From Turkey to Taiwan, in the name of love
| SINGAPORE | TAIWAN |
He left his family behind, moved halfway across the world and gave up the chance to play football for a better club in a better league - all in the name of love.
In 2008, Turkish-born Onur Dogan was so smitten by Tracy Chu, a Taiwanese he met online on social media site Facebook, that football took a backseat.
Three years later, he broke his contract with Dardanel SAS, then a Turkish club in the second tier, to move to Taiwan to marry her.
He now goes by a Chinese name Chu En-le - chosen by his wife - and is part of the Taiwanese national football team that will play Singapore in a crucial Asian Cup qualifier at Jalan Besar Stadium tomorrow.
The naturalised Taiwanese also plays for Meizhou Hakka, a second-tier Chinese club ranked 12th in the 16-team league.
Said the 29-year-old forward: "Football in Taiwan cannot be compared to Turkey. Of course, staying in Turkey would've been better for my career.
"In the first two years in Taiwan, I did have regrets. My old (Dardanel) coach asked me to rejoin the team a couple of times.
"But, my wife didn't want to move (to Turkey), so what could I do?" he said with a wry laugh.
Having spent the most part of his first year in Taiwan taking Mandarin lessons at the National Taiwan University, he now speaks the language fluently and has no trouble communicating with his teammates.
But, while he has assimilated into the Taiwanese culture and sees himself as "completely Taiwanese", he feels the football scene there has plenty of room for improvement.
PROBLEM
He said: "Singapore's football team is a good one, better than Taiwan.
"The problem with us is that there are no professional leagues, though we are getting better every year."
Dogan, who scored two goals in his seven appearances for Taiwan, is one of three foreign talents in the squad.
Belgian-born Xavier Chen and Spanish-born Yaki Yen play as defenders.
In their opening qualifier in March, Taiwan fell to a 3-1 home defeat by Turkmenistan and are now bottom of the group after one game.
But Dogan thinks his experience in Turkish football will come in handy as they seek to overcome the odds in Group E.
He said: "Having played professionally for more than seven years, I've been able to bring my experience and 'European' way of thinking to the table.
"Sometimes (the Taiwanese) players are reluctant to give their 100 per cent, perhaps because of money issues. I've tried to change that.
"I'd say we're physically and mentally prepared for the game against Singapore.
"We came here with the goal to move up the group and qualify for the Asian Cup."
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