Getty ImagesFerdi Kadioglu
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 09:47
Jesse Wieten
editor NOS Sport
Jesse Wieten
editor NOS Sport
NEC team manager Muslu Nalbantoglu experienced it first hand on December 24 last year in Istanbul. As a witness to the Turkish top match Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray (0-0), he saw that Ferdi Kadioglu had become a great gentleman six years after his departure from Nijmegen. Tonight he will probably start in the starting line-up in the European Championship match against Portugal.
“He was the most popular player,” says Nalbantoglu. “His popularity has grown enormously in recent years. During the warm-up the names were announced. His name was chanted the loudest by the thousands of fans in the stadium.”
Today’s 24-year-old sturdy, muscular back Kadioglu, a Turkish international with wild hair and a beard, looks little like the short-cut, still frail boy who opted for an uncertain adventure in 2018. As a great talent from NEC, then in the first division, Kadioglu left for the Turkish top club Fenerbahçe.
Turkey – Portugal at NOS
The preview of the European Championship match between Turkey and Portugal can be followed from 5:30 PM via NPO 1, NOS.nl and the NOS app and can be listened to on NPO Radio 1.
A summary of the match will appear online and on YouTube shortly after the final whistle.
Current FC Utrecht striker Ole Romeny was a teammate of Kadioglu in that last season at NEC. That was already a childhood dream for both of them.
They grew up together in Lent, now part of the municipality of Nijmegen but previously a village, right opposite the city, on the other side of the Waal. “We went to primary school together,” says Romeny. “He is a year older, but we were in class together for a few years.”
“That’s where it all started during the breaks,” said the attacker, who just turned 24. “Playing football. We were always separated, not allowed together, because we were the best players in the school.”
‘Into the ditch together’
While Kadioglu was picked up by NEC in 2008 at the age of eight from ESA from Arnhem, Romeny, as a player for DVOL from Lent, only received an invitation from the Nijmegen club three years later. This is how the two came to play together in the NEC youth academy.
They were countless hours in the NEC van between Lent, the secondary school in Nijmegen and the NEC Sports Complex De Eendracht. And at home they looked for a square or field to continue playing.
Be Romeny
Ferdi Kadioglu (m) and Ole Romeny (l) in the NEC youth squad
Be Romeny
Ferdi Kadioglu and Ole Romeny for the Goffert
Be Romeny
Ole Romeny makes his debut as a substitute for Ferdi Kadioglu
“We often went to the DVOL field to practice passes, or holding up, tricks or endless one-on-one. We were enthusiasts,” says Romeny. “If there was a ball in the ditch, we would jump into the water together. Or we would build a raft. Then we would be away from home all day. Lent was a top village to grow up in. Lots of nature, lots of freedom.”
‘Ferdi was my taxi’
Kadioglu made his debut in August 2016 at the age of seventeen in the first team of NEC. A year later, Nalbantoglu started working there as team manager. It was also the moment that Romeny was allowed to join the selection of the first team.
Dortmund is eyeing Kadioglu as Maatsen’s replacement
Kadioglu is said to be in the interest of the German football club Borussia Dortmund. Various media report this.
The Turkish-Dutch footballer is seen as a possible replacement for Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen. The Dutch left back is facing a transfer to Aston Villa, although Dortmund is also considering permanently acquiring Maatsen from Chelsea.
Nuri Sahin, Dortmund’s new coach, is certainly charmed by Kadioglu.
“Ferdi then took me by the hand,” says Romeny. “He always picked me up by car on the way to Nijmegen. He was my taxi.”
As a Turk who grew up in the Netherlands, Nalbantoglu was proud of the breakthrough of Kadioglu, who has a Turkish father and Dutch mother. “I always hope that Turkish boys will break through,” says the 40-year-old former NEC player (2004-2008).
“Ferdi was a quiet boy and a good football player,” Nalbantoglu continues. “You could place him anywhere in midfield. Or hanging on the left or right. He was very multifunctional and technically very good.”
Pro ShotsFerdi Kadioglu after a goal for NEC against Telstar
Romeny also made his debut halfway through that season. On January 19, 2018, the attacker came into the team for childhood friend Kadioglu in the 84th minute of the 3-2 away match against Almere City FC. In injury time, the substitute received a red card after a rash action.
“That was funny,” says Romeny. “After his substitution, Ferdi immediately walked angrily to the dressing room and a little later I took red and I could also go to the dressing room. The two of us sat there. Afterwards we laughed about it. Certainly not at the time. By the way, the red card was later removed. dismissed.”
To Fenerbahçe: ‘Not too ambitious?’
In the lost play-offs for promotion, they were on the field together against FC Emmen. Then Fenerbahçe signed for Kadioglu. “I knew it a little bit before,” Romeny remembers. “I was very happy for him. Proud. Our bond is forever.”
Nalbantoglu had his reservations: “How do they end up with Ferdi? That’s what I thought. Isn’t that too ambitious? I thought he would have a hard time. Football is very physical in Turkey. In the end it took a while.”
After a first season without playing time in the Turkish league, Kadioglu started playing more and more at Fenerbahçe and became a starter in the 2021/2022 season. That season he also received an invitation to the Turkish national team and the former Dutch Juniors player opted for an international career for Turkey.
Pro ShotsFerdi Kadioglu as a Fenerbahçe player
Kadioglu did not make his breakthrough as a midfielder, but as a back, usually on the left and sometimes on the right. “If you had said at NEC then that Ferdi would become a back, I would have thought you were crazy,” says Nalbantoglu. “I really didn’t think that at the time. He has become more complete and stronger,”
“His patience has been rewarded, it is coming out now,” says Romeny, who is not surprised that Kadioglu excels as a back. “I played him one-on-one so many times. I knew he was fierce and aggressive defensively and difficult to get past.”
“When you see him play now, it’s not normal,” Nalbantoglu admits. “His running ability, his work ethic, his energy, his speed, his fitness, he goes for ninety minutes. They recently showed on TV how quickly he switches gears. As a proud Turk, I hope he shines at the European Championships. The quarter-finals are a realistic goal.”
‘Ferdi must broaden his horizons”
Fenerbahçe fan Nalbantoglu got his tickets for the top match against Galatasaray through Kadioglu. There is a chance that the NEC team manager will soon have to obtain his tickets through a different route. Kadioglu’s contract with Fenerbahçe runs until mid-2026, but there is interest from the Premier League.
“It’s time to move,” says Nalbantoglu. “I say this with a heavy heart. Ferdi must broaden his horizons. Go abroad. Win prizes.”
2024-06-22 07:47:39
#Kadioglu #playing #normal
