Arda Turan

Football player infobox
playername = Arda Turan


fullname = Arda Turan
height = height|m=1.76
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1987|1|30|
cityofbirth = İstanbul
countryofbirth = Turkey
currentclub = Galatasaray
clubnumber = 66
position = Attacking Midfield/Left Winger
youthyears = 1996–1999
1999&ndash
youthclubs = Altıntepsi Makelspor
Galatasaray
years = 2004–
2005–2006
clubs = Galatasaray
→ Manisaspor "(loan)"

caps(goals) = 077 (21)
019 0(4)
nationalyears = 2004–2006
2005–2006
2006-
nationalteam = Turkey U19
Turkey U21
Turkey
nationalcaps(goals) = 018 0(8)
003 0(1)
024 0(3)
pcupdate = 12:00, 4 May 2008 (GMT)
ntupdate = 22:17, 14 September 2008 (CET)

Arda Turan (born January 30, 1987 in Bayrampaşa, Istanbul, Turkey), is a Turkish professional footballer currently playing for Galatasaray in left or right winger position. A product of Galatasaray's youth system, Arda is a member of the Turkey national football team. [http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/ARDA%2BTURAN/video/x5snn3_arda-turan-who-is-the-star-of-galat_sport (video)]

In July 2008, Arda was selected as one of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World as published by Spanish magazine Don Balón.

Club career

Galatasaray

Joined Galatasaray's youth team after impressing with his technique at amateur side Altıntepsi Makelspor. Made his debut for the Galatasaray's U20 team on August 31, 2003 against Gençlerbirliği's U20 team. He made 56 appearances for Galatasaray's U20 team where he scored 17 goals.

Made his senior debut on January 22, 2005 in a 1-0 win against Bursaspor in the Turkish Cup entering the match in the 60th minute to replace Ayhan Akman by then manager Gheorghe Hagi. One year later in January 2006, he was loaned out to Manisaspor to get playing time and adjust playing in the the Süper Lig. He was played primarily as a right back and impressed in his performances during his loan spell which paved the way for his return to the Galatasaray squad.

Despite the purchase of Marcelo Carrusca, Arda quickly impressed manager Eric Gerets with his performances early in the 2006/2007 season and won the two-way battle for the left midfielder position between himself and the Argentinian. After his stellar performances in the Champions League qualifiers which led Galatasaray to the group stage, Arda also impressed against Liverpool F.C. but couldn't prevent his team from losing. Arda was also a victim of his inexperience against Bordeaux as he head butted Franck Jurietti to receive a red card. Arda scored his first Süper Lig goal against Kayserispor on August 13, 2006 and finished the season with five goals. He suffered an injury to his knee in a match against Konyaspor after colliding with goalkeeper Özden Öngün on March 16, 2007 and was expected to miss the rest of the season. However he managed to get fit to play against Fenerbahçe in the championship decider, entering the game as a substitute in the 49th minute and scoring with a header in the 86th minute in a losing effort.

With the installment of Karl-Heinz Feldkamp as the new manager, Arda continued his development in the 2007/2008 season. Despite a less than impressive first half to the season, Arda improved his performances immensely, scoring 7 goals in the second half of the season after failing to score in the first half. Three of his goals came against Sivasspor on May 4, 2008 in a match which virtually ensured that Galatasaray would win the title. Following his impressive displays domestically, Newcastle United made a £9m offer to buy Arda prior to Euro 2008 but the Galatasaray chairman rejected the offer and announced that Arda would not be sold until he and his team mates bring home a European trophy. [ [http://www.sabah.com.tr/2008/07/06/haber,D299C6C2ACD84E78A8AC6E518A111995.html Adnan Polat: We're definitely not selling Arda] ]

International career

Arda currently plays for the Turkish national football team. He scored his first international goal on May 25, 2008 in a friendly against Uruguay, having been called into the Turkey squad for Euro 2008.

Euro 2008

On June 11, Arda scored his second international goal against Switzerland in Turkey's second Group A match of Euro 2008. The goal, a deflected shot in the 92nd minute, made the score 2-1 to Turkey, reignited Turkey's chances of making the quarter-finals and effectively knocked Switzerland out of their own tournament.

The Turks had previously been 1-0 down following a comical Hakan Yakin goal in the first half which came about as a result of the deteriorating weather conditions and severely waterlogged pitch. Arda was announced by the UEFA as man of the match for his European Championship debut. [ [http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/matches/match=300690/report=rp.html Switzerland vs Turkey match report] ]

On June 15, Turan scored the first goal in his country's dramatic late win over the Czech Republic in the final Group A match to qualify for the quarter-final. It capped a stunning turnaround, with Turkey being 2–0 down and scoring three goals in the final 15 minutes, the other goals coming from Villarreal F.C. striker Nihat Kahveci in the 88th minute and the 92nd minute.

Honours

* Galatasaray
** Turkish League: 1 (2007-08)
** Turkish Super Cup: 1 (2008)

* Turkey
** UEFA Euro 2008: Semi Finalist

References

External links

* [http://www.galatasaray.org/futboltakimi/pages/oyuncu_27.php Profile at galatasaray.org]
* [http://www.tff.org/Default.aspx?pageId=30&kisiId=664036 Profile at TFF.org]
* [http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/21369/ardaturan/profil.html Profile at transfermarkt.de]