2020: 20th anniversary of Galatasaray's UEFA victory

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - European football's governing body UEFA on Sunday commemorated Turkish club Galatasaray's UEFA Cup triumph on May 17, 2000.

"Taffarel, Popescu, Hagi... @Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup #OTD [on this day] in 2000, beating Arsenal 4-1 on penalties," the UEFA Europa League said on Twitter to honor the 2000 champions.

The Europa League also shared a video of Romanian defender Gheorghe Popescu scoring the last penalty kick against Arsenal's English goalkeeper David Seaman in the penalty shootouts, which brought the UEFA Cup to Galatasaray.

This video went on with Galatasaray players' celebrations while lifting the trophy in the closing ceremony.

"#OTD in 2000, we made history and became the only Turkish club with a European championship title. Happy UEFA Champions Day Lions! #17May2000," Galatasaray tweeted.

The Istanbul club also uploaded a video of the 2000 final, which was held in the Danish capital Copenhagen.

"#17MAYIS2000" has been trending on Twitter, with Galatasaray fans from around the world having made the memorial victory go viral. There were at least 40,000 tweets under the hashtag till Sunday afternoon.

Galatasaray claimed Europe's second-tier trophy under the helm of famed Turkish head coach Fatih Terim.

It had eliminated Italy's Bologna, German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund, Spanish team Real Mallorca and English club Leeds United to reach the final.

UEFA rebranded the UEFA Cup in 2009, and the tournament's name was changed to the UEFA Europa League.

Galatasaray is still the only Turkish club to win the European title in football.