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Filip Novák had many excellent footballers as teammates. In Trabzonspor, he played with Argentinian José Sosa, who previously played in AC Milan, with Nigerian John Obi Mikel from Chelsea or English representative Daniel Sturridge, who, in addition to Chelsea, also replaced Manchester City and Liverpool.
He played with Arsenal icon captain Mesut Özil at Fenerbahce as well as Ecuador’s World Cup goalscorer Enner Valencia. “But if I have to say an exceptional player, the first one that comes to my mind is Arda Güler,” blurts out the former Czech national team defender without much thought, because he won’t forget that feeling easily.
Novak’s jaw dropped as soon as he saw the talented sixteen-year-old at Fenerbahce Istanbul’s first training session. “He surprised me with the way he plays. I thought to myself: You brat, he’s going to be a world-class player one day! Then I heard that Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City are interested in him, and in the end he will sign for Real.”
The Madrid giants paid around 750 million crowns for the skilful winger last summer.
On Wednesday evening, the Turkish national team will face the Czech team at the European Championship in the battle for promotion from the group. The Ankara native shone in the opener with a superb crossbar shot against Georgia to become the youngest player to score on his Euro debut 114 days after his 19th birthday.
“It’s an incredible feeling. I dreamed of such a goal. I regularly practice this ending at the end of training,” he blurted out. “I’m not interested in personal achievements. It’s about the team and I’m glad I helped them.”
He was also pleased by an encouraging message on his mobile phone from Real coach Carlo Ancelotti. “It meant a lot to me,” he said humbly.
Aktürkoglu’s teammate praised him for the goal kick: “As soon as he touched the ball, it was clear to me that he was going to shoot just like that and that it was going to be a goal.”
Georgia’s coach Willy Sagnol, who worked as a player in Bayern Munich and also in the French national team, did not spare superlatives: “He is a really great talent. As he gains more experience, he will score a lot of goals like this. He has a great future ahead of him.”
Tired or injured?
However, Turkey lost the second match against Portugal 0:3, and surprisingly, Güler only started on the bench, which immediately became a hot topic in the Turkish media. “Arda was showing signs of fatigue, we didn’t want to risk injury. I feel sorry for him. He couldn’t handle more than 30 minutes. I had the urge not to put him there even for 20, but in the end I decided that such good players simply have to play,” explained coach Vincenzo Montella.
Speculations about a strained relationship with the player were soon to be dispelled by a joint photo on social networks and an additional statement by the Turkish federation: “Before training, it was agreed that Arda Güler should undergo individual training due to pain in the groin in order to be as well prepared as possible for the match against the Czech Republic .”
Güler is not quite a world-class player yet, he is fighting for a place in Real Madrid’s team, but it is only a matter of time before Novák’s first idea comes true. Hosting elsewhere is out of the question.
Carriers for the Euro
Photo: List of News
Water carriers
His time will come
“Even though I didn’t play, coach Ancelotti had a good relationship with me. He kept telling me to be patient, that I had to work hard and that my time would come. These words gave me confidence. I am in love with football,” he assured.
“I’m not only working on the physical side, but also on the mental side. My mentality is focused on further development. I want to go down in club history, I want to become a Real Madrid legend. I saw all the European Cups in the showcase and I can say that it is an amazing feeling. I came to Real Madrid, one of the most important clubs in the world, to work and develop my game,” Güler describes his plans for the future.
His role models are former Real Madrid midfielders Zidane, Guti and Özil, after whom he took over the number ten shirt at Fenerbahce. He made his debut for the Turkish giants at the age of 16, and is also the youngest scorer in history for the national team, for which he made his debut on November 19, 2022 in a friendly against the Czech Republic and contributed to a 2:1 win.
Now, the prodigy of Turkish football would be even more happy to win over the Czech Republic.
