Latest news with #DriesMertens
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Details behind Napoli's move for Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne
Serie A giants Napoli are working on a move for Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne and details are now emerging about the situation. There have been claims that the midfielder's wife has already looked for flats in Naples and Marco Conterio has reported today that there is the approval of everyone at Napoli about the move for the Belgian. Advertisement De Bruyne already has an offer from Saudi Arabia but he has the desire of playing in Europe. Napoli want to capitalise even though they understand the high costs of signing the player. There is a two-year contract on the table for the Manchester City star, with talks already held with his father and entourage. He is being 8 million for two seasons and bonuses. Napoli are allocating some extra budget for this move, as they really want to make sure that it comes through, with reports in Italy confident that De Bruyne has a special relationship with the city because he got married in Naples and also went on vacation several times when Dries Mertens was still at the club. Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN
Daily Mirror
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
EA FC 25 Season 7 Objective rewards – paid season pass confirmed with tradable TOTS rewards
EA FC 25 Season 7: Team of the Season is now live across all EA FC 25 game modes, offering rewards in Ultimate Team, Career Mode, and Clubs. A TOTS-themed season is now underway in EA FC 25 Ultimate Team, with EA Sports releasing the EA FC 25 Season 7 Objective rewards, featuring both a free and a premium paid season pass. After confirming pre-launch that a paid season pass would feature in EA FC 25, it's taken EA Sports seven months to finally add this new feature to the game, with a paid season pass being released alongside a free season pass as part of the EA FC 25 Season 7 Objective rewards. To celebrate the upcoming TOTS promo that will kick off with the Ligue 1 TOTS squad, EA FC 25 Ultimate Team has entered Season 7: Team of the Season, with a bunch of TOTS-themed rewards on offer for players to earn. As always, EA has released a free season pass as part of the EA FC 25 Season 7 Objective rewards, but there's also a paid premium season pass, with even bigger rewards available, including end-game level TOTS player items and huge Evolutions with four PlayStyle Plus'. The EA FC 25 Season 7 Objectives will last 6 weeks in Ultimate Team before refreshing on Thursday, June 5 at 8am BST / 3am EDT / 12am PDT. EA FC 25 Season 7 Objective rewards Here's a complete list of the EA FC 25 Season 7: Team of the Season Objective rewards for both the free and paid season passes. Players will automatically earn the free season pass rewards, while the paid season pass will cost players either 500k Coins or 1,000 FC Points. You can redeem the paid season pass whenever you like, no matter how much SP you've already gained. For example, if you purchase the paid season pass having already earned 14.5k SP, then you will automatically unlock every reward on the paid season pass up to level 14. At Level 20, the paid season pass will give players 10k SP, which will instantly boost players to 30k SP and Level 30 on both season pass ladders. If you pay for the paid season pass from level 30 onwards, you will automatically complete the season ladder, and no SP will carry over to the following season. The rewards on the regular season pass are untradeable, while the packs in the paid season pass will be tradable, meaning anything you earn from the packs can be sold on the transfer market. EA FC 25 Season 7: Team of the Season Objective rewards (paid) The packs in the premium pass are tradable, while everything else is untradable. Level 1 (1,000 SP) – TOTS Flashback Kenny Lala (94 OVR) Level 2 (2,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 3 (3,000 SP) – 83+ x7 Pack Level 4 (4,000 SP) – Clubs vanity bundle Level 5 (5,000 SP) – TOTS Honourable Mentions Dries Mertens (94 OVR Level 6 (6,000 SP) – Clubs vanity bundle Level 7 (7,000 SP) – 78+ x3 Pack Level 8 (8,000 SP) – 78+ x5 Pack Level 9 (9,000 SP) – TOTS Retro 18 Cosmetic Evolution Level 10 (10,000 SP) – Tiki Taka PlayStyle Plus Evolution Level 11 (11,000 SP) – Clubs vanity bundle Level 12 (12,000 SP) – 82+ x5 Pack Level 13 (13,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 14 (14,000 SP) – 82+ x7 Pack Level 15 (15,000 SP) – 82+ x10 Pack Level 16 (16,000 SP) – Evolution bundle Level 17 (17,000 SP) – 84+ x2 Pack Level 18 (18,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 19 (19,000 SP) – 83+ x3 Pack Level 20 (20,000 SP) – 10,000 SP Level 21 (21,000 SP) – 83+ x5 Pack Level 22 (22,000 SP) – Draft Token Level 23 (23,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 24 (24,000 SP) – 83+ x10 Pack Level 25 (25,000 SP) – TOTS Flashback Lisandro Martinez (94 OVR) or Donny van de Beek (94 OVR) Level 26 (26,000 SP) – TOTS Retro 20 Cosmetic Evolution Level 27 (27,000 SP) – 84+ x4 Pack Level 28 (28,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 29 (29,000 SP) – 84+ x5 Pack Level 30 (30,000 SP) – TOTS Honourable Mentions Robin Gosens (94 OVR) Level 31 (31,000 SP) – TOTS Retro 19 Cosmetic Evolution Level 32 (3 2,000 SP) – 85+ x2 Pack Level 33 (33,000 S P) – 85+ x3 Pack Level 34 (34,000 SP) – 86+ x2 Pack Level 35 (35,000 SP) – TOTS Flashback Federico Chiesa (95 OVR) or Michy Batshuayi (95 OVR) Level 37 (37,000 SP) – Ultimate Team bundle Level 38 (38,000 SP) – Anticipate PlayStyle Plus Evolution Level 39 (39,000 SP) – 88+ x5 Pack Level 40 (40,000 SP) – 90+ x4 Pack or Immortals Icon Franck Ribery (96 OVR) EA FC 25 Season 7: Team of the Season Objective rewards (free) All of these rewards are untradable. Level 1 (1,000 SP) – 80+ Rare Gold Player Pick (1 of 4), 20k Clubs Coins, Heroes Purple Gloves, Heroes Purple Goggles Level 2 (2,000 SP) – Shadow Chemistry Style or Hunter Chemistry Style Level 3 (3,000 SP) – 81+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 4 (4,000 SP) – Winged Victory Home Kit, 81+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack, Heroes Purple Bandana, Heroes Orange Scarf, 20k Clubs Coins Level 5 (5,000 SP) – World Tour Jana Feldkamp (91 OVR) Level 6 (6,000 SP) – 80+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 7 (7,000 SP) – 81+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 8 (8,000 SP) – 82+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack, Heroes Tifo, Heroes Magenta Low Boots, Heroes Burgundy Lightnings Pettern Face Mask, 20k Clubs Coins Level 9 (9,000 SP) – 82+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 10 (10,000 SP) – TOTS Moments Christiane Endler (92 OVR) Level 11 (11,000 SP) – 81+ x10 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 12 (12,000 SP) – Victory Ball, 81+ x7 Rare Gold Players Pack, Heroes Burgundy Lightning Pattern Bandana, Heroes Orange Tie, 20k Clubs Coins Level 13 (13,000 SP) – 81+ x10 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 14 (14,000 SP) – Heroes Animated Tifo, 83+ Rare Gold Players Pick (1 of 5), Heroes Purple Comet Left Arm Tattoo, Heroes Burgundy Cap, 20k Clubs Coins Level 15 (15,000 SP) – RM Inside Forward++ Evolution, LM Inside Forward++ Evolution, CM Holding++ Evolution Level 16 (16,000 SP) – 82+ x7 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 17 (17,000 SP) – 82+ x10 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 18 (18,000 SP) – 83+ x3 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 19 (19,000 SP) – 83+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 20 (20,000 SP) – World Tour Mario Gotze (92 OVR) Level 21 (21,000 SP) – 84+ x3 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 22 (22,000 SP) – 84+ x4 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 23 (23,000 SP) – Pinged Pass PlayStyle Plus Evolution Level 24 (24,000 SP) – 84+ x5 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 25 (25,000 SP) – TOTS Moments Alyssa Thompson (93 OVR) or 84+ x10 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 26 (26,000 SP) – 85+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 27 (27,000 SP) – 85+ x3 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 28 (28,000 SP) – 86+ Rare Gold Players Pick (1 of 4) Level 29 (29,000 SP) – 86+ Rare Gold Players Pick (1 of 5) Level 30 (30,000 SP) – TOTS Flashback Juan Cuadrado (94 OVR) or TOTS Flashback Nicolas Pepe (94 OVR) or 85+ x7 Rare Gold Players Pack Level 31 (31,000 SP) – Level 32 (3 2,000 SP) – Level 33 (33,000 S P) – Level 34 (34,000 SP) – Level 35 (35,000 SP) – Level 36 (36,000 SP) – Level 37 (37,000 SP) – Level 38 (38,000 SP) – Level 39 (39,000 SP) – Level 40 (40,000 SP) – In the standard season pass, the requirements for the PlayStyle Plus Evolutions are as follows: Max OVR: 94 Max PlayStyles: 8 Max PlayStyle+: 3 In the paid season pass, the requirements for the PlayStyle Plus Evolutions are as follows: Max OVR: 95 Max PlayStyles: 8 Max PlayStyle+: 3 Season 7 is based on the TOTS promo, with incredible TOTS rewards available to earn, especially in the paid season pass. It costs a pretty penny to unlock, but with players like Franck Ribery available, it is quite appealing.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
AZ Alkmaar a Live Dog in Europa League Playoffs?
Indeed, 'the boys are back in town' (this is a song played at AZ's AFAS Stadion) and they'll be looking to do as much damage in the first leg as possible, in hopes of taking a lead with them to Turkiye for the second leg. The first leg is lined as a pick 'em in the Asian Handicap market and the total is set at 3.25. In terms of the Asian Handicap market, I certainly wouldn't put anyone off taking the over in this match. AZ are no strangers to a high-scoring affair, and Galatasaray themselves tend to see overs cashing in the vast majority of their European fixtures. However, it's those wild and crazy nights we've all witnessed with Galatasaray that lead me to believe that many have been fooled into to thinking the side is better than they are. Most American soccer bettors are not regularly watching the Turkish league, so they tend to only see Galatasaray in European competition, and again, when they see Galatasaray, it's usually in a high-scoring match where Galatasaray score some good goals and provide great entertainment. Then these viewers see the backs of the Galatasaray jerseys and find themselves saying over and over, 'oh, I know that guy.' Galatasaray are chock-full of past-his-prime players with some serious name recognition due to heights they'd reached previously with bigger clubs. No disrespect, of course, to some of their players who are very much in their prime (Victor Osimhen, here's to you) but the name recognition of cast-offs from Europe's big five leagues is plentiful: Dries Mertens, Mauro Icardi, Davinson Sanchez, Mario Lemina, and most recently, Alvaro Morata. Add to this the fact that Galatasaray are Turkish champions, and suddenly many bettors are left believing that the team are better than they actually are. In truth, Galatasaray are an average European side. As the last handful of soccer seasons suggests, the Europa League quarter-finals is about their level. They may win a round or two of knockouts depending on the season, but that's typically about it. They certainly aren't at a level that will strike fear into the hearts of AZ supporters. While AZ sit 4th in the Eredivisie table, and the Turkish champs, Galatasaray, continue to occupy top spot in Turkiye, the Dutch league is far more competitive, and AZ have impressed throughout the season both domestically and in Europe. With only two losses in their last ten matches across all competitions, AZ come into this tie in excellent form and have taken some impressive scalps in that run. When they traveled to Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven, they shared the points, and arguably started PSV's current slide in the Eredivisie. AZ beat Roma in the Europa league during this run as well, and they knocked Ajax out of the Dutch cup. The same Ajax team that beat Galatasaray two weeks ago! Because of all of this, there is huge value in the qualification market, where AZ are absolutely a live dog. At +175 to qualify to next round, they are being massively disrespected. Obviously, it's likeliest that AZ do better in their home leg, but due to the market pricing, the value on playing AZ to qualify is too good to pass up. So rather than play this first leg individually, I'll take AZ in the qualification market. We're getting a shorter price on AZ to win their home leg, but that requires them to win it. By taking them to qualify, we're not only getting a longer price, we're giving AZ the entirety of the tie to make it happen. We don't have to pick which leg they win, we don't have to worry about one of the legs being a draw, we get the possibility of extra time, and we get penalties on our side as well. The market is suggesting that Galatasaray are a significantly better side than AZ, and that's simply not the case. These teams are much closer to each other than the market suggests, and there's even a case to be made that AZ are better than the Turkish champs. And so I'll fade the narrative that Galatasaray are the better side, and I'll take AZ to qualify for the round of 16. For more analysis about this matchup, and for more Europa League and Champions League betting picks, check out The Soccer Sharps podcast on The Hooligan Soccer Network.
New York Times
11-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Galatasaray vs Adana Demirspor protest explained: Walk-offs and anti-referee sentiment
When it comes to Turkish football, nothing should be particularly surprising anymore, although it still has the capacity to shock. So when news filtered through on Sunday night that Galatasaray's game against Adana Demirspor had been abandoned because the visiting team had walked off the pitch just after the half-hour mark, in protests against refereeing decisions, the instinct was to be stunned. Advertisement But then blink twice, shrug and you'll think, 'Yeah, that makes sense.' To quickly recap: in the 12th minute, Galatasaray were awarded a penalty for a 'foul' on Dries Mertens. Depending on your point of view, Belgian forward Mertens either dived or at least exaggerated the contact between his leg and defender Semih Guler. Either way, the video assistant referee didn't regard it as enough of a mistake to overturn the decision. New Galatasaray signing Alvaro Morata converted the penalty. At that point, the Adana Demirspor board collectively decided to withdraw their players from the match, in protest against not just a decision they regarded as unfair, but one that was symptomatic of 'conscious referee mistakes and injustice that have become systematic', as the club put it in a statement. 'This decision is a reaction by our club against systematic, deliberate referee errors and injustice,' that statement continued. Adana Demirspor chairman Murat Sancak then phoned the president of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, to inform him of the decision. Haciosmanoglu expressed sympathy and tried to talk Sancak out of taking such a big step, but he held firm. There was then a period of mild farce as the decision was communicated to the Adana Demirspor coaching staff, who attempted to convey it to the fourth official. However, the noise in the stadium, combined with some confusion about how serious the visitors actually were, meant the message didn't really get through until just after the 30-minute mark. The game stopped after Adana Demirspor forward Yusuf Barasi went down injured, at which point his head coach Mustafa Alper Avci called Guler, their captain, to the sidelines. Guler in turn called the rest of the team off the pitch. Still, confusion reigned. Several players were visibly baffled, but they disappeared down the tunnel to the sound of deafening whistles from the Galatasaray fans. After a short delay as attempts were unsuccessfully made to change Adana Demirspor's minds, the game was abandoned by the match officials. Galatasaray's English language X account confirmed this with a waspish post reading: 'Opposition Adana Demirspor (standing at the bottom of table with five points and -31 goal difference) opts to withdraw from the match.' Opposition Adana Demirspor (standing at the bottom of table with 5 points and -31 goal difference) opts to withdraw from the match. — Galatasaray EN (@Galatasaray) February 9, 2025 Then the nonsense really started. Jose Mourinho, manager of Galatasaray's Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce, inserted himself into the debate (of course he did) by posting a carousel of three pictures and videos on Instagram: one was a still of him coaching from the sidelines during his team's 2-0 win over Alanyaspor earlier that day, another was a clip of him studying a scouting report of Anderlecht, their opponents in the Europa League play-offs this week, and the third was a clip of the Mertens/Guler incident. A post shared by Jose Mourinho (@josemourinho) Rumours began to fly. Accusations of conspiracy were circulated. Galatasaray vice-president Metin Ozturk seemed to imply the whole thing was planned by saying: 'Some people must have been expecting it because while we were trying to understand what happened, tweets started to be sent.' Their head coach Okan Buruk also suggested the walk-off was pre-meditated, telling the media after the game: 'This is not the first mistake made against them. I don't believe this was an innocent, spontaneous decision.' Advertisement Outlandish theories were put forward. The Athletic was told by sources close to Galatasaray that some at the club believed the whole thing was orchestrated by Fenerbahce president Ali Koc, an accusation which seeped out further into the Turkish media. The theory put forward was that Fenerbahce wanted to maintain the three-point gap to Galatasaray at the top of the Super Lig, ahead of the big Istanbul derby on February 23, rather than risk it being extended to six if the result on Sunday had stood. That doesn't particularly stack up for a variety of reasons, and Fenerbahce strongly denied any connection to the incident, going on the counter-offensive by releasing a statement on Sunday night that read: 'Your fraudulent player contracts, black market tickets and illegal betting advertisements may keep on deceiving the State and the Turkish Football Federation. Your illicit connections in the press and insincere statements may keep on deceiving the public. Your football players may keep on deceiving referees and football fans for years with their rigged moves. 'Thanks to you there is neither trust nor justice left in Turkish football. Nevertheless, you always claim to be innocent and to be victimised. Congratulations! Look what you have turned Turkish football into!' Galatasaray are yet to respond to a request for comment from The Athletic. Your fraudulent player contracts, black market tickets and illegal betting advertisements may keep on deceiving the State and the Turkish Football Federation, Your illicit connections in the press and insincere statements may keep on deceiving the public,Your football players… — Fenerbahçe English (@Fenerbahce_EN) February 9, 2025 Speaking to Turkish sports channel A Spor, Adana Demispor chairman Sancak also distanced Fenerbahce and Koc from the decision. 'This is not an act against Galatasaray,' he said. 'Ninety-nine per cent maybe we would have been defeated today. However, I see some comments, that neither Ali Koc nor the richest man in the Republic of Turkey can buy me. Advertisement 'Everyone should know this. Ali Koc cannot be someone to give me instructions. I don't take instructions from anyone. A man lives for his honour. 'This operation was done against the federation and MHK (the central refereeing committee). Theatre is being played. I would have done the same if it was Besiktas, Fenerbahce or Trabzonspor.' Adana Demirspor further clarified their position in a statement released on Monday, in which they said: 'Our club refuses to be a part of this distorted order into which Turkish Football has been dragged. We demand that interventions aimed at wearing down MHK and TFF be stopped. We declare to the public that we will not bow to injustice and systematic wrongs. We hope that this decision we have taken will be a milestone. We hope that injustice will end now. 'We state that we accept any punishment regarding our club and our community. We wish Turkish Football to have green fields where clean, fair and honourable matches take place. Our struggle will continue until an order is established where those who deserve it win and justice prevails! 'Finally, our advice to the Turkish Football Federation and its boards is this: It is your duty to fight against this structure. The board members appointed you to the management with the belief that you will fulfil this duty to the end. It is your duty to Turkish football, this country and those who voted for you to fulfil this sacred duty properly. We want to believe that you will fight until the end on this issue and that you will not run away from this struggle.' Also on Monday, Adana Demirspor president Bedirhan Durak stepped down, saying in a statement: 'I am resigning from the presidency, which was granted to me for the sake of my club, my family, my loved ones and my health, for a better tomorrow.' At the time of writing, an official decision has not been made about how the game will be recorded, but the strong likelihood is that Galatasaray will be awarded a 3-0 walkover win. It's also possible that Adana Demirspor could receive some sort of sanction, maybe a points deduction, for their actions. The TFF did not respond to a request for comment from The Athletic. It's not an oversimplification or a sweeping generalisation to say that basically everyone in Turkish football is paranoid about refereeing. You will struggle to find a club there who don't, on some level, think the system is rigged against them in some form. Sometimes that is a few rogue individuals, sometimes it's an institutional policy. Advertisement This formed the basis of Fenerbahce's threat to withdraw from the Super Lig last year. It also leads to situations such as Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca storming onto the pitch and punching a referee in the head, as he did in December 2023. Koca was given a lifetime ban from Turkish football by the authorities but was not universally condemned. This indicates how deep the anti-refereeing sentiment runs in the country. This isn't even the first time a game in Turkey has been abandoned because a team walked off in protest against a refereeing decision. Also in December 2023, Istanbulspor president Ecmel Faik Sarialioglu withdrew his players from a game against Trabzonspor because his side weren't awarded a penalty. Trabzonspor were awarded a 3-0 win and Istanbulspor were docked three points, but the fact the same scenario has been repeated now just over a year later, even though the likely punishment is known, emphasises how deep feelings run. It's part of the reason that Mourinho, not a man afraid of criticising referees and hinting at dark conspiracies, has seemed quite at home there since taking the Fenerbahce job last summer. During a game in October, he moved a laptop being used in their dugout during a game in front of a TV camera, showing the world an image that supposedly proved a decision given against his side was incorrect. The following month, the former Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur and Roma manager suggested that he would never have come to Turkey had he known how bad things were, suggesting that in a game against Trabzonspor, the VAR was 'the man of the match'. In an attempt to combat the problem, the TFF has outsourced some of its officiating. For the second half of this season, video assistant referees from other countries have been introduced: the VAR in the Galatasaray-Adana Demirspor game on Sunday was Jakob Alexander Sundberg, from Denmark. The idea is that if officials come from outside Turkey, they will be free of the biases that many believe are still present in the game there and it will be more difficult to accuse them of impropriety. Clearly, it hasn't worked. As can be seen from the incident at the weekend, these foreign officials are immediately regarded as part of the football establishment many believe to be corrupt, and assumed to be the same as the rest. And it's difficult to see how things can be fixed. Strident accusations of impropriety are thrown around frequently and casually, but at the same time with great anger. In December, Galatasaray demanded that TFF president Haciosmanoglu resign over comments he made on TV in which he alluded to unspecified 'heavy costs' that might befall Dursun Ozbek, the club's president. Their statement remains pinned at the top of the news feed on the club's website, some two months later. Haciosmanoglu responded, as reported by NTVSpor, commenting: 'If more than half of the clubs do not want us, we will leave… If it is proven that I spoke against Galatasaray with someone, I will resign.' Advertisement Haciosmanoglu has his own interesting history with referees: in 2015, while he was Trabzonspor president, the match officials were locked in a room for four hours after a game against Gaziantepspor, during which he was unhappy that a penalty had not been awarded to his team. 'I told stadium security not to let the referees leave until the morning until I arrived,' he said at the time, 'but a very important person called me and asked me not to cause embarrassment in Turkey and around the world.' That very important person was Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's national president. Haciosmanoglu was given a 280-day ban from football and fined for his role in the incident. Despite this, he was elected as TFF president last July. Ultimately, many sensible observers of the Turkish game are simply embarrassed by the situation. One, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to protect relationships, called it 'science fiction'. Another said that Turkish football was 'below zero'. GO DEEPER Football is 11 versus 11. On Saturday, a Dutch team played with 12 and it has caused chaos Banu Yelkovan, a respected columnist for the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, wrote on Monday: 'Is football a game where you walk off the pitch every time you don't like a decision? As teams and managers, we have seen and understood enough that you have no respect for each other, but now you have no respect for the fans either.' Yelkovan added in the article that whenever spectators think they have seen everything, they see something fresh. He also said the situation around referees and VARs was becoming like 'playing violin on the Titanic'. In most places, incidents like this would be outliers, shocking events that won't be repeated for years, if at all. But in Turkey… well, we'll see you in a few months for the next one.
Associated Press
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Turkish soccer match abandoned after players walk off in protest at refereeing decisions
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish soccer team Adana Demirspor walked off the field on Sunday to protest refereeing decisions, causing the Super Lig match against host Galatasaray to be abandoned. Galatasaray was leading 1-0 following a controversial penalty — which its own head coach thought shouldn't have been awarded — when Adana players decided to walk off in the 30th minute of the top-tier game. 'If a referee mistake was made, it will be evaluated,' Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk said. 'In my opinion, it was a position closer to not being a penalty.' He added: 'This is not the first mistake made against Adana Demirspor.' The penalty was awarded in the 11th minute after Dries Mertens was apparently tripped. Despite television replays showing that the former Napoli player had seemingly dived, the video assistant referee confirmed the penalty, which was converted by new signing Alvaro Morata. Adana reportedly grew increasingly frustrated by other refereeing decisions, prompting the club's decision to pull the players off the field — to resounding jeers from fans. Galatasaray's website said its team 'will win the match by default,' though the official decision will be made by the Turkish Football Federation. 'This is a great harm done to Turkish football,' Buruk said. 'I am saddened for Turkish soccer. There is always an effort to make Turkish soccer look bad to the outside world.'
