Kazım Kazım signs off with no regrets

Fenerbahçe SK striker Kazım Kazım said his side had "done Turkish football proud" despite being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after a 2-0 defeat by Chelsea FC.

Ballack opener
The Turkish champions came into the second leg of their quarter-final leading 2-1 but quickly fell behind to Michael Ballack's fourth-minute header. Despite taking the early lead, Chelsea were never allowed to settle and had to endure a tense finale before Frank Lampard settled the tie late on.

'Heads high'
"They're a great team," Kazım Kazım told uefa.com. "Once they had gone ahead it was hard to come back but we asked them questions. We're a good team and I think we showed that. I feel we can be proud of ourselves. We can walk out of here with our heads high. We're gutted but we've done Turkish football proud."

Curtain call
Fenerbahçe supporters certainly agreed. The club had never reached the quarter-finals before and their dedicated and vocal fans called their team out on to the pitch for a curtain call to salute that achievement long after the final whistle. Among the Fenerbahçe contingent were a 40-strong army of Kazım Kazım's family and friends who had come to watch the London-born player's return to the capital.

Good strike
Kazım Kazım almost proved the hero for Fenerbahçe, producing a rasping drive with eight minutes to play but Chelsea goalkeeper Hilário, on for the injured Carlo Cudicini, was equal to the task. "I thought it was in, but obviously it wasn't meant to be," Kazım Kazım said. "We came here and gave them a game but that's football."

United praise
A disappointing evening was compounded for the 21-year-old by the news that the team he supports, Arsenal FC, had lost the evening's other quarter-final against Liverpool FC. With the Gunners out, Kazım Kazım will be hoping Chelsea go on to lift the trophy in Moscow. "I hope they win it so we can say we were beaten by the champions," he said.