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Euro 2008 Player Profile: Hakan Şükür
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Name: Hakan Şükür
Team: Turkey
Group: A; Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal
Caps (Goals): 112 (51) – as of May 1, 2008
DOB: September 1, 1971 (36 years old)
Position: Striker (all about the goals)
Club Team: Galatasaray
When Şükür made his international debut back in 1992, Turkey were more or less international whipping boys. Now they’re a serious team. World Cup semifinalist in 2002 and not a side anyone will take lightly this summer. Did Şükür’s career coincide with Turkey’s rise to respectability? Or did it cause it? Probably a little from column A and a little from column B, but he was definitely involved.
Lethal in the air, but great with his feet and a proper eye for goal, Şükür is pretty much all you can ask for in a striker. And Kral (as they call him in Turkey, which means King) has been absolutely dominant in the Turkish league, where he’s the all time top scorer. Most of those goals have come with Galatasaray, where Kral is currently in his third spell, and has had won all kinds of domestic titles. He’s tried his luck abroad with Torino, Inter Milan, Parma and Blackburn, but never stayed long enough to settle down.
Arguably Şükür’s greatest moment was lifting the UEFA Cup with Galatasaray in 2000, making them the first Turkish team to win a European title. Not only did he score in the penalty shoot out to beat Arsenal in the final, he also scored this goal against Leeds United in the semis:
Şükür also has his name in the record books as the scorer of the fastest goal in World Cup history. In the 2002 third place playoff against South Korea he scored this, with 10.8 seconds between kick off and celebration.
Kral is 36 years old now, which is a lot of birthday candles for an international centre forward. But he scored five in Euro 2008 qualifying and is perfectly capable of scoring more for Turkey in Swissaustria this summer, where he’ll captain the side.
UPDATE: Except he won’t. Fatih Terim has left Hakan Şükür out of his squad for Euro 2008.
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If the Turks can get a draw out of Portugal on day one of the tournament, they’ll be in great shape, but that’s a tall, tall order. Should be an awesome group to watch.
I think Turkey will flat out beat Portugal. GO Turks!!!
Boo Portugal!
Posted from 
Canada
My favorite player of all time. Hakan is the greatest player to have ever emerged in Turkey. At the age of 37, he has scored 9 goals and has made 5 assists this season.
Posted from 
United States
HAKAN SUKUR HE BROKE A WORLD RECORD TO KOREA IN THERE OWN LAND IN 9 SECONDS ITS ALL ABOUT HIM IF HE GOES AND RETIRES ITS OVER FOR TURKEY THEY STILL HAVE GOOD PLAYERS BUT NOTHING COMPARED TO THE PRO HAKAN THE ALL TIME PLAYER MORE THAN 100CAPS SEE-YA
ENGLAND
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Interesting profile, enjoyed reading it. I think Turkey’s best chance to get out of their group will be beating Switzerland and drawing with the Czechs… Hope they can take care of that. Cheers,
John
Posted from
United States