Güiza promises Fenerbahçe fightback
Monday, November 3, 2008
Article summary
Fenerbahçe SK visit Arsenal FC on Wednesday having lost at home to the London side 5-2, but striker Daniel Güiza has warned the Gunners that the Turkish team "are playing a lot better now so we can cause a surprise".
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'Not playing well'
Spain striker Daniel Güiza signed for Fenerbahçe in the summer, his €14m fee from RCD Mallorca the highest paid by a Turkish club for a foreign player. Since then, life has proved tough for the UEFA EURO 2008™ winner in Istanbul, despite the presence of his former national coach Luis Aragonés, and the club lies bottom of Group G with one point as well as ninth in the Turkish league. "What is happening is that in the last month and a half we have not being playing well," admitted Güiza.
Liverpool example
That poor form notwithstanding, the 28-year-old is taking comfort from the fate last season of another side coached by a Spaniard – Rafael Benítez's Liverpool FC. "I still have the same hopes," Güiza said. "The same thing happened to Liverpool: they had one point from three games and qualified. So I still have hope and the team are playing a lot better now so we can cause a surprise."
Moving on
Consequently, he is putting the rare home loss to Arsenal out of his mind, despite having got his name on the scoresheet that night. "We didn't do well and Arsenal, as we all know, play on the counterattack," he said. "It's very difficult but we lost and that match is already forgotten. Here we are in the present." Fully focused on Wednesday's game, Güiza is determined to keep his competition debut going: "To me it's very important, especially as it is my first time. You know you'll be better known when you play in this competition, if you do well. This is a beautiful competition and we have to make the best of it. We are not out of the Champions League yet; we have one point and three matches that we have to win if we want to stay in it."
Aragonés inspiration
Güiza is given extra confidence by the identity of the man on the bench – 70-year-old Aragonés, previously his coach at Mallorca at the start of the decade and more recently with the national team. "He's got everything as he has already demonstrated," Güiza explained. "He's been a coach for so many years, there's very little to say. He's got titles with [Club Atlético de Madrid] and now he wants to win titles here with Fenerbahçe. He won the European Championship with the national team. I think that as a coach he has everything."
