has shown great performances this year." Terim took over the team four years ago. Since then Galatasaray has brought in expensive foreign players like Gheorghe Hagi -- also known as the "Maradona of the Carpathians" -- and defender Gheorghe Popescu, both Romanians. The Turks also have Brazil's World Cup goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel. A few Galatasaray players -- including midfielder Okan Buruk -- were suffering from minor injuries but their morale was good, Terim said. On Sunday, Galatasaray clinched its fourth straight Turkish league title after its closest rival lost. Arsenal, which defeated Italian powerhouse Parma 1-0 in the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup final in Copenhagen, has not lifted a European trophy since then. With Swedish midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg out with a rib injury, Arsenal is almost certain to start the game with Marc Overmars wide on the left behind a strikeforce of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. Ljungberg suffered the injury in the UEFA Cup semifinal in Lens. Otherwise, Arsenal has rested its key players. On Saturday, the Gunners fielded mainly a team of backup players in the 4-2 loss to Newcastle, giving veteran goalkeeper David Seaman, defenders Tony Adams and Lee Dixon, midfielders Overmars, Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira and strikers Davor Suker and Bergkamp a break before the final. The UEFA Cup final will be refereed by Spaniard Jose Antonio Lopez Nieto. Prince Joachim, Queen Margrethe's youngest son, will make a brief speech to the 39,000 fans at Copenhagen's Parken stadium. The final will be broadcast live in more than 185 countries, the Danish Soccer Union said.
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