Former Celtic and Nottingham Forest striker Pierre van Hooijdonk has warned the English national team that they will face hell when they play Turkey in 13 days time on his new home ground. Van Hooijdonk, who swapped Feyenoord for Fenerbahce during the summer, has discovered at first hand how visiting teams to the Fernerbahce stadium are recieved with a 'Welcome from Hell'. Van Hooijdonk: "It is the most intimidating ground in the country. The Turks have deliberately picked this stadium because it's the only one without an athletic track around the pitch. The fans are right on top of you. Now I enjoy the support. They are incredibly fanatical. But when I was here last year with Feyenoord in the Champions League, I was amazed by the scenes in the stands and on the pitch. Our goalkeeper Edwin Zoetebier almost finished up like a kebab, when a fan threw a metal spear into his goal."
Dutch international record defender Frank de Boer, who swapped Barcelona for Turkish outfit  Galatasaray, has also experienced Fernerbahce's welcome and agrees that England face a difficult task there. De Boer: "That was only a local game. You can imagine what the match between Turkey and England is going to be like. I have been in a lot of ill-tempered games and have seen fans go crazy when Real Madrid have taken on Barcelona. But nothing could match the ferocity of the Turks. I won't say anything bad about them, but I can tell you that not a lot has to happen for things to explode.''
Van Hooijdonk added  "I have been all over Europe, but nowhere are the fans as passionate as here in Istanbul. It's Celtic v Rangers but ten times worse."