Ufuk Talay

Infobox Football biography
playername = Ufuk Talay
fullname = Ufuk Talay


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|3|26
cityofbirth = Sydney
countryofbirth = Australia
height = height|m=1.78
position = Central Midfielder
currentclub = Avispa Fukuoka
clubnumber = 8
youthyears =
youthclubs = Cabramatta Police Boys Club
Southern Districts (Sydney)
years = 1992–1995
1995–2002
1996–1997
1997–1998
1999–2000
2001
2001–2002
2002–2004
2004–2005
2005–2008
2008–"present"
clubs = Marconi-Fairfield
Galatasaray
→ Antalyaspor "(loan)"
→ Karabükspor "(loan)"
→ Bursaspor "(loan)"
→ Bursaspor "(loan)"
→ Nîmes Olympique "(loan)"
Gaziantepspor
Mersin Idman Yurdu
Sydney FC
Avispa Fukuoka
caps(goals) = 042 00(4)
028 00(1)
012 00(0)
020 00(3)
024 00(1)
000 00(0)
012 00(?)
015 00(0)
023 00(1)
056 00(6)
027 00(5)
nationalyears = 1994–1995
nationalteam = Australia U-20
nationalcaps(goals) = 010 00(1)
pcupdate = 16:37, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate =

Ufuk Talay (born March 26, 1976 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player of Turkish descent who currently plays for Avispa Fukuoka in the J.League 2nd Division.

Club career

Talay first entered a national competition for Marconi-Fairfield in the now defunct NSL, as first an understudy to Steve Corica and later as a midfield partner. He made his debut late in the 92/93 season, playing the last six regular season games and scoring in the final round. Marconi went on to win the grand final with seventeen year old Talay watching as an unused substitute. Talay remained with Marconi for a further two years, becoming a regular starter in the first team.

Turkey

Seeking a more promising career to build on his NSL and national team experience, Talay joined Turkish giants Galatasaray in the Turkish Premier Super League. With restrictions on the number of foreign players, his Turkish heritage allowed him to join the squad outside of this rule, but was unable to establish a regular place. He spent time on loan out to other sides in the Turkish top flight and lower divisions with Antalyaspor, Karabükspor and Bursaspor, followed by a brief six-month stint in the French second division with Nîmes Olympique, before Galatasaray transferred him to Gaziantepspor in 2002. He shortly moved again to second division side Mersin Idman Yurdu, before being enticed to return to Australia with Sydney FC in the new A-League competition.

ydney FC

As the sixteenth player signed to the inaugural Sydney FC squad, Talay sought to reignite his football career and at Sydney was reunited with former Marconi teammates Corica and Matthew Bingley, as well as Clint Bolton and Robbie Middleby whom shared the experience of the Youth World Cup. He has been described by Socceroo Josip Skoko as "the best player to never represent Australia", and Talay has expressed his desire for a full international cap. A motivation for his return to Australia is "the chance to get back in the spotlight and get that Aussie shirt". [citenews|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Football/Bigger-and-better-Talays-new-mission-is-to-be-noticed/2005/02/04/1107476805905.html |title=Bigger and better, Talay's new mission is to be noticed |date=2005-02-05 |firstname=Michael |lastname=Cockerill |work=Sydney Morning Herald |accessdate=2007-06-25]

His first season was cut short by a knee injury, missing the last seven games (including the grand final) after solid performances in the A-League and Club World Cup. As the 2006/07 season started, Talay found himself on the outer as new coach Terry Butcher favoured a central pairing of Terry McFlynn and Mark Milligan. His early appearances of the season were as a late substitute, before other injuries opened the opportunity to win back a first team place, which he held for the remainder of the year. He also took over penalty-duties for the side, making the most of the opportunity twice in the year. Two yellow cards in the final league match saw Talay suspended for Sydney's first leg final against Newcastle but on return for the second leg he could not prevent the club's elimination.

Following the close of the A-League season, Sydney proceeded on to the AFC Champions League 2007 competition. Talay played all six group-stage games, scoring goals against Shanghai Shenhua and Urawa. In the return match against Shanghai Shenhua, he sensationally hit the crossbar from the penalty spot, Sydney eventually drawing the match 0-0. [citenews|url=http://www.sydneyfc.com/default.aspx?s=sydfc_news_item&id=17747 |title=Sydney FC 0 Shanghai Shenhua 0 |date=2007-05-09 |accessdate=2007-06-25 ] '

Talay missed another penalty against New Zealand rivals Wellington Pheonix. The goalkeeper made an easy save to his left in the 70th minute. Had Ufuk scored, Sydney would have won 3-0. But in the end ran out 2-0 winners.

Talay remains with Sydney for the 2007/08 season, continuing into the final season of his original three-year contract, playing every game of the season except one (due to suspension after receiving a fourth yellow card for the year the previous match). In December 2007, it was announced that he would follow former Sydney FC teamate Mark Rudan to Japan, signing with second division side Avispa Fukuoka, the move completed in February at the close of Sydney's season. [citenews| title=Talay joins Japanese exodus |url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/69927,talay-joins-japanese-exodus.aspx |publisher=FourFourTwo Australia |date=2008-02-12 |accessdate=2008-02-13]

Avispa Fukuoka

Talay Joined fellow Australians Mark Rudan and Newcastle's Joel Griffiths becoming the 3rd Aussie in their lineup sqaud. He was an immediate sucsess, scoring twice in 3 games, and netting a third in his 5th game.

International career

His first national level selection was for the Young Socceroos in 1994. He joined the squad in a number of Youth World Cup qualifiers and retained his place for the 1995 Youth World Cup in New Zealand.

In January 2008, he was named in the 22-man Socceroos squad for the training camp for the 2008 AFC World Cup qualifiers in Sydney.

tyle of play

Talay is suited to play in central midfield and is known for his good distribution and on-field vision. [citenews|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/talay-vision-worth-seeing/2006/11/17/1163266779444.html |title=Talay vision worth seeing |date=2006-11-08 |firstname=Michael |lastname=Cockerill |work=Sydney Morning Herald |accessdate=2007-06-25]

Honours

With Sydney FC:
* A-League Championship: 2005-2006
* Oceania Club Championship: 2004-2005With Marconi-Fairfield:
* NSL Championship: 1992-1993

Career statistics

"(correct as of 28 August, 2008)" [ [http://www.ozfootball.net/ OzFootball Archives] ] [ [http://www.cimbom.org/ Galatasaray SK Unofficial] ] [ [http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=hal_fixtureresults A-League - Fixtures and Results] ]

'International Cup' matches refer to UEFA, AFC and Club World Cup competitions.

References

ee also

*Turks in Australia

External links

* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/T/TA.html Oz Football profile]
* [http://www.tff.org/Default.aspx?pageId=526&kisiID=26625 Profile at TFF.org]