Reuters Soccer Blog

from Photographers Blog:

Goodbye to hell

In the second half of the 2010-2011 Turkish football season Galatasaray moved to its new home ground in Istanbul, the Turk Telekom Arena, a 52,000-seat multi-purpose stadium replacing the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.

The fate of the legendary Ali Sami Yen Stadium is now sealed.

The demolition of Ali Sami Yen, one of the most iconic venues in Turkish football and the home to one of the three oldest Istanbul football clubs Galatsaray for 47 years, started last week. For almost half a century, the yellow-and-red lions hosted their rivals in this temple with the slogan "welcome to hell". The stadium played host to victories against European giants FC Barcelona, A.Bilbao, AC Milan, Real Madrid, E.Frankfurt, and a historic victory against Neuchatel Xamax. Most notably it was the scene of Galatasaray’s triumphal UEFA Cup campaign in 2000.

The team played all its home group and qualification matches for the 2000 UEFA Cup at the stadium before winning the final against Arsenal in Copenhagen, the biggest success in the history of Turkish football. World renowned Italian referee Pierluigi Collina even once admitted: “I love this Hell.” It was witness to unforgettable national and international football matches, hosting world class teams, players, coaches and referees. The stadium witnessed 14 of Galatasaray’s 17 Turkish league titles. Opened in 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium has always played a major part in the Turkish football scene, being home to Galatasaray’s heyday and many victories of the Turkish national football team.

But within two to three years it will be replaced by a vast residence and office project, rising above the memories where Ali Sami Yen Stadium used to stand.

Istanbul heads list of Games of the Decade

Here’s a total random idea: go and choose the best five matches of the last 10 years – a lot easier said than done.

Where do you begin? Do you only pick matches you have seen yourself ? As I am based in England, do I pick only matches played in England, or as I am lucky enough to travel round the world and watch football, do I go for international matches too?

Do you allow your personal preferences to come into it? After all, any fan could easily pick five great victories achieved by the team they support.

Well, I’ve weighed it up and gone for the bigger picture: any match played anywhere. It’s a totally subjective list with no “right” or “wrong” choices so here goes: Mike Collett’s Best Five Matches of the last decade:

Liverpool 3 AC Milan 3: The epic 2005 Champions League final which Liverpool won on penalties after fighting back from a 3-0 halftime deficit. Milan thought they had won the title — Liverpool, inspired by Steven Gerrard, proved them wrong.

AS Monaco 8 Deportivo Coruna 3: An extraordinary match which set a Champions League scoring record in November 2003 and included four goals from striker Dado Prso on his 29th birthday.