Good luck, TRNC!
NORTH Cyprus will be going for glory when they take part in the Confederation of Football Associations (Conifa) World Football Cup which gets under way in London on Thursday — as football chiefs made a final call to fans in the UK to turn up in force and support the team.
The TRNC national team are among the favourites to win the tournament, having narrowly missed out on claiming last year’s Conifa EuroCup on home soil.
They will play in Group B of the first round of the 16-team tournament. Their first match, against Karpatalya, is due to kick off at 3pm UK time on Thursday.
That will be followed by a fixture against Tibet next Saturday, June 2, and then an encounter with Abkhazia, the defending champions, next Sunday, June 3.
All three matches will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II stadium in the north London borough of Enfield, despite efforts by UKbased Greek Cypriot lobby groups to prevent the games from going ahead.
Proud North Cyprus players and coaches took time out of their busy preparations to talk to Cyprus Today this week about their hopes and ambitions, before flying to the UK.
London-born Billy Osman Mehmet, 33, a Merit Alsancak Yeşilova striker who has previously played for Scottish clubs St Mirren and Dunfermline Athletic as well as the Irish Under-21 side, said: “This is my first call up [for the North Cyprus squad]. I have played in Scotland, Australia and came to the TRNC to play here. I am immensely proud of the squad. We have a very good chance of becoming world champions. We have trained so hard, they are a great bunch and the spirits are high.”
Team-mate and goalkeeper Hasan Piro, 35, said: “We will do everything to become champions. I want to see fair play and good sportsmanship.”
Captain Serhan Önet, 36, a defender from GAÜ Çetinkaya, said he believed the team was stronger than the one that finished runners-up in last year’s EuroCup, thanks partly to the addition of younger players.
“The motivation of the team is high,” he said. “We have one target: to become champions.”
Referring to his role in the North Cyprus team that won a world cup organised by Fifi, a forerunner to Conifa, in Germany in 2006, Önet added: “We have done it before. We can, God willing, do it again.”
Necati Genç, 18, a left back who plays for London-based Yeni Boğaziçi, said he was “shocked” to be called up to the national team.
“I can’t believe I am here. My Turkish is weak and I was worried there would be a language barrier. But the team is fantastic, they have helped me to settle in.”
Ünal Kaya, 26, a midfielder with TRNC league champions Yenicami said he was looking forward to playing, having missed the Conifa EuroCup due to injury, and added: “Despite the embargoes, our football has really developed.”
Head coach Mustafa Borataş, 54, a licensed Uefa coach from Gazimağusa, said the squad had been in their training camp since Monday, spending hours a day on skills, tactics and fitness.
“The morale of our team is very high,” he said, expressing thanks for the lobbying that thwarted Greek Cypriot attempts to stop the team playing in Enfield.
Team administrative manager Mehmet Avcı, 50, said that the “belief” of North Cyprus had changed following last year’s EuroCup performance.
“In 16 years in this job, I have never seen this electric atmosphere and belief of the players,” he declared.
“They are so determined, passionate and proud to be wearing the TRNC national strip . . . Team spirit prevails. This is what we hope to reflect in our games.”
Orçun Kamalı, Conifa executive board member and Cyprus Turkish Football Association foreign relations official, urged Turkish Cypriots living in Britain to buy tickets for the games, available via the Conifa website.
“Our morale is high, the team is ready,” he said.
“It is an emotional moment for us as a country facing isolation. Everyone involved has put their hearts and souls into it.
“Now all we want is for UKbased Turkish Cypriots to . . . come and support their national team.”