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Istanbul caps wild final day with their first ROW D1 championship
Posted by: butlerizer, 2025-07-23, 63 ViewsIstanbul caps wild final day with their first ROW D1 championship under Alex Butler
Istanbul won their final five games in the Rest of the World's D1 championship, while Beijing lost their final three games to relinquish first place on the final day, giving Istanbul their first title.
Things looked bleak for Istanbul at matchday 20, having lost 1-0 to Brisbane, and Beijing beat Geelong 2-1 to obtain a commanding lead in D1 with Istanbul languishing in third.
After the defeat on matchday 20 versus Brisbane, there was a team meeting where words were exchanged but it served to clear the air. The team and manager concluded that they had the firepower to make a run, and challenged mercurial goalkeeper Ami Levi to finally deliver and not flake out down the stretch. What followed were five straight wins, the first a 5-0 demolition of Jerusalem where Dreger scored a hat trick, followed by a tricky 1-0 win versus second place Seoul. Istanbul then dispatched Sydney 2-0, but the team considers the following 1-0 win against Tehran the crucial game of the streak.
"They grabbed a D1 crown three seasons ago, and had a top manager at the time", Alex Butler stated. "We trained hard and were ready, and Dreger as always delivered." It should be noted that Dreger scored six goals during the five game streak, but Butler reserved special praise for Levi, who did not allow in any goals during the streak. "He wasn't happy that he was called out in the meeting, but he answered accordingly." Levi finished with a 79 percent save percentage in league, an all time high for him, and was rewarded with a contract extension. The final game of the streak was a resounding 3-0 win against Mecca, which sparked wild celebrations in Istanbul once the news came in that Beijing lost 2-0 to Sydney.
Beijing, meanwhile, were left wondering how luck turned so savagely against them. First they lost to Jerusalem 1-0 in a game they totally dominated, confounded by a dream showing by goalkeeper Irwanto, who had seven - all spectacular - saves. In the next game against Seoul they did not dominate but Seoul seized on their only clear opportunity and Fontana made no mistake, giving Beijing consecutive 1-0 losses. On finals day, Beijing again dominated, but Sydney took their chances and got a smash and grab 2-0 win.
"We proposed a goal for ourselves and we reached it. As they say, you can only beat who is in front of you, and we did that. Everyone did a fantastic job down the stretch. We couldn't cap it with a WES Cup, but we fought until the bitter end and lost on a golden goal. It is what it is, but I am confident we will get other chances and ultimately deliver. If you'll excuse me now, we have a team party and I'm looking to party really hard.", proclaimed Butler as he disappeared around the hall.
