Hakan Şükür
| File:09hakan b.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hakan Şükür | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Galatasaray | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October, 2006 | |||
Hakan Şükür, (born on September 1, 1971 in Adapazari, Sakarya, Turkey), is a Turkish footballer playing the striker position. He is nicknamed "Bull of the Bosphorus" but the fans of Galatasaray prefer "Kral" meaning "The King."
Along with then team-mate Gheorghe Hagi, he was a member of the UEFA Cup-winning Galatasaray side of 2000. He is remembered by supporters for his scoring in European competition that year, including his superb goals against Leeds United, one in which he danced past three of their defenders to score and help send his team to the final, despite the racist chants echoing throughout Elland Road that night and projectiles being thrown at him during the match in addition to other racist acts against the team surrounding the second leg of the semifinal. He is also remembered for his penalty in Galatasaray's penalty shoot-out victory over Arsenal F.C. in the final.
Hakan currently plays for the Turkish club Galatasaray SK, having spent eight seasons with them in the 1990s. In 2000, he moved to Inter Milan (Italy) then spent short spells at Parma (Italy) and Blackburn Rovers (United Kingdom) before rejoining Galatasaray SK in 2003.
In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Şükür's national team went all the way to the semifinals even though he was hopelessly out of form for most of the tournament. He finally showed a glimpse of his talent when, in the third-place game against South Korea, he scored the fastest goal ever in a World Cup finals match. İlhan Mansız forced a Korean defender into a blunder immediately off the opening kickoff, Şükür pounced on the free ball and put the ball into the Korean net after only 10.8 seconds. [3]
Hakan was capped for the 100th time in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. He is the third Turkish player, after Bülent Korkmaz and Rüştü Reçber, to receive this honor.
He has Albanian heritage from Prishtina in Kosovo, being his true original familyname "Shyqyri".[citation needed] Hakan´s fame in Turkey is such that his 2002 wedding was televised live.
Career achievements
- Multiple Turkish Premier Super League champion, Turkish Cup winner and top goalscorer.
- Received best scorer of the World award by FIFA 1998.
- 2000 UEFA Cup winner.
- 2002 World Cup, achieved third place with the Turkish national football team.
- Three times league top scorer (1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999)
- Second in the top goal scorers list in Turkish Superlig history. Hakan scored 235 goals in his career, Tanju Çolak holds the title with 240 goals.
- Has been capped 106 times for the Turkish national football team.
- Scored the fastest goal ever in World Cup history (10.8 seconds).
- Most successful player on the Turkish national team (50 goals in 106 international matches).
- Scored 38 goals in 34 matches in his best season.
- In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Turkey by the Turkish Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. [4]
- Currently he is the leading international striker/goal scorer in Europe with 50 international goals in 106 matches.
Notes
External links
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Turkish footballers
- Galatasaray players
- Bursaspor footballers
- Torino F.C. players
- Internazionale players
- Parma F.C. players
- Serie A players
- Non-Italian football players in Italy
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- FIFA World Cup 2002 players
- FIFA World Cup goalscorers
- UEFA Euro 1996 players
- UEFA Euro 2000 players
- UEFA European Football Championship goalscorers
- FA Premier League players