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Tosun's eventful evening ends with a red card
The Everton striker had to be restrained at times by team-mates as he got involved in a heated exchange with someone in the stands near the halfway line and was eventually shown a red card by the referee, the first of his career.
According to the Turkish Football Twitter account, Tosun reacted angrily when a projectile or flare was thrown towards where his father and uncle were sitting in the stands at the Stade de Geneve in Switzerland.
The score was 1-1 at the time and the match eventually ended 2-2 thanks to Caglar Soyuncu's injury-time equaliser.
Tosun issued an apology immediately after the game after video footage of him gesticulating into the crowd, at one stage using a "throat-slitting" gesture.
"When I turned my head, I saw a quarrel with my father," he told Turkish outlet A Spor.
"I didn't know the whole story. I told them that they were wrong, threatened, unworthy of me.
"Character is more important than football. It was an unbecoming gesture. I apologise. I guarantee it won't happen again."
He later offered a fuller apology to Turkish Football, saying:
“I am usually very calm, I lost the plot, a red mist descended on me.
“First of all I would like to apologise to the Turkish people and my teammates, when you wear the national team shirt you have to act responsibly.
“I let my teammates and myself down, we could have gone onto win the game had I not reacted like that.
“But I am human, I am a professional footballer but I am also human. I am very close with my father, he played a huge role in me getting to where I did my career.
“When I saw what happened in the stands I could not hold myself back. All I can do is apologise.”
Quotes sourced from Sportskeeda
Reader Comments (38)
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2 Posted 01/06/2018 at 22:30:12
3 Posted 01/06/2018 at 22:40:44
[BRZ]
4 Posted 01/06/2018 at 22:46:56
5 Posted 01/06/2018 at 22:54:23
6 Posted 01/06/2018 at 23:02:44
Sending off apart, Cenk is in good goalscoring form for Turkey with 3 from 2 games. Long may it continue. He definitely has something about him and a lot to like.
7 Posted 01/06/2018 at 23:07:44
If some knob of a fan threw something towards my Dad, there would be more than just gestures at the wanker. Good on him, I say. Bring it on. We want some fire at Everton.
8 Posted 01/06/2018 at 23:18:02
9 Posted 01/06/2018 at 23:37:31
10 Posted 02/06/2018 at 00:14:10
Penalty was a bit soft, he put it away like he does with the stutter step, the lads got talent and I can't wait to see him unleashed next year. Preferably imo with a pacy strike partner.
11 Posted 02/06/2018 at 00:19:30
I did laugh at someone's post somewhere else about "Who's going to tell Big Dunc to his face?" I laughed my fecking nuts off. He needs to go, I'll gladly tell him...
12 Posted 02/06/2018 at 00:49:12
I pass my fair share of Marines on my commute past Sea World.
13 Posted 02/06/2018 at 09:43:27
I can't wait for the 12†extended version in front of the Kop.
14 Posted 02/06/2018 at 09:45:53
15 Posted 02/06/2018 at 10:27:02
I wanted Tosun all along, the lad can finish, he just needs decent support up top with players moving off him.
He will be our main man next season.
16 Posted 02/06/2018 at 10:32:33
He is seen by the cameras using a throat-slitting gesture to someone in the crowd, then we have fans posting on here posting saying "Well in", "That's what I like to see..."
Am I the only one that finds that a bit embarrassing?
17 Posted 02/06/2018 at 10:40:44
Please, no more nicey nicey Everton! I would love to be hated by other teams!
18 Posted 02/06/2018 at 11:21:32
19 Posted 02/06/2018 at 11:44:05
20 Posted 02/06/2018 at 12:38:56
I believe Brands and Silva must now act quickly to get a grip on personnel. The following should go and can possibly attract the following fees:
Besic (٣m)
Rooney (٣m)
Bolasie (㾶m)
Schneiderlin (㾶m)
Williams (free)
Sandro (٣m)
Martina (free)
Niasse (٤m)
Mirallas (٢m)
Klaassen (㾸m)
These players in my opinion offer us no chance of improvement. It was between Klaassen and Vlasic and I believe Vlasic will become the better player.
Jags might as well stay, I do believe that there is a player in Funes Mori and I believe Keane can improve.
21 Posted 02/06/2018 at 12:53:46
For example, you could let Niasse or Sandro go but not both before signing another striker. Also, I'd be happy to give Klaassen more time.
[BRZ]
22 Posted 02/06/2018 at 13:33:20
The type of honesty I can respect.
Here's a link to the game highlights. Tosun wins and converts the penalty around the 2 minute mark.
TBH, I'm not convinced it is a nailed on penalty. Having said that, Tosun is very alert to the defender miscontrolling the ball and running from behind him to challenge for the ball.
Not a fan of the 'stuttering walk-up' penalty, but he tucks it away, so it resulted.
I like the fellah!
23 Posted 02/06/2018 at 13:47:24
It still sounds very bizarre to me Jay. If this was Turks by his father, why were they angry at him, isn't Tosun their hero? And if it is Turks, surely that's a massive question mark over his ability to play international football ever again?
24 Posted 02/06/2018 at 14:08:07
[BRZ]
25 Posted 02/06/2018 at 14:19:13
That's one helluva speculative leap in one paragraph!
The match was played in 'neutral' Switzerland, seemingly attended by migrant workers from both countries. As such, there was probably no strict crowd segregation in a sparsely filled stadium.
I believe both teams first choice strip is red - that's why Turkey played in white. It is therefore difficult to discern with any degree of certainty who in the crowd close to his father were Turkey or Tunisia fans.
One report mentions a flare or rocket being set off or landing near his father which provoked the original disturbance in the crowd that caught Tosun's eye.
The player held his hands up and admitted he over-reacted. Nothing dark or sinister about it, in spite of Jim Knightley's attempt to do just that.
26 Posted 02/06/2018 at 15:39:18
Can you please let us which countries are suitable to play for us. I assume most African players because they are often run by corrupt dictators who have come to power by military means. Nobody from Russia, most of the middle east. Is it only right wing oppressive dictators in South America or the left wing oppressive ones as well? And does saying nothing mean they accept their dictator or do they have to publically come out in opposition before you would let them pull on a blue shirt?
Can you also call weekly on here for us to terminate the USM sponsorship of Finch Farm. Usmanov is a great mate of Putin.
27 Posted 02/06/2018 at 16:30:32
28 Posted 02/06/2018 at 16:33:30
29 Posted 02/06/2018 at 19:44:10
30 Posted 02/06/2018 at 22:27:52
It's not because Tosun is from Turkey (I mean seriously...) but because of the disgusting sycophantic photo session he, Ozil and Gundogan engaged in. In case you somehow missed it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/16/mesut-ozil-ilkay-gundogan-recep-tayyip-erdogan-picture
There was a lot of criticism for this, but strangely not very much coming from Everton, in part because Ozil and Gundogan were centralised because of their higher profiles in media reports.
So congratulations if you think it's fine for our players to openly support brutal dictatorships, but it's not on my list. And I know one of the 100,000 people forced from their job without reason – a situation which the likes of Ozil are uniquely positioned to oppose, or at least to do nothing. Not engage with a PR with him.
It would be exactly the same if Galloway would have decided to hop on a plane and engage in a PR stunt with Mugabe prior to his ousting. But maybe that would have been criticised more because he isn't an important player.
And Usmanov is also a figure we shouldn't be associated with.
There is more to the world than football – maybe open your eyes a bit.
[BRZ]
31 Posted 02/06/2018 at 22:50:47
"There is more to the world than football – maybe open your eyes a bit."
Indeed there is, Jim.
On the same trip to London, the Turkish president met with the head of state, Queen Elizabeth, and her prime minister Teresa May.
On the back of Cenk Tosun meeting Erdogan, you never want to see him play in an Everton shirt again. What's your suggested 'punishment' for Lizzie and Teresa doing exactly the same?
PS – browsing the net on stories about Cenk Tosun, I came upon this site and clicked on this absolute beaut of a story: how all Muslim footballers should be banned from the Premier League 'cos (the then) Liverpool player tested positive for taking 'fat burners'.
It's an absolute belter of an article in bizarre rationale and linkage.
I recommend it to you, Jim. Right up your street.
32 Posted 02/06/2018 at 22:59:28
Jim, there's a difference between two German-born German-Turks and a German-born Turk. Tosun is the only one with a Turkish primary nationality. His family live in Turkey, unless they went back to Germany when he signed for us or indeed came to England with him. Therefore, it'd be a much bigger issue if he didn't go.
How do you know Tosun wasn't invited by the government? That he, being the big star of the Turkish football team, was not invited by the British government as part of an ambassadorial role with the two German-Turks, and that the Turkish President wasn't given friendly advice by the three footballers?
I don't think anyone can condemn Tosun for this.
33 Posted 02/06/2018 at 23:02:21
34 Posted 02/06/2018 at 23:28:48
Then there's a few players with the odd drunk driving, GBH issues.
Surely you can't stop at one foreign leader, even our lot are as corrupt as they come.
Let's just not leave the house, eh??
35 Posted 03/06/2018 at 07:10:27
Well I for one would support them never being allowed to take the field in an Everton shirt.,"What's your suggested 'punishment' for Lizzie and Teresa doing exactly the same?"
Well I for one would support them never being allowed to take the field in an Everton shirt.,,,1,07:09:56,,123.176.7.227,ok,697,06/03/2018 07:09:56,selyme,reader,, 923528,36751,toffeeweb,03/06/2018,Robert Leigh,robleighgolf@hotmail.co.uk,"Rumours swirling (inc in the red top we hate, saw it on Sky – I don't buy that muck) that Bayern are looking at Pickford.
We need to make sure we get a decent number 2 in, either to cover Jordan when he's injured, or as a replacement if/when he goes. England's No 1 won't play at a club outside the top4 for long.
Sam Johnstone gets my vote. Man Utd have several keepers and he may fancy a crack at getting in our side for the cups and pushing Jordan like the Burnley lads have.
[BRZ]
36 Posted 03/06/2018 at 13:26:58
37 Posted 11/06/2018 at 14:25:14
And Jay, it says something about your intellect that you would conflate an absurd racist homogenisation with a singular example of support for a brutal regime.
Tosun can say no – he can choose not to endorse a brutal leader. People say no all the time - Portman recently refused a reward in protest over the actions of the current Israeli administration.
It's good to see Gundogan being roundly booed by German fans in the recent friendly – evidently they've got more scruples than some of those on here.
One of the many reasons I like Everton is that we've had a group of players, many of whom are very active in charity work etc. I can choose who and who not to support. If I was a Chelsea fan, I wouldn't have much fancied Terry either. The weird homogenisation on here is peculiar.
Also John @ 34. Do you even know what Erdogan has done? I'm no fan of May but comparing the two is ridiculous.
[BRZ]
38 Posted 11/06/2018 at 15:02:53
Just wondering at your delayed response and why you revisited this thread now.
This is an absolute beaut from you: "And Jay - it says something about your intellect that you would conflate an absurd racist homogenisation with a singular example of support for a brutal regime."
Read my post @ 31 again. I do no such thing. I'm surprised that someone of your self-implied elevated intellect and superior moral virtue wasn't capable of discerning that.
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1 Posted 01/06/2018 at 22:26:18