The former Inter midfielder: “It is not true that at the interval we thought we had already won the Scudetto. That I am a third party in the World Cup, when I bought the house to my parents I felt a man”
It was the Maradona del Bosphorus (“But with Diego, a gift to the world of football, I have nothing to do with it”), cried for May 5, 2002, won two cups, he arrived third in a World Cup, was captain and symbol of Turkey and Istanbul. Today Emre Belozoglu trains in the Turkish championship, in the Antalysport: “There have been ups and downs, but I am learning and I don’t give up. I want to become one of the best in Turkey and then go to a top championship. As a player I did not dream of playing in any club, but now I dream of training Inter one day, or Newcastle or Atletico Madrid. I want to improve myself every day, I study other coaches and I look at many games, I really like this life. I feel I’m on the right path“.
After two years Inter are still in the Champions League final: sensations?
“Inter is my second home, with Simone Inzaghi has improved more and more. Last season she had not gone well, with the elimination of the round of 16, instead this year she played an excellent season in all competitions. But I think this year she will be able to win, I hope so as a fan and because I will be in Munich, I will commemorate the game for a Turkish television”.
What does Hakan Calhanoglu represent for Turkey?
“There are millions of Turkish people in Germany, who like him love our country and our national team very much. When they are on the pitch, people feel that he is one of us. They are an idol for everyone. I also know him very well personally and I consider him one of the best players in Serie A and one of the best midfielders of Europe. Hakan has been working very well for years”.
Did he meet him in the national team?
“Yes, he arrived when I was captain. He was very young, but very talented: it was immediately understood that he had something special, he took risks as a player of great personality”.
In 2023 he had to play the final from Mezzala, this time he will be in direct: what changes for Inter?
“He is a sort of coach on the field: he reads the game in an excellent way, it is the right arm of the technician. With Inzaghi his position in front of the three defenders is perfect, even if he does not seem super aggressive. With all due respect for others, Inter are more special with him in directing: called the changes of rhythm and adds quality in the game. He is one of the best Nerazzurri of the last 20 years”.
What are the best memories that has years of age in Milan?
“I have many beautiful memories, in that team there were many great players and many leaders. Being able to work with idols like Ronaldo and Zanetti was a real luck. We fought every year until the end in a series A with very strong teams: Juventus, Milan, Rome, Lazio … In those years it was like the NBA!
Have you ever thought about the goals that could have reached Inter, without all those injuries?
“I felt strong, I thought I was able to solve any problem on the pitch, I was also a little brazen since I was not bad … but then the physical problems arrived and when I remained far from the field I was unable to manage my emotional reactions, I pushed only to get back on the field and without facing the difficulties face to face, I was not mature enough. In the following years I married, I really put football in the center of life – I play a life as a life. At 40 years old.
What relationship did he have with Massimo Moratti?
“I have never known a president like him, authoritative but never aggressive or authoritarian. He was a real gentleman and he perceived him in the changing rooms as in society, a family father. We still see you when I come to Milan”.
How had he learned about Inter’s interest?
“Moratti came to Istanbul a couple of months before the end of my contract with Galatasaray and told me that he wanted to hire me, there was also Facchetti. Then I was for the first time in Milan, an incredible emotion for me: on the day of the signature I was shocked for the amount of journalists present in the press room”.
Moratti a gentleman, he was like a family father
In 2004 Pelé had inserted him in the best 125 living players: what are he felt in front of a similar investiture?
“Eh (smiles, editor’s note), on the one hand I expected some recognition after my best season, in 2003, and after third place in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. So I can’t say I was shocked to read my name among those of Pelé, but surely it made me a huge pleasure. Then sometimes life knows how to be unfortunate and all those injuries arrived … But here, I deserved it “.
Speaking of bad luck: if I tell you May 5, 2002?
“Lazio … a total shock. We did not expect it because we were very strong, motivated, in the locker room we were all concentrated to the maximum. At the end of the game, instead, the tears: we could only cheer each other, on the saddest day of all. You can build a beautiful team and fight, but sometimes you cannot control fate. It is not true that at the interval someone thought they had already won, we were all very concentrated, Very well”.
He quoted third place in the 2002 World Cup: how was it to live it for a promise of 21 years?
“Probably the strongest Turkey ever: great players, important personalities, leaders, young talents. We all won them except for a Brazil of phenomena, but we also played it with them. One of the best moments of his career, we returned to Turkey with two million people waiting for us on the street”.
And all this passion, when did he become captain of Fenerbahce after ten years at Galatasaray?
“(Ride, editor’s note) My choice has been respected, even if Italian and Turks are similar in this. Before Fenerbahce he felt I was loved by people, I had been a Galatasaray owner and I was captain of Türkiye. After the transition to Fenerbahce nobody ever insulted me on the street, but for the first time I perceived that I no longer been appreciated as before. I learned to manage this: one is the team in which I started and thanks to which I arrived in the national team and then in the top European championships, of the other I became a captain and played up to 40 years “.
Galatasaray has won two European trophies in its history: an UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup. Both in that magical 2000.
“How much we fought! There were individualities and there was quality, but above all we were the best in the world to work as a team, we won for that, deservedly. Don’t beat the Real Madrid of Figo, Roberto Carlos and Raul or the Arsenal of Henry, Vieira and Wenger if you don’t fight: we trusted each other without ever giving up. Even if only in the following years you really made what you did”.
Of course, the reception of Istanbul will have given it some clues …
“It was something incredible. Upon returning from the UEFA Cup final, the city was invaded by fans, many tears, a siege of the team’s bus. Scene revised only for the subsequent Super Cup and for the World Cup”.
The strongest companion ever had?
“For Quality, Ronaldo certainly the phenomenon, Zanetti was also really strong. And I played with many potential champions, like Recoba”.
The most fun?
“Very easy, Diego Costa! Hilarious, never seen one like him. A great player, but really spontaneous and fun off the pitch. He made jokes, danced continuously, he appeared half naked. In Milan, however, Bobo Vieri”.
But who was Emre before professionalism?
“My mother was always at home, my father worked in Anatolia and returned only on the weekend to see us. Economically it was not very good, let’s say. I started playing on the street: the talent was seen, many told me to try to enter a team. I earned the first money at 14 years old, then I bought a house to my parents and I felt I became a man, so I understood that I wanted to do this. On the street.
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