BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

Confident Colin on life with Turkey

Steve Wilson
13 Jun 08, 04:30 PM

Nyon

I have just about squeezed the rain out of my clothes after commentating on the Switzerland v Turkey game in Basel on Wednesday. What a night. If it was a league game, it would certainly have been called off.

Second spot in Group A now comes down to the game between Turkey and the Czech Republic, with the winners going through. If it's a draw, it's a penalty shoot-out for a place in the last eight. I'll be there in Geneva on Sunday and I can't wait.

I met London-born Colin Kazim-Richards at Turkey's training camp in Germany about three weeks ago. The other day, the team's press officer, Yigiter Ulug, rang me to see if I wanted to interview the Fenerbahce player again.

I offered this to Football Focus, whose editor was keen so long as they were still in the competition. The 2-1 win over Switzerland ensured that they are. However, with Focus already packed full of stuff, something else had to go. Sorry, but the interview with Philippe Senderos has now bitten the dust.

It took us two hours to drive to the Turkish media base in Nyon for the interview with Colin. We set up the cameras on a sunny spot of green space with the mountains in the far distance. Nice. Then the phone rang. It was Yigiter. He told me he and Colin were stuck in traffic 15 minutes away. The bad news was that in 40 minutes they needed to be back for training. Not nice.

Finally, a car pulled up and out got Yigiter and Colin... relief all round. We got about 15 minutes to chat about his background and how he came to qualify for Turkey, his hopes for the game against the Czechs and what it's like for him being away for weeks with a group of people whose language he barely speaks.

He admitted that there are some tough times when boredom and loneliness are a problem, and that he has long since run out of DVDs to pass the time. However, lack of confidence will never be problem for Colin and I get the feeling that he is revelling in the tournament and determined to make a big impact. I hope he does and would not be surprised to see him back in the Premier League next season.

On the domestic front, I am still chuckling about a quote attributed to Tottenham new boy Giovanni dos Santos. According to The Times, it is "the passion of the fans and the size of the club" that have convinced him to join Spurs. That's Barcelona he is leaving, by the way, that tiny team from somewhere in Spain that hardly anyone bothers to watch. Wouldn't it be refreshing to hear someone say they are joining a club because of the vast shed loads of cash they are going to be paid?

The interview with Colin Kazim-Richards will be broadcast on Football Focus on Saturday on BBC1 from 12.10 BST

Steve Wilson commentates on football for BBC Sport, working on Match of the Day and Football Focus. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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Comments

1. At 04:39am on 14 Jun 2008, quickquip wrote:
How appropriate that the young Turks should have their base camp in Germany. There are so many other Turks in Germany, a couple of dozen more probably won't be noticed. A veritable home away fron home for Turks, without even having to change their names. Rather curious though that this Kazim Kazim (shhh..Colin) chap should qualify to play for Turkey by dint of his mum being a Turkish Cypriot! Shouldn't he then be playing for Cyprus (assuning they want him)? After all, the UN and EU and all the rest of the world save Turkey don't recognize the legality of the TRNC. Hmmm, this bears some looking into. And this Dos Santos lad who reads his Spurs script in English so well has a Brazilian father but plays for Mexico...ooooh boy, this is starting to get complicated.

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2. At 07:23am on 14 Jun 2008, exuberantNumbnuts wrote:
The idea of Kazim playing for Cyprus is rather ridiculous. The only reason the TRNC exists, recognised or otherwise, is that the policy by the Cypriot Government to ethnically cleanse Turkish Cypriots was so unrelenting that even the intervention of a UN peace keeping force from 1964 until present was unable to stop it. Nor did repeated warnings from the US or UK that Turkey would envoke its Guarantor right of intervention persuade the Cypriot Government to stop. This policy, along with the following embargo, is almost certainly a factor in why his family fled the island.

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3. At 1:03pm on 14 Jun 2008, ewanchapman wrote:
hey there,

as a sheff utd supporter i think its great to see colin over there enjoying his football, i must say it was a surprise when he was swept over to tukey last summer. But i have a house mate who is half turkish, he made an interesting point, now that he has a passport and citizenship shouldn't he do his military service???!!!!

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4. At 1:36pm on 14 Jun 2008, joewhite81 wrote:
quickquip.

Before you opened you big gob and mouth off about why Kazim does not play for Cyprus given his old dear is Northern Cypriot, KNOW THE FACTS. Northern Cypriots can NOT play for Cyprus because the southern Cypriots would NOT allow it. Turkish Cypriots are NOT represented by Cyprus so Kazim SHOULD play for a country which represents him, the Turks.

If you want to comment on sensitive political issues make the effort to inform you're self first.

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5. At 10:26am on 17 Jun 2008, eastern_thracian wrote:
Kazim Kazim (Colin Kazim RIchards) isn't the first Brit to play for Turkey. Remember Mustafa Izzet (Muzzy)? Izzet is half Turkish Cypriot and half English, so exactly the same as Kazim.

How many Leicester city players can claim to have played in a WC semi final? I wonder where he is now. He had a brother in the lower leagues as well...

As for the army service, Turkish citizens that reside abroad do only 28 days of army service. The are some exceptions with Olympic gold medal winners, and players that represent the country more than 15 times, but I'm not sure what the exception is.

PS: Kazim was really poor against the Czechs

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