Just call him Ibo alphabet soup
By SCOTT ZERR -- Edmonton Sun
Just call him Ibo.
Good thing, because it takes the duration of entire practice to get one's tongue twisted around the right pronunciation of Ibrahim Mollaibrahimagaoglu.
Sound it out. Carefully. Moe-la ... eebraheem ... aga ... o-glue.
Ibo will do just fine. In fact, that's all that will likely be on the back of his jersey tonight when the newest member of the Edmonton Aviators makes his debut against the Seattle Sounders.
The 34-year-old sweeper had another nickname come his way from interpreter Tevfik Yasa, who dubbed him the "Mark Messier of Turkish soccer."
Well, "Moose'' wouldn't exactly work for a guy who's generously listed at five-foot-eight and 150 pounds, but he definitely doesn't lack for any confidence a la big No. 11.
"I know what being a professional means and I hope this team will learn a lot of things from me," said Ibo, who is likely to draw his first start with the Aviators provided the last pieces of international paperwork are wrapped up by game time.
"We've got to play together as a team and then we can be successful. When the fans see me in a game they're going to start cheering for us."
His bravado was picked up on rather quickly.
"He looked very confident, very comfortable on the ball and very skilful," said Aviators head coach Ross Ongaro. "His experience is only going to make us a much deeper team."
There's nothing simple about this guy. He'll wear the very unusual No. 53 on his jersey in homage to his home town of Rize - each city and town in Turkey is assigned a number which is placed on licence plates of vehicles to identify the owner's residence.
Ibo, who played one year in Turkey's Super League with Rezespor and then in the Second Division with Izmirspor and Kirikkalespor, was also about a month overdue in Aviators camp. GM Joe Petrone had latched onto him through an agent in Europe but he was stuck in transit several times before finally taking off on his excellent adventure.
"I didn't have any problems, just the registration forms between the Canadian and Turkish consulates," explained Ibo. "There was a little problem just taking time to get it.
"Canada is the same as back home and I'm not having any problems.''
Ibo's presence allows Ongaro to make several switches to his lineup. Ibo moves into the sweeper spot at the back, alongside Chris Devlin and Liam DeSilva. Sean Fraser will shift to the outside of the midfield, with Chris Lemire and Freddy Akok starting in the striker spots.
Ibo also arrived with 29-year-old midfielder Ercenk Hasan Aksimsek, but his status with the Aviators is up in the air.
