The Turkish National Team arrived in Madrid Monday to begin preparations for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Türkiye will take on Spain this Saturday, then again next week in two crucial World Cup qualifying matches.

The national team was greeted at the Madrid airport by a number of supporters and Milli Takım enthusiasts on Monday. The team then traveled by bus to their headquarters at the Westin Plaza Hotel in Madrid.

The team will train this week at the Real Madrid Sports Complex to prepare for Saturday's match. Their first training will take place Tuesday evening.

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With Fenerbahçe and the rest of the league on hiatus this week for national team duty, rumours are swirling about the future of head coach Luis Aragones. The Spanish coach and his wife are currently in Kapadokya (Cappadocia) and will head to Spain later this week to provide commentary for the national team. However, a familiar name is being linked with a potential return to Fener after this season.

According to a report in Hürriyet Monday, former Fenerbahçe boss Christoph Daum is being considered for a return to the club. Daum is currently heading FC Köln in his native Germany. The 55-year-old coached the Canaries from 2003-2006 before Brazilian coach Zico took over.

Medyaspor quotes German reports as saying that Daum will not confirm or deny interest in Fener. "I won't discuss the topic at all," the coach reportedly told German media this week.

Daum is under contract with Köln through 2010 but he could take over Fener as early as next season through provisions that would allow him out of his contract. The German coach led the Canaries to two league titles during his tenure, resigning at the end of the 2005-2006 season. The team lost the title to rivals Galatasaray on the last day of the season that year.

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The Turkish champions Fenerbahce Ulker faced Türk Telekom at the Atatürk Sport Arena. Despite coming close with following efforts, the canaries failed in gaining an impressive victory and lost the game with the result 87-78.

TÜRK TELEKOM (87): Roderick Blakney 5, Serkan Erdoğan 22, Bekir Yarangüme 17, Barış Özcan 2, Tutku Açık 6, Kenan Bajramovic 9, Erwin Dudley 2, Kristoffer Lang 22, Asım Pars 2

FENERBAHÇE ÜLKER (78): Marques Green 5, Mirsad Türkcan 14, Ömer Onan 10, Semih Erden 2, Gordan Giricek 9, Damir Mrsic 15, Gasper Vidmar, Ömer Aşık 8, Oğuz Savaş 6, Devin Smith 7, Emir Preldzic 2

1. QUARTER: 21-19
2. QUARTER: 22-18
3. QUARTER: 26-23
4. QUARTER: 18-18

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Fenerbahçe right winger Colin Kazım-Richards is once again subject to transfer rumours which link him with a move back to the UK. This time, the Premiership side interested in transferring Kazım-Richards is Portsmouth FC who are reportedly preparing an offer worth 3 Million Pounds for the 22-year old Turkish international attacking midfielder.

On Saturday, Turkey's Vatan newspaper rumoured that English side Portsmouth FC were monitoring Fenerbahçe's right winger Colin Kazım-Richards. A report written by Feridun Niğdelioğlu suggested that the Pompey club had set aside 3 Million Pounds for the transfer; a substantial offer indeed for Fener who had transfered the East Londoner for 1.8 Million Pounds two seasons ago.

Currently there is big unrest between the 22-year old attacking midfielder and Fenerbahçe manager Luis Aragones. The talented youngster has had 'disciplinary' issues with the Spanish coach, as the Turkish press has constantly reported.

Also, ever since the arrival of right winger Gökhan Emreciksin, Kazım-Richards has become the unwanted man in the squad. Once a constant first-team member for Fenerbahçe, battling it out on the pitch with players from top clubs like Sevilla and Chelsea in the Champions League last season, Colin Kazım-Richards has now become sidelined. Lastly he wasn't even picked by Aragones for the 18-man match roster against Bursaspor on Friday.

The 22-year old has also had financial problems with the club, as the press recently reported. He was rumoured to have complained that he wasn't properly receiving his payments. Fenerbahçe denied these reports and had attacked rivals Beşiktaş who were reportedly in contact with the player.

Colin Kazım-Richards, or Kazım Kazım as we call him in Turkey, still has two more years at Fenerbahçe; his contract ends in May 2011. If the Portsmouth rumours are true, then the Yellow Canaries may have a profitable offer in their hands at the end of the season.

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Milli Takım Coach Fatih Terim named his squad for the team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers earlier today. The team will face European champions Spain twice in the coming weeks in hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Five Fenerbahçe footballers were named to the roster for the upcoming games.

Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, defender Gökhan Gönül, midfielders Colin Kazım-Richards and Emre Belözoğlu, as well as striker Semih Şentürk were all named to the Turkish National Team squad. Türkiye will take on Spain on March 28 and again on April 1. The full roster for the matches is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe), Rüştü Reçber (Beşiktaş), Ufuk Ceylan (Manisaspor)

Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe), Sabri Sarıoğlu, Emre Aşık, Hakan Kadir Balta (Galatasaray), Sedat Bayrak (Sivasspor), İbrahim Kaş (Getafe), Eren Güngör (Kayserispor), İbrahim Üzülmez (Beşiktaş)

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Bayern Münich), Colin Kazım-Richards, Emre Belözoğlu (Fenerbahçe), Ayhan Akman, Arda Turan (Galatasaray), Mehmet Aurelio (Real Betis), Nuri Şahin (Borussia Dortmund), Mevlüt Erdinç (Sochaux), Tuncay Şanlı (Middlesbrough)

Forwards: Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal), Batuhan Karadeniz (Eskişehirspor), Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe), Gökhan Ünal (Trabzonspor), Sercan Yıldırım (Bursaspor)

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Fenerbahçe manager Luis Aragones spoke to the press after his team's 2-1 loss at the hands of Bursaspor on Friday evening. The Spanish coach admitted that the team has not been performing well and that the five points dropped in the last two weeks have put them in an even tougher position.

The Yellow Canaries boss began his post-match press conference at Bursa by stating that his team had dropped five points in the last two weeks. "These have been games in which we haven't been able to play well," admitted Luis Aragones. "Today we were able to find the goal and it stayed like that for a long time; but then we conceded goals," he said.

Luis Aragones said he didn't have a clear vision on the position Bursaspor earned a penalty-kick. "But the truth is, we didn't play well," admitted the Fener boss. "And now our job has become a bit more difficult," stated the experienced coach.

Aragones was then reminded of something he had constantly repeated in the past few weeks. "What I meant in saying the last five or six weeks will determine who wins the Championship was that we would be two or three points either in front of or behind the top of the table," answered Aragones. "I hadn't imagined this," he admitted. "But after these games, we can see that we've lost a few things," added the Fener boss.

"After scoring today, we wanted to play counter-attack football, but we couldn't do that properly," claimed Luis Aragones. "On the other hand, our opponent was doing things the right way," he said. "We couldn't take control of the play," admitted the Yellow Canaries coach.

"We have made too many bad passes in the last two games," admitted Luis Aragones. "If you lose the ball this much, you're bound to receive many attacks on your goal," he explained as he ended his words on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam thanked his players for their performance and stated that they deserved to win against Fenerbahçe.

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On Friday evening, Fenerbahçe fans watched an exact repeat of last week's Kocaelispor match. The only difference was that this time Fenerbahçe were the visiting team and that their opponents Bursaspor managed to bag two goals in the last eight minutes of play to secure their win. Fenerbahçe's title hopes slowly began fading away, as the Yellow Canaries left three important points at Bursa: 2-1.

This was to be the fifth clash between Bursaspor and Fenerbahçe this season. Either than the Turkcell Süper Lig match in the first half of the season, the two teams were in the same Fortis Turkish Cup group and had also played two fixtures in the knock-out phase of the cup. The Yellow Canaries had owned the Bursa Crocs in all the four matches played prior to Friday evening's match.

Fenerbahçe had one very important name missing from their squad, as captain Alex de Souza was out due to an injury. This led to Luis Aragones fielding last season's top goalscorers of La Liga and the Turkcell Süper Lig, Dani Güiza and Semih Şentürk, side by side in attack.

Volkan Demirel was back in the Canaries goal, after his two match ban was cut down prior to Friday evening's match. Meanwhile, Selçuk Şahin had replaced Deniz Barış in central midfield as the team's defensive midfielder.

Fenerbahçe was once again kicking off the action with the opening game of the week and was hoping to win this time. And the Yellow Canaries gave a quick start to the match as Spanish striker Dani Güiza scored in the fourth minute of play. Uğur Boral passed out to Güiza who entered the box and cooly flicked the ball over Bursaspor keeper Ivankov: 0-1. The Canaries striker was slightly off-sides when Uğur passed the ball in front to him, as the replay showed very clearly.

The Yellow Canaries were up early, but there was a whole ninety minutes ahead of both teams. Bursaspor was seeking to retaliate with forward Sercan Yıldırım, but neither of his shots were challenging Fener keeper Volkan Demirel.

Dani Güiza was close to getting on the scoresheet for a second time on 17 minutes, but his shot from inside a flurry of defenders in the box brushed by the Bursaspor post. Eight minutes later, he rushed to get hold of the ball when Bekir Ozan's back pass fell short, but Ivankov was fast to punch the ball away.

Bursaspor was continuing their hunt for goals at the opposite side of the pitch, this time with Korean forward Shin Young on 26 minutes. Shin's strong shot however, failing to beat goalkeeper Volkan Demirel.

Eight minutes later, Fenerbahçe was yet again close to finding their second goal of the match. This time it was Semih Şentürk who missed an important opportunity. Uğur Boral rushed in from the left flank and sent the ball inside the box where Semih took a shot on goal, but Bursaspor's Mustafa Keçeli slid to send the ball to a corner-kick.

Fenerbahçe's Emre Belözoğlu and Bursaspor's Bekir Ozan received yellow cards on 38 minutes, for their tackles on each other. Both players thus receiving their fourth consecutive yellow cards and being suspended for the following Turkcell Süper Lig fixture.

Bursaspor could have got one back before the half-time whistle, but defender Tuna Üzümcü was unable to kick a ball that was crossed inside the box from a corner-kick. The ball was eventually cleared away by the Fener defence. Meanwhile, it was seen on the replay that Diego Lugano had shoved a Bursaspor player inside the box during this position.

This time it was Bursaspor who found quick chances in the second half of the match. On 49 minutes, Bursa's Sercan Yıldırım passed by two defenders, entered the Fener box and found a one-on-one with goalkeeper Volkan Demirel. But he missed as he sent the ball wide of the Fenerbahçe goal.

Bursaspor was continuing the waves of attack, three minutes later, with Bekir Ozan Has. Bekir had received a good pass from Bursaspor midfielder Volkan Şen, but Bekir's shot hit the advertising panels to the right of the Canaries goal. One minute later, Sercan Yıldırım was injured after colliding with Volkan Demirel as he was trying to header a cross he had received from the left flank.

Bursaspor was adding on the pressure to find an equaliser and was threatening the Fenerbahçe defence. The Yellow Canaries found a chance on 58 minutes with right back Gökhan Gönül who headered the ball at the back post. The ball went wide of the Bursaspor goal.

Fenerbahçe defender Diego Lugano received a yellow card on 61 minutes, that earned him a suspension for the Week 26 fixture against Eskişehirspor. Meanwhile Luis Aragones made his first substitution of the match replacing Deivid de Souza with right winger Gökhan Emreciksin.

Bursaspor was building even more pressure on Fenerbahçe now with attacks from Volkan Şen, Gökhan Güleç and Maxim Romashenko, the latter two who were added onto the game by Bursa coach Ertuğrul Sağlam. Luis Aragones was also trying to strengthen his midfield this time changing his left winger, introducing Gökçek Vederson into the game.

Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos was close to scoring from a long distance free-kick on 75 minutes, but Bursaspor goalie Ivankov managed to parry Carlos' strong shot away. Four minutes later, Selçuk Şahin gave it a go as the defensive midfielder took a shot on Emre Belözoğlu's cross, but his shot was blocked by the Bursaspor defence.

Fenerbahçe came again, this time on 84 minutes with right winger Gökhan Emreciksin. Gökhan received Dani Güiza's pass and entered the Bursa box from the right hand side and quickly took a strong shot, but Bursa keeper Ivankov did well to keep the ball out.

The Yellow Canaries had to miss three times, before Bursaspor found the equaliser on 86 minutes with defender Tuna Üzümcü. Maxim Romashenko's free-kick from the left midfield found Tuna in an empty position inside the box. Tuna freely kicked the ball behind the net: 1-1. Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was just looking in the air and did not take a dive to save the ball.

Fenerbahçe had been leading for more than eighty minutes, but had been weak in attack thus unable to extend their lead. And now with the score equalised, both teams had only a few minutes left to find the winning goal of the match. Luis Aragones meanwhile was making his final substitution of the night, replacing Semih Şentürk with Gürhan Gürsoy.

It would be Bursaspor who scored the winning goal on the fourth and final minute of additional time, 90+4. Referee Halis Özkahya called for a penalty when Gökçek Vederson tackled Sercan Yıldırım inside the Fener box. Bursaspor's goalkeeper Ivankov took the penalty very cooly and sent Volkan Demirel to the wrong side to win the match for his team: 2-1.

Bursaspor had scored twice in the final eight minutes of play and had cruised over a very dismal and poor Fenerbahçe who were unable to finish the game with the 1-0 lead they had protected for the majority of the game.

STADIUM: Bursa Atatürk Stadium
REFEREES: Halis Özkahya, Adil Sinem & Muhittin Gürses (assistant referees), Abdullah Yılmaz (fourth official)

BURSASPOR: Ivankov, Tuna Üzümcü, Ömer Erdoğan, İbrahim Öztürk, Mustafa Keçeli, Veli Acar (64th, Maxim Romashenko), Mustafa Sarp, Bekir Ozan Has, Volkan Şen (84th, Halil Zeybek), Shin Young (63rd, Gökhan Güleç), Sercan Yıldırım

FENERBAHÇE: Volkan Demirel, Gökhan Gönül, Diego Lugano, Edu Dracena, Roberto Carlos, Deivid de Souza (61st, Gökhan Emreciksin), Emre Belözoğlu, Selçuk Şahin, Uğur Boral (73rd, Gökçek Vederson), Dani Güiza, Semih Şentürk (82nd, Gürhan Gürsoy)

GOALS: Dani Güiza (4th), Tuna Üzümcü (86th) & Ivankov (94th)

YELLOW CARDS: Bekir Ozan Has, Volkan Şen, Veli Acar (Bursaspor) - Emre Belözoğlu, Diego Lugano, Selçuk Şahin (Fenerbahçe)

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