Tuncay Says Boro Is Right Up His Street!

Tuncay Sanli: "My main hero when I was growing up was Zidane.

"Why? Because whenever you watched him, it was like you were watching a really good film.

"If you are watching a good film, you take a certain amount of thrill from what is going to happen next.

"There is expectation and anticipation. Watching Zidane was like that. You always wanted to know what was going to happen next.

"My career started by mistake. I came very, very close to slipping through the net. I just played with my friends until I was about 16.

"I was just an ordinary kid who went to school. The only football I played during my school years was a local lads' game in the street. It was never anything more organised than that.

"When I was 15, I was playing in an indoor football match and an amateur coach spotted me. He must have liked what he saw because he asked me to join his team.

"If it hadn't been for him, I would probably have started a job the following year and never played football again.

It was that close.

 

"My upbringing in Turkey was very similar to what you see all around you in Middlesbrough.

"I know there are some poor parts of Middlesbrough, but I was a poor boy myself. I didn't come from a rich background - I know what it's like to come from a family where people have to work really hard just to get by.

"I feel at home in this type of environment. People work hard every day to get by, and the places like that tend to be the areas where football is most important.

"Everybody needs an escape now and then, and football helps provide that.

"I like to live life with a smile on my face," he said.

"What else can you do? If you don't smile, you are bound to get distressed.

"You have to see the good side of things and take pleasure in life. Otherwise, what is the point of being here?

"I don't have time for being sad."