Terim's Fighting Spirit Takes Galatasaray Close

[Folami David]

Galatasaray flirted briefly with the notion they could achieve the impossible and overturn a 4-0 deficit against Real Madrid on Tuesday, their comeback a tribute to the attacking spirit of the Turkish champions under coach Fatih Terim.
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In a stunning 15-minute second half spell, goals from Emmanuel Eboue, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba had shattered the assurance of the nine time champions and fired up the home side with the belief they could reach the semifinals.
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"After that you start thinking about going through. Everyone thought that and we did too," Terim told reporters after the match. "Maybe we didn't go through but we earned the respect of the world with the game we played."
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Now in his third spell at Galatasaray, the coach dubbed the "emperor" by Turkish media has a record of instilling a fighting spirit in his teams that brought Galatasaray a Uefa Cup triumph in 2000 and Turkey a semifinal place at Euro 2008.
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"I always tell my players they should never be afraid of losing," he said.
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"I never give up on a game until the referee has blown the final whistle and nor do my players.
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Everything can change in football in a matter of seconds. As a team, we are used to coming from behind."
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He also paid tribute to the "magnificent" fans who kept up their noisy support for their team throughout the match.