So by this point we had already enjoyed two wild nights out, but Halikarna's would beat that by a mile. On the day of Halikarna's, I can't remember doing too much - we were all too tired from the night before so it was a lazy day before getting ready for a big night. I went across to Chris and Steve's room at one point and they were eating this lush ice cream, so Ryan and I scuttled off to a Supermarket (like the only one within a couple of miles) to get some ourselves, and we returned to their room and ate ice cream together. That was fun..
We planned to go for a meal before the night out, but a few people weren't hungry so only a select few of us went for the meal. It was really good - they gave us a table on the actual seafront so we were only a few metres away from the sea (I was hoping the tide wouldn't come in). It was here that we got our first taste of 'Turkish Cider' and it was crazy. As the picture above shows, it was basically alcohol with actual bits of apples in it. Apple-bobbing anyone? It tasted alright, mostly like apple juice to be honest. The food was good and a dog was sitting by my chair all night, apparently it was because he could sense I was the "Alpha Male" of the group. There was also a cat which I wasn't really fond of. Oh yeah, the dog was blind in one eye.
It was just after we finished eating that we saw the other guys walking along to Halikarna's so we stopped them on their path and all made our way up together. When we got in it wasn't very busy, but the club was amazing - it was an outdoor one and was massive. We had an awesome deal going on too - refills on this alcohol and energy drink duo. Steve set targets for everyone to beat.. needless to say.. I don't think many of us could remember these by the end of the night. There's not much else I can say about the experience until a lot later on in the night. We were stood by the stage because some dancers had been prancing about on stage, then they stopped the music and a guy came out with a microphone. From what I remember, he asked for some ladies to come up on stage, and no-one did. He then saw Emma (I think?) and the spotlight went on her and he asked her to get on stage! She refused, then some other girls went up. Then, within a couple of minutes, we all found ourselves going up there. As we stood on the stage dancing like a group of baboons, wa
ter started jetting up from the floor.We got absolutely soaked, and I remembered that my camera was in my pocket. My immediate, drunken reaction was to go "Oh well, it'll be fine". How wrong I was. I did manage to get this picture though, of Emma's stalker, AKA Ryan 2.0. There's loads of photos of me talking to him.. yet I don't remember having a conversation with him at all.
It was after we got down off the stage that I realised my camera had stopped working, so I gave it to someone. A few minutes later, I forgot who I gave it to so thought I'd lost it. Pretty sure I told everyone I had lost my camera and no-one seemed to know where it was. Still drunk, I went up to a random security guard who was pretty helpful and we had a look around the stage, then he asked the guy at the bar who told me to come back tomorrow (Paul made the good point that they'd probably charge me the extorinate entrance fee again, 40l!) but it was then that Emma came up and said "I've got it!".
Here is a selection of photo's that best show the Halikarna's experience:
It was a cracking night out, and one I will always remember (ironically, not that literally because I don't remember a lot of it!) The next day would be one for recovering... just in time for... THE MATCH.
It was a big event - England V Turkey.
The lads had been disillusioned with the England team's performance in South Africa, so this was the perfect opportunity to bounce back and show the world that England are still a credible footballing nation. However, facing the battling Turkish would not be easy - after failing to qualify for the World Cup themselves, they also had a lot to prove. Pre-match comments were focused around the fitness of the English team, as there were worries that the players were well-off match fitness. This, in addition to high temperatures, was predicted to be the downfall of the English. They were also advised to be wary of Mehmet, the speedy trickster and star player of Turkish side. Now to the event..
It was getting quite serious as we waitied around at 'Curly's Bar' for Mehmet to come out and explain what was happening. The girls were having something to eat, but for us, we couldn't focus on the food. Serious faces were all that greeted me, there was no time for food at this point. We had to concentrate on the job. Finally, Mehmet came out wearing his football attire and looking quite professional. He took our money (quite suspiciously didn't seem to use it to pay for anything, but he did give us free water) then led us along the streets to the pitch. It was a long walk, and we could hear the fans in the distance. The girls did not join us, so we were expecting to be greeted by quite a hostile atmosphere, completely dominant by Turkish fans. We got into the pitch and had a kick around before Mehmet informed us that we had too many players, and one of us would have to join them.
Jake volunteered.
And so the game began, at 00.00. Temperature was 30 degrees. It was sweltering. They kicked off and straight away Mehmet was incredibly quick on the ball, skipping past a couple of our players before someone got the foot in. He would have to be watched. The first minute or so was quite slow, and then, our first break. Chris got hold of the ball, played it along the floor to myself (who was acting as a long striker at first). I took a touch, went past a defender and then slotted my shot in the opposite corner, past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
1-0 to England!
A few minutes later, it got better. The ball had been launched long towards me (as it was a few times because of my height advantage) but I didn't get it. However, the defender's knock down was knocked on again and fell delightfully to Chris, who unleashed a spectacular volley at goal. I ducked just in time and turned to see the ball fly past the goalkeeper.
2-0 to England! and what a goal!!
From this point onward, Mehmet was getting frustrated. He was their best player by a mile and was the creator of every chance and move the team made. And it paid off, as they started to put goals past us. I'm pretty sure that they took a strong lead against us at this point, 6-2 or so. However, for one of these I was pretty sure they had pressed the 'score' button twice...
It got to about 9 goals for them but then one of us made the point that they had put an extra goal than they had actually scored. It was here that we started to struggle with the conditions. It was absolutely baking, playing at plus 30 degrees - something that none of us were used to, whereas it was their element. Water supplies were running low as well, and the team started getting frustrated with one another. We had many decent chances on goal, but the Turkish Goalkeeper was time and time again on form. One massive chance to score fell to Rob, after I had put the ball into the box for him, he fired over. It didn't look like it would be our day.
It was at this point that stand-in goalkeeper, Ryan, provided the unlikely inspiration for the team. Ryan, who I think it's fair to say, isn't a footballer (by his own admission) put in a fantastic performance for his stint in goal, pulling off a number of unexpected and important saves. It was this display that pushed us on and we managed to pull a few goals back. With about 3 minutes left, we had 3 goals to score. It seemed lost, but we didn't give up. And, typically football being football, we managed to squeeze a few more back. With less than a minute left of time, we had to score a goal. Looking at the clock, I thought time had passed, before the ball fell to (I'm so sorry but I can't remember who brought us level) our player, and we scored! We had levelled it with about 10 seconds left.
The game was meant to have finished here, but Mehmet was angry, and wanted to get a winner out of it. So it went to next goal wins. Knackered, sweaty, and battered, we battled on. Within a few minutes of 'Golden Goal', the ball fell to Steve, who had already notched himself a few goals, and he pushed through one defender before placing a shot to the side of the keeper. It beat the keeper, but heartbreaklingly, it rebounded off the post before falling to Ian...
WHO UNLEASHED THE WINNER INTO THE BACK OF THE NET! The crowd went wild with disgust at seeing the Turkish lose on their own ground as we celebrated like crazy. We had overcome everything that had been put in our way, heat, possible cheating, lack of fitness - and we'd put it all aside to give fans of England something to cheer. If only there were some English fans there.
It was a result to remember, as we trudged back to the hotel, reflecting on an incredible night. I think it's fair to say that, for the guys, this was possibly the best night of the holiday :-)
