HE COULDN’T BELIEVE It was the season 1995-1996... I was only 20 years old. I was wearing the form of one of the greatest teams of the whole world, Fenerbahce. The football season was considerably successful, even though some unlucky events cost us 2 points to Trabzonspor. 3 weeks were left and we didn’t have any other alternatives apart from defeating Trabzonspor at their home ground. Tie was not enough. All players were very stressed, but on the other hand we all believed in ourselves. Trabzonspor was considered to be a team very hard to beat at their home ground. They had even been announced the champion of the league before the league was over. The night before the game I dreamt of Fenerbahce beating Trabzonspor by 2-1. As soon as I woke up I told my mates of my dream. Everyone said: “We wish it ends up as you say.” Trabzonspor got into the match with a good speed scoring 1-0. I was standing by, everyone seemed hopeless and we almost thought that we were definitely going to lose the game. Later on we finally achieved to tie. When the coach told me to get into the game, there were only 7 minutes left until game over. Somehow, the dream I had dreamt the previous night came like a vision right before going in the field. While I was running I told our technical director Perareia “Don’t worry, we’ll score 2-1”. I was so confident that even our Brazilian coach got a strange expression on his face. Only 1 minute after entering the field, I passed the ball and we scored! I was extremely happy. It was really hard to express my feelings. My dream had come true and we were one step away from championship. Perareia thanked me after the game and said: “Just before you went in, I was definitely hopeless and thought we wouldn’t make it. But I saw the confidence in your eyes and from that moment I really believed that we would manage to win.” I’m sure I’ll never forget the happiness I felt that moment. 20.09.2002