Beşiktaş’s young player, Serdar Saatçı, made a statement. Serdar, who started his speech by describing his life as it was his first interview in his career, said, “I was born in the Yıldırım neighborhood of Bayrampaşa. We have a nuclear family of 5 people. Although I also have a grandmother, she will be my queen. I have an older brother and a twin. My mother is 18 years old in Serbia. When he came to see my aunt, they met my father. Then they met and got married. My brother was born in 2000, my twin was born in 2003. We are fraternal twins. He doesn’t look like me at all. I’m blonde, he’s orange. My father played professional football for 16 years. Football “He started working in infrastructure towards the end of his career. Wherever he went, we followed him.”
“DAD WAS CARRYING ME ON HIS BACK”
Saying that his father, Sedat Saatçı, became a coach after he quit football, Serdar said, “My father was working in Bayrampaşa when I was 10. He was a coach in the U11 league. Those born in 2002 were playing. He said to me, ‘Can you play?’ Then we started playing. Then Semih Sezerli from Beşiktaş came to watch. We played at Arda Turan Facilities. When he went to talk to my father for me, my father said, ‘My son,’ and Semih said, ‘We like him, we want to try him in Beşiktaş.’ We went when we said we got on. It was actually very easy to go, but later we learned. We went with my father for 15 days in a row. Since I was young, we used to go up the Mecidiyeköy slope after the training session. They call it ‘Hell Hill’.
My father sometimes carried me on his back because I was tired. I felt sorry for my father for carrying me on his back and said, ‘Dad, the possibilities are very difficult, let’s take a break’. I took a break for a while, but there was the April 23 tournament. Our age category was also defeated by Fenerbahçe. They called my father and said, ‘Serdar should come’. My father said to me, ‘You have to make a decision for your life. This is a start for you. If you give up now, you can’t see the future. These steps are just the beginning. You will have difficulties in the next stage as you go out one by one,” he said. It started to come with me. Because of his professional life, he is the one who gives me strength. I am learning many things from him. He has a very ambitious nature. He gave me a critical speech. This is how our Beşiktaş adventure started. We said sacrifice for a while, my father started to come with me for 3 years. Then when I got older, I started going alone,” he said.
“I WAS SHOCKED WHEN THE DOCTOR TOLD ME ‘YOU CANNOT PLAY FOOTBALL AGAIN'”
Saying that there were many turning points in his life, Serdar Saatçı said, “It will still happen. I was asked to be sent from the infrastructure, then I stayed. There were teachers who trusted me. 10 days before the start of the season, I got an iron on my feet. We went to the hospital in Keşan, but the hospital that could do stitches was 2 hours away. The woman helped us. She drove us home with her car. My father was not with us either. There was no one who had a car with us. Uncle Şaban was with us. It had been 2 hours for me. I had stitches under my foot with a hook. When the doctor said to me, ‘Do you play sports? and he said, ‘You may not be able to play football again.’
My father had a Bulgarian doctor friend. I did what he said and made water with a batikon for a while and the wound was closed. I couldn’t attend training for 3 months. Then I went back to the field, but I wanted time. I was jogging. When I stepped on, I felt that I had no feet due to fear. Then, in a match, the defender was injured. I was the only defender on the bench and they saw me recover after I came into the game. This was also a turning point. Later, while I was on vacation in the village, I cut my foot with a scythe. I was a very naughty child. But by then I was up for the season. Now I pay more attention to the holidays,” he said.
“WHEN I HEAR THE MUSIC OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, MY EXCITEMENT WAS HIGH”
Saying that he played his first game in the Turkish Cup and was very excited, Serdar said, “I was very excited. I’m not normally a sweaty person, my body type is like that, but after the match I watched myself on TV again and couldn’t recognize myself. I was so nervous that I saw myself sweating this much for the first time in my life.” ” said.
Speaking about the Ajax fight in the Champions League, the young player said, “I started the first 11 in a big tournament for the first time. It’s an atmosphere that everyone dreams of. I had no excitement while warming up. Brother Mert Günok was always helping me, he was always by my side. I was also excited while waiting in the corridor before the match. There was no Champions League music, but the Champions League music started and the excitement started in me. You play against Ajax, they dominated their league. After the match started, I got myself together after a few interventions. This excitement is indescribable. I always dreamed of the Champions League. It wasn’t like a dream. “My mother and father cried with joy. We were very sad that we lost the match, but I did not perform badly. After all, I played against Haller. My family was also very happy,” he said.
“I LEARN A LOT FROM VIDA ON AND OFF THE FIELD”
Talking about Vida, who he plays with on the field and looks very similar in style, Serdar said, “We are very similar to each other, but our football style is different. He is a multi-career name. I have always been looking at defenders since I was young. He is a player who played in big organizations in the Champions League. He also played a lot in training. He’s very ambitious, he doesn’t like to lose. He wants to play football fast. He warns everyone when the ball stops even in practice. He helps every young person, not just me. He always tells us something at dinner after the training is over. He tells me, I translate to other friends. I do.
I know Bosnian because of my mother, but I don’t know it exactly. I also learn some words from Vida. I also take English lessons. He has been telling me how I should stand on the field and how I should intervene since I came to the first team. Apart from that, the name I take as an example is my father. They called my father ‘Murderer Sedat’. The toughest defender I’ve ever seen. We played on the same team together. He put me on the striker. He’s actually short in stature compared to stoppers, but he jumps very well. Their interventions were also very appropriate. My example is my father. When I played as a striker, I scored 6 goals and the opponent’s defender got angry and attacked me hard. My father was also angry and responded.”
“I WANTED TO PLAY IN A FEW MATCHES”
Serdar said that winning the Super Cup as well as the league championship and the Turkish Cup last season was important to him, adding that young players are not given many chances in Turkey. Saying that there is no such culture as a country, Serdar said, “As a country, we do not have this culture. We call 24-25-year-old names young, the guys give 16-year-old players a chance. We cannot trust the players. We are always hesitant. There is a fear that if I play the player, I may lose. “We won the trophy, but the point I was most upset about was that I only played in the Turkish Cup. But the teacher Sergen always waited for the right time for me. Then I played in the Altay match and the Ajax match. But the year we became champion, I would like to play a few more matches and contribute,” he said.
Stating that the infrastructure project initiated by the club will also pave the way for young players, Serdar said, “My dream is to play in Europe. I think I have such a potential. I want to represent my country and Beşiktaş in the best way. This is the dream of every young person. But as you play, someone discovers you. Club “This project is also very important for us to reach our dreams. As this project progresses and the person develops himself, it will both contribute to Beşiktaş and open the way for the future from the infrastructure. This project is also important for the names coming from below.”
“WE DID NOT WANT TO GET AN UNFORGETTABLE WIN”
The young player, who also spoke about warning Referee Ali Şansalan in the Kayserispor match and saying that the ball came out of him, said, “I said that after the match that day. They taught us to play with our honor and win with our right. Beşiktaş anthem was playing all over the place, it was written in big letters that life is not presented to us on a gold platter. Our teachers wanted us to read all the writings and keep them in our minds. Cem Hodja’s words were very nice, he said, ‘Your football will take you somewhere, but your character is the subject that will make you reach the summit’. I don’t take it out. The ball hit me on the field that day, but I didn’t see what’s next. But when the opponent gave that reaction, I didn’t want to take this burden on me. Maybe if that position was a goal, we would have won an unfair advantage. There was no need. I went and told the referee that the decision had to be changed. The referee and A few players from Kayserispor congratulated me” found in the class.
“I WANT TO PLAY IN ITALY”
Talking about the physical pros and cons, Serdar said, “I don’t like to talk about my pluses. But I tell my shortcomings because I have to cover them up. Being tall is a plus for me, but I need to have a good jump. I need to improve this. There are forwards that jump better than me. a striker playing against me should not be superior to me. I have to make you say that Beşiktaş has a defender that can’t be beat. I think I’m a bit tough and ambitious. I love to fight. I even head to kick sometimes. I need to speed up a little more. I need to be quick at short distances. Long “I can catch the opponent at distance, but I need to work a little more at short distances. I do this by tying a weight to my waist. I can become a little more muscular in terms of body type. I am not weak, I am an agile player,” he said.
Expressing that his dream is the Italian League and that football is played here and there, Serdar Saatçı said that he spends time with his roommate Emre Bilgin in his spare time and that he usually does sports and takes English lessons at the facility. Finally, Serdar sent a message to Beşiktaş fans, “Don’t let them stop believing in us. Our goal was always clear when we set out. Our only goal on the field is to represent Beşiktaş in the best possible way. We want to make our fans happy, who come to the stadium without saying rain or mud. We represent them in the best possible way when we go out on the field.” We will,” he concluded.