The best player I’ve ever seen live is Harry Kewell. I saw Leeds United play at home to Arsenal the weekend after 2 Leeds fans were stabbed in Istanbul before the 2000 UEFA Cup semi final. The events had clearly affected the Leeds team, who lost the match 0-4, but Kewell walked around the whole Gooners team like they were irrelevant.
I next saw him play in 2005, in a certain Liverpool fixture here in Istanbul, when he limped off after 30 minutes of ineffective football to total indifference from the reds fans. Sadly, his injuries were frequent and not fully appreciated, a career almost decimated. This season, however, somewhat out of the limelight here in the Turkish Premier League, he has enjoyed something of a renaissance:
‘It wasn’t all that long ago enjoyment and football did not mix for Kewell, who had slipped off the ratings as a world-class player after a string of debilitating injuries that threatened his career. While they affected his international career, it was at club level he was finding the going toughest. After a cursed five-year stint at Liverpool in which he played just 93 matches and became a favourite for the Kop’s ire, Kewell found his way to Turkish club Galatasaray. The move surprised many, but it turned out to be a career saver for Kewell, who became an instant success – and cult figure – in Turkey in his first season. “Galatasaray is a great club and I am enjoying being in Turkey and playing,” he said. “Obviously playing week in and week out has made a huge difference for me”.’
Naturally, the Turkish league hasn’t quite got the strength in depth of English football, but it has been great to see Kewell doing the business alongside another Liverpool oldboy, Milan Baros. Here’s Harry, in an advert for a Trukish mobile phone company, extoling the virtues of Turkish football and the role it’s played in his footballing renaissance…
