Hamit Altıntop

Infobox Football biography
playername = Hamit Altıntop
fullname = Hamit Altıntop


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|12|8
cityofbirth = Gelsenkirchen
countryofbirth = West Germany
height = height|m=1.83
currentclub = Bayern Munich
clubnumber = 8
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1991-1992
1992-1997
1997-2000
youthclubs = Schwarz-Weiß Gelsenkirchen-Süd
TuS Rotthausen
Wattenscheid 09
years = 2000–2003
2003
2003–2007
2007–
clubs = Wattenscheid 09
Schalke 04 II
Schalke 04
Bayern Munich
caps(goals) = 075 (12)
001 0(0)
113 0(8)
024 0(3)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Turkey
nationalcaps(goals) = 047 0(2)
pcupdate = August 23, 2008
ntupdate =

Hamit Altıntop (born December 8, 1982 in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany) is a Turkish national footballer. He is a versatile midfielder and can play either in a defending or attacking role. He is well known for his flair of long-shot ability, as shown when he played for Schalke 04 and so far with Bayern Munich.

He is the identical twin brother of footballer Halil Altıntop, who was born 10 minutes after Hamit. [cite web | url = http://www.ntvspor.net/pages/18324.asp | title = Hamit: Halil sorumluluğu bana kıraktı | language = Turkish | accessdate = 2007-12-24 | work = ntvspor.net]

Schalke

Altıntop started his professional career in local German club Wattenscheid in 2000 along with his brother. As successful performances grabbed the attention of bigger clubs, he was transferred to Schalke 04 in 2003, where he played in a primarily defensive midfield role. In the 2006–2007 summer transfer window, Schalke signed his brother Halil from FC Kaiserslautern. Schalke came second in the Bundesliga, only pipped by VfB Stuttgart by 2 points.

Bayern Munich

Hamit joined Bayern Munich for the 2007–2008 season on a free transfer from Schalke 04. He scored his first goal in his first game for "Bayern" when they faced the Brazilian champions São Paulo. Munich went on winning the game 2-1 after his spectacular free-kick. Remaining as one of Munich's starters, he scored another left-foot goal out of 30 meters distance against Werder Bremen in the Liga-Pokal. Munich completed the match with a 4-1 victory.

Altıntop also scored against Aberdeen F.C. in the first leg of their tie in the UEFA Cup competition on February 14, 2008. The initial penalty kick was saved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, however Altintop was quick to score the rebound. The match finished 2-2.

Honours

*Schalke 04
** German League-Cup: 2006
** Bundesliga Runner-up: 2007
*FC Bayern Munich
** German League-Cup: 2007
** Bundesliga Champions: 2008
** German Cup: 2008
*Turkey
** Carlsberg UEFA EURO 2008 Man of the Match Award "(vs Croatia)"
** UEFA EURO 2008 Team of the tournamentcite web | url =http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=729372.html | title = Spain dominate Team of the Tournament | date = 2008-06-30 | accessdate = 2008-06-30 | publisher = euro2008.uefa.com]

International career

Goals for Turkey

Euro 2008

Hamit played in all five of Turkey's matches. He assisted all three goals in the comeback against the Czech Republic and in the quarter finals against Croatia he had another solid game and scored the third penalty to make it 3:1 in the shoot out. After goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber saved the next Croatian penalty, Turkey advanced to the semi-finals against Germany. Turkish coach Fatih Terim used him as a right defender in the first two games of the tournament, a move that was heavily criticised by the media, since Hamit is a midfielder for his club Bayern Munich. After the match against Switzerland, Terim switched him to midfield for the remainder of the tournament, which boosted both Turkey's and his own performance. His bold playing style and decisive passes made him a dominant player in the Turkish midfield. He was awarded with the Carlsberg Man of the Match award following the quarter final match against Croatia.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Altıntop was universally acknowledged to be one of the tournament's stars, and was included in UEFA's official 23-man "Team of the Tournament". He is the first (and only) Turkish player to appear in the list.

References

External links

* [http://www.hamit-altintop.com Players official site]
* [http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/1792/altintophamit/profil.html Profile at transfermarkt.de] de icon
* [http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil.php?id=8973 Profile at weltfussball.de] de icon
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/altintophamit Profile at fussballdaten.de] de icon

Persondata
NAME=Altintop, Hamit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Turkish footballer
DATE OF BIRTH=December 8, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH=Gelsenkirchen, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=