Messin' with Texas

For those of you that do not know, the European soccer (football) championships is being played right now. After losing to Portugal and barely beating Switzerland (who is terrible), Turkey’s chances of moving on going into their third group stage game. The game was against the Czech republic, and the outcome would be the deciding factor of who would go on to the quarter finals against Croatia. Turkey’s chances never looked dimmer than at the start of the second half, down 2-0, and soaked to the bone with a Swiss summer rain. They looked like a bunch of wet dogs.

Somehow though they managed to knock in three goals in what was an incredible second half. From what I saw of Turkey’s three games, they play with a lot of emotion. When they realized they were about to get knocked out in front of all those fans, they really picked it up. Once they caught their first goal, they were super charged. I think the whole team believed they could pull it and they did. Maybe that’s why the fans get so intense during the game; because it actually does make a big difference. It’s not just in football either. Turkish people seem to be a lot more emotional in all walks of life (at least compared to me and what I am used to). Perhaps it’s downfall, perhaps it’s a strength. It has pluses and minuses.

Anyway, here is a video I took. The celebration after the game didn’t have nearly as much energy as the celebrations after each goal. I watched the game with Ant, Doruk and Adnan in Tophane, although I missed the first 20 or 30 minutes due to a prior engagement.