The Nerazzurri have increased their presence in the country over the past three years by collaborating in the training of local talent and with a reality that serves as a meeting point for all fans. The initiatives
Istanbul, the Champions League final, Inter among the contenders and Hakan Calhanoglu among the protagonists. However Ataturk’s match against Manchester City goes, 10 June 2023 will be remembered for a long time in Turkey, especially around Mersin, the Nerazzurri stronghold in the eastern Mediterranean country that acts as a bridge between Europe and Asia. It is there that the headquarters of “Turkish” Inter have been located since 2020, i.e. the point from which all the activities of the realities linked to the Viale della Liberazione club are coordinated. First the top-level Academy which is already bearing excellent results throughout the nation and then, since last year, the Club dedicated to Nerazzurri supporters who immediately find themselves enjoying the most important match of the last 13 years in the most famous city in the village.
Countdown
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Firat Tasvur, president of Inter Club Turkey and international coordinator of the local Inter Academy, told us: “My father worked in an Italian company and came home with football magazines from your country. I didn’t understand the language, but I studied the photographs : looking at those of Alvaro Recoba and Ronaldo I started following Inter, so now doing this job is a dream”. The last few days in Mersin have been hectic to say the least, given the scale of the imminent appointment: the phones ring continuously and we work incessantly, but hosting Inter for such an important match is a real “dream”, a word that the Nerazzurri environment has been constantly felt in the last week.
He club
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Starting from the end, Inter Club Turkey has 2022 as its year of birth and it was enough to change the calendar once to have an enormous opportunity to get together and proselytise. And in fact the first step was the semi-final of the Champions League Inter-Milan in which two members traveled to the Giuseppe Meazza to enjoy the very sweet second leg derby. Not bad for a start. then, on Thursday, some representatives of the Club and the Academy were invited to a Nike event where they were able to meet in person one of the symbolic heroes of the 2010 treble, Marco Materazzi: a chat with the former defender, some photos and autographs . “After the final, we will focus strongly on registrations – continues Firat Tasvur -, our goal is to soon exceed two thousand members”. And also the vice president Javier Zanetti has already met the Club.
The incubator
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At the moment, however, the Nerazzurri’s flagship in Turkey is the Academy, which in just one year and a half has already achieved incredible results: “Officially, the date of birth is 2020 – explains Tasvur -, however the activities are concretely started later due to the Covid pandemic.The idea of the three partners Huseyin Altun, Huseyin Gokten and Huseyin Kilavuz (all entrepreneurs in the field of logistics) was to set up excellent football schools to train young players at a When they looked for a foreign club to integrate new methodologies, Inter was the one that impressed the most. Not only are they one of the best youth clubs in the world, but above all they put a real project on the table, not limited only to the desire to put a coat of arms on sports centers in Turkey: they send coaches who use the same methodologies as the Nerazzurri youth sector and the results are already amazing”. The 2009 vintage is, for example, the strongest in Mersin, and in the last two years it has finished first in second place in the Under 13 Nationals and then fourth in the Under 14, losing in the semifinals to another team from the Inter Academy of Diyarbakir . However, this is not a scouting project: “The Nerazzurri provide us with knowledge and methodologies as well as the experience of some coaches, but leave the players free to decide on their own future. One of our former players has already made his Super Lig debut with Kayserispor at 17, another was signed at Trabzonspor. And there are talks of over twenty clubs in around 15 cities (8 in Mersin, 5 in Istanbul)”. In addition, there are plans for trips to Milan for players and coaches, with the possibility of visiting the club museum, training and playing in the Nerazzurri facilities.
The large family
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The circle, of course, is virtuous. Because whoever plays for the Nerazzurri starts cheering on Inter and so do their parents and relatives, with great chances of expanding the ranks of Club members. Meanwhile, on the occasion of the Champions League final, in every city where the Academy is present the young talents and their respective families will meet to enjoy the match together, ready to spring to their feet at the first flicker of Simone Inzaghi’s team. Perhaps from Calhanoglu: “He is the captain of our national team and the best known player in the country, it is an honor to have him in Istanbul fighting for the final victory. After Emre Belozoglu and Okan Buruk (now coaches at Istanbul Basaksehir and Galatasaray), the tradition continues”.
June 10 – 08:52
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