Latest news with #Shakhtar
Hindustan Times
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Former FC Barcelona star receives unwanted attention as manager after awkward interview with club's TV presenter
Former Atletico Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Turkey midfielder turned coach Arda Turan has found himself in the headlines for a slightly strange reason, as social media picked up on an awkward pitchside interview following a Shakhtar Donetsk match. Arda Turan in only three months into his role as head coach of Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk. Turan, who joined the Ukrainian giants only a couple of months ago as he looks to find his footing at the managerial level, was seen by cameras looking slightly shifty and uncomfortable while he was being spoken to pitchside by Ukrainian reporter and TV presenter Daria Bondar Savina. This interview followed Shakhtar's victory over Turkish club Besiktas in the second round of UEFA Europa League qualifying at the end of last month, as the team won comfortably 6-2 on aggregate over the team from Turan's homeland. However, their aspirations for a spot in the group stages was stymied in the subsequent final qualifying round, as they lost on penalties to Greek outfit Panathanaikos after a pair of goalless games. Fans wondered whether Arda's awkward nature had to do with his wife Aslihan Dogan, who is a media personality in Turkey and married the footballer in 2018. In fact, to make the situation just a little more awkward, reporter Daria Bondar Savina is also married to someone who plays under Turan at Shakhtar, that being Ukrainian national team centre-back Yeriy Bondar. Nevertheless, video of the interview shows that Arda still answered the questions posed to him in a confident and straightforward manner, perhaps depicting that he is growing into his young career as a manager well thus far. Before his role at Shakhtar, Turan was the manager of Eyupspor, who he guided to the Turkish Super Lig after earning them promotion in his first season in charge. During his playing career, Turan represented Turkey a hundred times on the international stage, showing he is no stranger to the spotlight given his importance to a football-crazed nation for a large part of his career. He served as captain of Turkish giants Galatasaray at the age of 22, before earning a move to La Liga with Atletico Madrid. He played and made a name for himself in Diego Simeone's midfield, before earning a jewel-in-the-crown move to FC Barcelona, where he played alongside names such as Lionel Messi and Neymar during the prime of his career.
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First Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
Ex-Barcelona star Turan struggles to maintain eye contact with female interviewer in viral video: ‘He hasn't grown up'
Shakhtar Donetsk had a tough time maintaining eye contact with Daria Bondar Savina during an interview following his team's 4-2 victory over Turkish club Besiktas in a UEFA Europa League qualifying game in Istanbul. His behaviour, though, was met with mixed reactions on social media. Shakhtar Donetsk coach Arda Turan did his best to keep his gaze away from interviewer Daria Bondar Savina during a post-match interview. Image credit: Screengrab of video posted by Shakhtar Donetsk on X Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Arda Turan is going viral on social media at the moment, and it's got little to do with his team's performance on the pitch in their recent fixtures. The former Turkey midfielder, after all, had a tough time during in an interview with the club's reporter Daria Bondar Savina, in which he tried his best to avoid eye contact with her. Turan was interviewed by Savina, 24, following Shakhtar's 4-2 victory over Turkish club Besiktas in their UEFA Europa League qualifying fixture on 24 July. And a key takeaway from the post-game interaction was how the 38-year-old former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid star darted his eyes all around while meeting Savina's gaze only a handful of times. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Watch: 🎙 «Ще нічого не завершено. Не можна пропускати два такі легкі голи» ⚒️ 🧡 Арда Туран – про перемогу над «Бешикташем», атаку «Шахтаря» та неймовірну атмосферу в Стамбулі 😍#Shakhtar #UEL #БешикташШахтар — ⚒FC SHAKHTAR DONETSK (@FCShakhtar) July 25, 2025 More from Football Turan's behaviour met with mixed reactions online Turan's rigid body language during the interview was met with mixed reactions on social media; while some praised him for being loyal to his wife and for being a good Muslim, others felt that the 38-year-old was yet to grow up and learn to control himself. Arda Turan He's trying so hard to keep his eyes off her body. Congratulations, he's a loyal man. — 𝓜𝓟 ✪ (@captainmpx) July 26, 2025 His wife: 'Who was that short-skirted young woman interviewing you?' Arda: 'Woman? What woman?' — Armand D'Angour (@ArmandDAngour) July 26, 2025 He is a good Muslim 😂😂😂😂 — Faysal Haddad (@FaysalHadd13109) July 26, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Because he hasn't grown up and he hasn't learnt how to control himself. — 6 Dog Sasquatch (@6DogSasquatch) July 27, 2025 I hate it when men do this. — Shokooh🎗️ (@Shokooh1373) July 26, 2025 Journalist and presenter Savina, who happens to be Shakhtar's Head of Media and is also a model, is married to Ukrainian centre-back Valeriy Bondar, who plays under Turan at the club. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Turan, meanwhile, has been married to Turkish model Aslihan Dogan for seven years, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan having attended their wedding in 2018.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Awkward moment married football manager desperately avoids eye contact with stunning reporter during interview
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SHAKHTAR DONETSK boss Arda Turan awkwardly avoided eye contact as he was interviewed by a reporter last month. The former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid star, 38, took charge of the Ukrainian giants earlier this year. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Arda Turan avoided eye contact for much of the interview Credit: Twitter 6 Turan, 38, looked in the opposite direction to the reporter Credit: X @FCShakhtar Play Dream Team now! Play The Sun Dream Team ahead of the 2025/26 season Free to play Over £100,000 in total prize money Play in Mini Leagues against your mates Submit a team for Gameweek 1 to enter £5,000 prize draw Play via Dream Team's app or website today! Turan is trying to guide Shakhtar to the Europa League league phase, and last month took his side to the city of his birth for a qualifier against Besiktas. After the first leg in Istanbul, which Shakhtar won 4-2, Turan was interviewed by club reporter Daria Bondar Savina. But as the 24-year-old spoke to Turan, the Turkish boss appeared to struggle to look at her. The ex-midfielder fidgeted throughout the two-minute interview and put his hands in his pockets. Turan didn't quite stare at the floor the whole time, Ange Postecoglou style, but moments of eye contact were fairly brief. The clip has only just been discovered on social media. One fan responded: "He's trying so hard." Savina is Shakhtar's head of media and has gathered a huge Instagram following of more than 500,000. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK 6 Daria Savina works for Shakhtar's media team Credit: Instagram @savinadasha 6 Daria has built a huge social media following Credit: Instagram @savinadasha In a further clip to circulate online, Turan was seen putting his arm around a female supporter while posing for a picture, without actually making any contact. Turan married wife Aslihan Dogan in 2018. Shakhtar Donetsk coach Arda Turan did not dare touch a female fan when asked to pose for a photo The ceremony was attended by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As a reporter attempted to quiz Aslihan, Turan fumed: "Be respectful, or I will crush your head and eyes! You're talking to my wife." The couple have two children together; Hamza Arda, six, and Asil Aslan, five. Turan has had an eventful career in the game. In 2019, Turan was hit with a two year and eight month suspended jail sentence after being found guilty of intentional injury and possession of an unlicensed weapon. The row began when Turan was alleged to have approached Turkish pop star Berkay's wife Ozlem Ada Sahin. He was claimed to have told her: "If I was not married, I wouldn't miss a girl like you." Turan then broke Berkay's nose when confronted, before following him to hospital. The footballer was later found to have brandished a gun in Berkay's room, saying: "I didn't know she is your wife. I'm sorry, just kill me." The singer refused, but fellow hospital patients were left terrified after the gun went off. Turan later submitted a written statement in which he apologised for his "instant error". 6 Turan has been married to Aslihan Dogan since 2018 Credit: Getty
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Arda Turan: ‘When Real and Barça went on tours Atlético ran in the mountains'
Arda Turan knows the question is coming. How has the firebrand who thrilled and exasperated during a successful, sometimes wildly controversial, playing career become a manager with the temperament to take on one of Europe's most delicate jobs? It comes down to taking a breath. 'When there is something going on, right now the first thing that comes into my mind is thinking rather than reacting,' he says with a grin. There will be plenty to occupy that fizzing brain at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he was appointed head coach in May. His competitive debut comes on Thursday, against the Finnish side Ilves, but it is a Europa League first qualifying round tie and the Ukrainian giants are not used to that stage. This is only their second year since the turn of the century without any form of Champions League football and they have rolled the dice by asking one of Turkey's greatest ever footballers to set them straight. Across those playing days Turan won 13 trophies, including two league titles apiece in La Liga and his homeland, and is a rare example of a Turkish export who achieved staying power at Europe's summit. In the first half of the 2010s there were few better, more varied attacking midfielders around. None of it came by chance and the aim now is to have a similar effect from the dugout. 'It's a special opportunity for me,' he says. 'Of course some things will take time. We need to regain the league title first and then we can think of getting Shakhtar to play games that have 'final' in their names, just like they did 16 years ago'. He is talking about their now almost unthinkable Uefa Cup win in 2009. Turan has not come in cold: the chance to think big was hard won after a two-year spell overseeing the rise of minnows Eyupspor, a little-known Istanbul club who he guided to a first top-flight promotion in 2023-24, narrowly failing to crown that with a European spot last season. It was impressive work by any measure of a first managerial role. 'Improvised football' and 'automatism' is how he terms the style behind their breakthrough, although in reality there is plenty more behind his methods. Much of it owes to time spent under a string of garlanded managers at Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, his beloved Galatasaray and the Turkey national team. Among them were the contrasting styles of Diego Simeone and Luis Enrique, while he also points to the likes of Fatih Terim, Guus Hiddink and Frank Rijkaard. Turan was hot-headed but says he was always listening, too, and storing ideas for future adaptation. He captained Galatasaray aged 22. 'Management was always somewhere in my mind,' he says. 'I always observed the interaction between coaches and players: what the coach did and how the players were responding. 'If you've ever worked with Simeone you'll always have certain football ideas in your head. You'll directly implement them because he was so impressive. Luis Enrique always had great face-to-face communication with players and incredible attacking solutions. I really believe they were very important. 'But it's not copy and paste, I have my own football ideas too. With Simeone and Luis Enrique I had very valuable chats and discussions. They were excellent teachers but I also believe good students should improve on what they have been taught. I have a lot of positives in my pocket and now I'm trying to put them into practice on the pitch.' He points to the blend of magic, tight-bound brotherhood and extraordinary physical prowess that saw off Real Madrid and Barcelona to earn Atlético that most scintillating of La Liga wins in 2013-14. Simeone's team could play but, before everything, they were taught humility. 'I always give this example: when Real and Barcelona were going to the US or the far east in pre-season with their sunglasses and everything, we were taken running in the mountains in Segovia,' Turan says. Perhaps harnessing the steel of Simeone with the lyrical approach of Luis Enrique would reap dividends. In extensively outlining what separates the elite from everybody else, Turan repeatedly comes back to the topic of physicality as a platform for expression. He believes it helped Eyupspor face up to Turkey's giants and wants it to shift the dial in Ukraine. 'In the big five leagues, 24 players out of 24 have the top physical quality,' he says. 'In the other leagues only five or six players in each team have that quality and this creates the imbalance. Look at Nuno Mendes, the left-back at PSG: he loses many balls, but the point is that he reacts straight afterwards. Tactics and correct positioning are important but you can't implement them without physicality. 'I was an offensive player, always wearing 10, and eventually didn't like to run. But it's the first step to achieving certain things. You can see how Ousmane Dembélé has been transformed, starting the high press. If we want to reach the highest level with Shakhtar we need to fight like this. If you are ready, you will feel you can compete with anyone.' Turan's aggressive edge has overspilled in ways that cannot be ignored. In September 2019 he was given a suspended jail sentence, which has now expired, after a brawl with the singer Berkay Sahin. It resulted in a broken nose for Sahin and culminated with Turan appearing at the hospital, firing a gun at the floor during the ensuing confusion. He later apologised. Turan is also alleged to have abused a journalist on Turkey's team plane after a match against North Macedonia in 2017, briefly retiring from international football afterwards, and in 2018 received a 16-game ban for shoving an assistant referee while on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion At 38, and with managers' behaviour far more closely policed, those old ways will not get you anywhere. 'When I was a player, I was only responsible for myself,' he says. 'I didn't have two children. I was more aggressive. I had the right to be more aggressive, and more right to make mistakes. But when you are a manager, you have players to look after and should remain calm in your character. 'I can say I'm more professional now, but if there's something unfair to me then I won't give in and my players know it. Of course I have made mistakes in my past, but I believe some of them came from the right place and I don't regret making them.' He knows man management will be essential in the unique situation he has inherited at Shakhtar, who have flown the flag for Ukraine to enormous credit for more than a decade since Russia's invasion forced them to leave Donetsk. Travel to play European games – whether away or at 'home' grounds such as Stozice Stadium in Ljubljana, where they will face Ilves – eats up endless days on the road. Players and their close ones continue to feel the horrors being inflicted in their country. The task of returning Shakhtar to the top has dimensions far beyond football. 'It's really exciting that we have this opportunity to make so many people happy, to give some contentment when all these things are going on in their country,' he says. 'We will have no excuses at all. The lives and families of my players are the most important thing to me and I've told them I will be supporting them fully in this area. My heart will always be with them. The sacrifices Ukrainian football has made are huge and if I can help Shakhtar be successful I'll be the happiest person.' Turan will work closely with the Shakhtar director of football, Darijo Srna, with whom he sparred on multiple occasions for fine Turkey and Croatian teams. It appears Srna has forgiven him for the dramatic fashion in which Turan's side prevailed in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals, both players scoring in the shootout but Turkey pulling through after the teams had traded goals late in extra time. 'They really crushed us in the eight years after that,' he laughs. 'It was an important game in our history. Maybe without that suffering, they couldn't have bounced back and gone all the way to the World Cup final. I'm happy we shared these moments.' Now they aim to feast in many more. Turan the head coach may be an unlikely figure to those with long memories, but has no qualms admitting that he wants to emulate those heights achieved on the pitch. 'Of course I have this dream in my mind,' he says. 'But I think Shakhtar have every means in place to realise my dreams.' Restoring their past glories would, by some distance, be his greatest feat yet.
Scotsman
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Europa League draw puts Hibs on alert ahead of learning UEFA fate
Shakhtar and Legia both get straightforward ties in first qualifying round Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hibs will be hoping to avoid one of the either/or options in tomorrow's Europa League second qualifying round draw. And their path to UEFA league stage football is just a little bit clearer after today's first qualifying round draw. David Gray's men will definitely be unseeded in the draw scheduled for 12 noon UK time tomorrow. And early risers among the Easter Road support will be able to find out more about potential opponents when UEFA split the eight potential ties into two groups of four at 7.30 am tomorrow. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For planning purposes, Hibs would like to draw one of the four seeded teams afforded direct entry to the second qualifying round. Even if that means taking on a side with a proven European pedigree in the shape of FC Midtjylland, Anderlecht, SC Braga or FC Lugano, all of whom have played in league/group stage football in recent seasons. That would at least give Hibs time to prepare hosting and travel plans for the two games scheduled for July 24 and 31. If they draw the winners of one of the first-round ties, however, they won't have the identity of their opposition – or their destination for the away leg – confirmed until July 17, giving them under a week to make all the arrangements. Europa League first round qualifying draw - ties to be played July 10 and 17. Legia Warsaw (Poland) v FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan) Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) v Ilves Tampere (Finland) Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) v FC Prishtina (Kosovo) Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) v BK Hacken (Sweden) Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) v Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel) AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) v Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) Paksi FC (Hungary) v CFR 1907 Cluj (Romania) Sabah FC (Azerbaijan) v NK Celje (Slovenia) At least today's draw has narrowed the field slightly, with Shakhtar Donetsk and Legia Warsaw both handed favourable draws – making their progress to the second qualifying round more likely. Should top seeds Shakhtar, Legia, Partizan Belgrade or Sheriff Tiraspol be upset in the first round, their conquerors will retain their seeding for the second qualifying round - meaning Hibs could be drawn against an outsider, albeit one who has just pulled off a major shock. Europa League second qualifying round draw (*denotes team still to navigate first qualifying round) Seeded (*denotes team in first qualifying round) Unseeded (*denotes team in first qualifying round) FC Midtjylland (Denmark) Hibernian (Scotland) Sporting Braga (Portugal) Besiktas (Turkey) Anderlecht (Belgium) FC Utrecht (Netherlands) FC Lugano (Switzerland) Banik Ostrava (Czechia) Shakhtar Donetsk* (Ukraine)/Ilves Tampere (Finland) CFR Cluj* (Romania)/Paksi FC (Hungary) Legia Warsaw* (Poland)/FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan) Hapoel Beer-Sheva* (Israel)/Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) Partizan Belgrade* (Serbia)/AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) NK Celje* (Slovenia)/Sabah FC (Azerbaijan) Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)/FC Prishtina (Kosovo) Spartak Trnava* (Slovakia)/BK Hacken (Sweden) Denied the prize of guaranteed European league stage football by Aberdeen's shock Scottish Cup win over Celtic at Hampden last month, Hibs face a tough road to reach either the Europa League or Conference League proper. Should they get through two rounds of Europa League qualifying to reach the play-offs, failure there would see them drop into the league stages of the Conference League. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Just getting past the Europa League second qualifying round would guarantee them a place in the Conference League play-offs. Fail to get past their first hurdle in the Europa League, however, and they'll drop into the Conference League third qualifying round. Watch this space: Tune back in tomorrow morning to get a rundown on ALL of Hibernian's potential Europa League opponents in our handy guide to the draw.
