Hakan Şükür facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hakan Şükür
Şükür playing for Galatasaray in 2006
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office 12 June 2011 – 23 June 2015
Constituency	İstanbul (III)
Personal details
Born	(1971-09-01) 1 September 1971 (age 53) Sapanca, Turkey
Political party	Independent (2013–present)
Other political affiliations	Justice and Development Party (2011–2013)
Spouses	Esra Elbirlik ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 1995)​ Beyda Sertbaş ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	3
Residence	United States
Awards	State Medal of Distinguished Service (2002) (later revoked)
Hakan Şükür Personal information Height 1.91 m Playing position Striker Youth career Sakaryaspor Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1987–1990 Sakaryaspor 41 (19) 1990–1992 Bursaspor 54 (11) 1992–1995 Galatasaray 90 (54) 1995 Torino 5 (1) 1995–2000 Galatasaray 156 (108) 2000–2002 Inter Milan 24 (5) 2002 Parma 15 (3) 2002–2003 Blackburn Rovers 9 (2) 2003–2008 Galatasaray 146 (55) Total 540 (258) National team 1987–1988 Turkey U16 6 (2) 1988–1990 Turkey U18 13 (1) 1990–1993 Turkey U21 16 (5) 1992–2007 Turkey 112 (51) Honours Men's football Representing  Turkey Mediterranean Games Gold 1993 Languedoc–Roussillon FIFA World Cup Third 2002 Korea/Japan Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Hakan Şükür (Albanian: Shykyr; born 1 September 1971) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed the "Bull of the Bosphorus" and Kral (king), he spent the majority of his professional career with Galatasaray, being a three-time Gol Kralı (Goal King, title and award given to the annual top goalscorer of the Süper Lig), representing the club in three different spells and winning a total of 14 major titles.

Şükür represented Turkey a total of 112 times, scoring 51 goals, making him the nation's top goalscorer and 19th in the world at the time of his retirement. One of the most prolific strikers of the modern era, he netted 383 goals throughout his club career as well as the fastest ever in a World Cup, in 2002. He retired from football in 2008.

In the 2011 general elections, he was elected as an Istanbul MP for the Justice and Development Party. He resigned from the party in December 2013, to serve as an independent. He is wanted for arrest in Turkey since August 2016 for being a member of Gülen movement and has lived in exile in the United States since mid 2016. On 14 July 2017, a decree was issued stating that all medals awarded to Hakan Şükür were to be revoked.

Club career

Early years

Born in Sapanca, Sakarya Province, Şükür began his football career with local club Sakaryaspor, making his professional debut shortly after his 17th birthday. His first goal came in a match against Eskişehirspor on 26 February 1989: with the match tied 2–2, he entered the pitch as a substitute and scored the winning goal; he went on to score a further 18 Süper Lig goals in his three-year spell with the club.

In the summer of 1990, Şükür joined fellow first division side Bursaspor. He scored six goals in 27 games in his second season, helping the team to a sixth-place finish, and making his Turkey national team debut shortly after.

Galatasaray – Torino

Subsequently, Şükür signed for national giants Galatasaray. Nicknamed the Bull of the Bosphorus, he scored 19 goals in thirty matches in his first year with the club, helping it win both the league and cup titles, adding 16 and 19, respectively, in the next two seasons and attracting the attention of Torino. In 1995, he moved to Turin, becoming the second Turkish player to ever play in Serie A, but returned to his country and Galatasaray in the following winter transfer window, after failing to settle and only netting once in the league.

Upon his return to Galatasaray, Şükür regained his scoring form, scoring 16 goals in the league and helping the club to win the cup. The following season, he collected 38 goals in the league, tying him for second-most goals scored in a season with Metin Oktay, one goal behind record holder Tanju Çolak; both players were playing for Galatasaray when they broke the record. Şükür also finished third in the ESM Golden Boot rankings with 57 points, behind Mário Jardel (60) and Ronaldo (68). He won the Gol Kralı award the following two seasons, netting 33 and 18 goals respectively, with the Galatasaray winning the title in all three seasons.

In the 1999–2000 season, Şükür's last with Galatasaray in his second stint, the team completed a domestic double for the second year in succession, and added the year's UEFA Cup, becoming the first Turkish side to win a European title; in the 4–1 penalty shootout win against Arsenal, he scored on his attempt, having netted ten times in 17 games during the campaign.

Return to Italy – Blackburn

Şükür then moved to Italy again, this time to Inter Milan, scoring six goals in 35 official matches. His appearances were limited by the presence of Ronaldo and Christian Vieri in the team's attack and January 2002, after 1+1⁄2 seasons, he signed with another team in the country, Parma, but was unable to produce again, only finding the net three times. He helped Parma win the Coppa Italia, but only played in the first leg of the final.

Having been released, on 9 December 2002, Şükür joined Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League for the remainder of the campaign, signed by former Galatasaray manager Graeme Souness. His spell began with him sustaining a broken leg in training, which ruled him out for two months, after which made his debut for the club on 1 March 2003, replacing the injured Egil Østenstad at half time in a 1–0 home win over Manchester City; he scored twice from nine appearances, both goals coming in a 4–0 defeat of Fulham at Loftus Road on 7 April.

Third spell at Galatasaray

Şükür in 2008

Şükür returned to Galatasaray on 7 July 2003, after failing to negotiate a new contract with Blackburn. He scored 12 times in 28 league games in his first season and 18 in the following, with the team winning the 2005 Turkish cup during that timeframe. Also, on 3 December 2003, he found the net twice in a 2–0 home defeat of Juventus for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League; in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as Turkey's Golden Player by the Turkish Football Federation, as their most outstanding player of the past fifty years.

In the 2005–06 season, Şükür again scored in double digits (ten) as Galatasaray again won the league. After helping the club win a record-tying 17th first division title in 2007–08, netting eleven goals, he decided to retire from the game, aged nearly 37. Subsequently, he often appeared as a television pundit on the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation; during his career, he scored 38 goals in all European competitions.

International career

Şükür won his first cap for Turkey in a friendly with Luxembourg in March 1992 – his debut being awarded by German manager Sepp Piontek – scoring his first international goal in his next match, against Denmark, and totalling six in his first 11 appearances. He netted seven in qualification for UEFA Euro 1996 and started all of the matches at the finals in England, in which they were eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal.

Şükür scored eight times in qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup: half of those in a 6–4 home win over Wales on 20 August 1997, but Turkey did not reach the play-offs. At Euro 2000, he netted twice for the quarter-finalists, in a 2–0 group stage win against co-hosts Belgium.

During the 2002 World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan, Şükür scored once for Turkey in seven matches, as the national team finished in third place. On 29 June, he scored the fastest ever goal in a FIFA World Cup and in any major international football tournament, netting against South Korea 10.8 seconds into the third-place play-off, which Turkey went on to win 3–2.

Of his 112 senior appearances, Şükür captained Turkey in thirty. After appearing in some Euro 2008 qualifiers, notably scoring four against Moldova in a 5–0 win in Frankfurt, Germany, he was not selected for the finals, his last game being a 0–1 home loss to Greece at the age of 36 (17 October 2007).

Personal life

Şükür is of Albanian origin. Both of his parents are immigrants from Yugoslavia, his father being born in Pristina, and his mother in Skopje. His surname is spelled "Shykyr" in Albanian. His first wife, Esra Elbirlik, married him in a ceremony broadcast live on television, initiated by Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and performed by Mayor of Istanbul Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The couple divorced after four months, and Elbirlik and her family died in the 1999 İzmit earthquake. Şükür fathered three children with his second spouse, Beyda. In 2010, the football stadium of Sancaktepe was named after him. In April 2014, his name was removed again.

Politics

On 18 June 2011, Şükür was elected as a Member of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the 2011 general elections, from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), representing the 2nd electoral district of Istanbul Province.

On 16 December 2013, Şükür, known for his links to the Islamic Gülen movement of the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, resigned from his position in protest after the interdiction of the group's "dershane" system, and decided to continue working as an independent MP. He subsequently went on to work as a football pundit for Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.

Prosecution and exile

In February 2016, Şükür was charged with insulting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Twitter. In August, a warrant was issued for his arrest as he was charged with being a member of the Gülen movement, designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey.

In an interview published in May 2018 by The New York Times, Hakan Şükür stated that he left Turkey in September 2015 and moved to California to be with a friend. He mentioned that after his term as a member of parliament ended in 2015, he faced obstacles in every job he tried to pursue in Turkey, which led him to decide to live in the United States. He then called his wife and asked her to join him with their three children. After obtaining an investor EB-5 visa in the United States, he became a part-owner of a cafe in Palo Alto in 2016. He would later leave this job because "strange people kept coming into the bar". He noted that his long-term plan in the United States was not to run a cafe but to coach at a sports academy, similar to what he had planned to do in Turkey.

In November 2019, he revealed in a video on his YouTube channel that he was working as an Uber driver. Germany's Welt am Sonntag, in an interview with Şükür, reported that he had closed his cafe to work as an Uber driver and was also selling books. Additionally, he mentioned that the Turkish government had seized his properties, businesses, and bank accounts in Turkey.

On 3 April 2023, Hakan Şükür announced on his Twitter account that after 7+1⁄2 years in the United States, he and his family had received their green cards, which would allow them to reside and work in the US.

As of August 2023, Hakan Şükür has opened a football school in Palo Alto, California, for boys aged 10-13 and 13-17.

The Turkish government seems to be still very sensitive to the subject. In December 2022 during the TRT broadcast of a World Cup match between Canada and Morocco, commentator Alper Bakircigil commented on Hakim Ziyech's goal in the fourth minute about a record held by Şükür, who scored the fastest goal in World Cup history at 10.8 seconds, in their third place match against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup. He was removed from the broadcast at half-time and fired from his job later that day. News accounts speculated that his firing was due to his employer (state-run TRT) reacting to the mention of the name.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Şükür goal.

List of international goals scored by Hakan Şükür

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 April 1992	Ankara, Turkey	Denmark		2–1	Friendly
2	26 August 1992	Trabzon, Turkey	Bulgaria		3–2	Friendly
3
4	28 October 1992	Ankara, Turkey	San Marino	1–0	4–1	1994 World Cup qualification
5				3–1
6	27 October 1993	Istanbul, Turkey	Poland	1–1	2–1	1994 World Cup qualification
7	7 September 1994	Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–2	2–2	Euro 1996 qualifying
8	12 October 1994	Istanbul, Turkey	Iceland	3–0	5–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
9				4–0
10	26 April 1995	Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	2–1	Euro 1996 qualifying
11	6 September 1995	Istanbul, Turkey	Hungary	1–0	2–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
12				2–0
13	15 November 1995	Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	2–1	2–2	Euro 1996 qualifying
14	1 May 1996	Samsun, Turkey	Ukraine		3–2	Friendly
15	10 November 1996	Istanbul, Turkey	San Marino	4–0	7–0	1998 World Cup qualification
16				6–0
17	2 April 1997	Bursa, Turkey	Netherlands	1–0	1–0	1998 World Cup qualification
18	20 August 1997	Istanbul, Turkey	Wales	1–0	6–4	1998 World Cup qualification
19				3–3
20				5–4
21				6–4
22	10 September 1997	Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	3–0	5–0	1998 World Cup qualification
23	10 October 1998	Bursa, Turkey	Germany	1–0	1–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
24	27 March 1999	Istanbul, Turkey	Moldova	1–0	2–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
25	5 June 1999	Helsinki, Finland	Finland	2–2	4–2	Euro 2000 qualifying
26				4–2
27	19 June 2000	Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000
28				2–0
29	11 October 2000	Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	1–0	1–0	2002 World Cup qualification
30	24 March 2001	Istanbul, Turkey	Slovakia	1–0	1–1	2002 World Cup qualification
31	2 June 2001	Istanbul, Turkey	Azerbaijan	3–0	3–0	2002 World Cup qualification
32	15 August 2001	Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–	1–1	Friendly
33	1 September 2001	Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	1–0	1–0	2002 World Cup qualification
34	5 September 2001	Istanbul, Turkey	Sweden	1–0	1–2	2002 World Cup qualification
35	14 November 2001	Istanbul, Turkey	Austria	2–0	5–0	2002 World Cup qualification
36	17 April 2002	Kerkrade, Netherlands	Chile	–0	2–0	Friendly
37	29 June 2002	Daegu, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	3–2	2002 FIFA World Cup
38	11 June 2003	Istanbul, Turkey	Macedonia	3–2	3–2	Euro 2004 qualifying
39	6 September 2003	Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	3–0	3–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
40	9 September 2003	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Ireland		2–2	Friendly
41	19 November 2003	Istanbul, Turkey	Latvia	2–0	2–2	Euro 2004 qualifying
42	21 May 2004	Sydney, Australia	Australia		3–1	Friendly
43
44	2 June 2004	Seoul, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	1–0	Friendly
45	5 June 2004	Daegu, South Korea	South Korea	1–	1–2	Friendly
46	18 August 2004	Denizli, Turkey	Belarus	1–	1–2	Friendly
47	11 October 2006	Frankfurt, Germany	Moldova	1–0	5–0	Euro 2008 qualifying
48				2–0
49				3–0
50				5–0
51	2 June 2007	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	2–3	Euro 2008 qualifying

Honours

Sakaryaspor

• Turkish Cup: 1987–88

Bursaspor

• Prime Minister's Cup: 1992

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2005–06, 2007–08
• Turkish Cup: 1992–93, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2004–05
• President Cup: 1993, 1996, 1997
• Prime Minister's Cup: 1995
• UEFA Cup: 1999–2000

Parma

• Coppa Italia: 2001–02

Turkey

• FIFA World Cup: third place 2002

Individual

• IFFHS World's Best Top Division Goal Scorer: 1997
• UEFA Jubilee Awards: Turkey's Golden Player 2004
• Top Scorer of Turkish League of all Times: 249 goals
• Top Scoring Turkish Player in Champions League: 22 goals
• Golden Foot Legends Award: 2014

See also

In Spanish: Hakan Şükür para niños