There was not only politics in the bilateral talks between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister David Cameron in the NATO Summit in Wales on September 5-6 as Cameron referred to the ceremonial match in which Erdoğan scored a hat-trick in July as impressive.
Attending the opening ceremony of the Fatih Terim Stadium in Başakşehir, Istanbul on July 27, President Erdoğan was one of the players of the celebrity football teams scoring three goals,while his Messi-style second goal was especially praised by both his supporters and his opponents. Cameron stated his admiration specifically for that goal scored by Erdoğan and reportedly joked, "Will you give a hand to our national team, too."
Erdoğan, a former semi-professional footballer, saw his team fall behind 0-3 in the opening minutes of the match only to bring his team back into the game by making the score 3-3 in 15 minutes. According to Turkish football commentators, Erdoğan's performance and the goals he scored were impressive. His style was likened by some on social media to former German football star Franz Beckenbauer and Barca star Lionel Messi.
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