Vidi suffer a 3-0 defeat to Fenerbahce in a pre-season friendly

On Tuesday afternoon, Vidi took on 19-time Turkish champions Fenerbahce at the Merkur Arena in Graz. Our opponents are well ahead in their preparations, today was their fifth international pre-season match this summer, winning three of their four meetings so far - Tirana of Albania 4-0, Shamal of Qatar 4-2 and Partizan of Serbia 1-0 - while they drew 2-2 with Shkupi of North Macedonia. This time, head coach Michael Boris went for the starting line-up of Rockov - Rus, Lüftner, Shabanov - Nego, Pinto, Pokorny, Hangya - Dárdai, Petryak - Zivzivadze.

The match was watched by nearly 2,000 fanatical Turkish fans - and a handful of equally fanatical Vidi supporters - but anyone in Turkey could watch the match, as it was broadcast live on TV. In Portugal, the match was also live on TV, as Fenerbahce are managed by Portuguese star coach Jorge Jesus, while our team were led by Rúben Pinto.

We created the first chance in the 2nd minute, when Petryak's cross was headed over the goal by Zivzivadze from 14 meters. A few moments later, we also had a Turkish effort, as Rossi's cross was met by Kahveci, who fired just wide from the corner of the five-yard box. In the 15th minute, following a Fehérvár free-kick, Shabanov fired a shot from close range towards goal from an acute angle, the ball bouncing off a defender and going out for a corner. We had to wait a good ten minutes for the next situation, then Dursun Serdar showed great trickery in the area in front of our box, before turning towards goal and shooting to the bottom right, Rockov saved well.

Ten minutes before the break, Dárdai broke away and curled a 17-metre shot over the bar. In the 37th minute Fenerbahce took the lead, having built most of their attacks from the left flank since the start of the game, this time again the cross came in from the left, which was strong and flat, and found Serdar Dursun who slotted home from 9 yards (0-1). Two minutes before the end of the half, the Turkish team doubled their lead, this time from the right wing at the end of a good attack, the ball was cleared out wide by Diego Rossi, who slotted the ball into the near bottom corner from 6 metres (0-2).

We started the second half with the following line-up: Rockov - Lüftner, Shabanov, Heister - Kojnok, Lednev, Makarenko, Hangya - Funsho, Bumba - Kodro. In the 53rd minute, Lincoln Henrique shot at our goal from 14 meters, Rockov saved confidently, and then we had a chance to score, but Lednev's close range shot missed the Turkish goal. In the 60th minute, Rockov was replaced by Kovács, but unfortunately the Turkish team, less than half a minute later, had a goal-scoring opportunity and at the end of which Brazilian Lincoln headed home from close range and although Kovács could have made a great diving save, he had no chance (0-3).

In the 71st minute, Emre Mor found himself in position at the end of a nice move, trying to lift the ball over Kovács from 14 metres, but the ball left the field of play, if only inches over the bar. Shortly before the end Arda Güler had a free kick from 18 metres out, but his shot was wide of the target and the result remained the same.

Our team will next play an international preparation match against Aris Limassol in Slovenia on Sunday.