Do You Remember Him? #2- Hakan Sukur

Biodata

Full Name: Hakan Sukur

Nationality: Turkish

Date of Birth: 1 September 1971

Position: Striker

Former Clubs:

1987- 1990 Sakaryaspor

1990- 1992 Bursaspor

1992- 1995 Galatasaray

1995 Torino

1995- 2000 Galatasaray

2000- 2002 Inter Milan

2002 Parma

2002- 2003 Blackburn Rovers

2003- 2008 Galatasaray

International Career:

1992- 2007 Turkey

Achievement:

Sakaryaspor

1987- 1988 Turkish Cup

Galatasaray

1992- 1993 Super Lig

1992- 1993 Turkish Cup

1993 President Cup

1993- 1994 Super Lig

1995- 1996 Turkish Cup

1996- 1997 Super Lig

1997 President Cup

1997- 1998 Super Lig

1998- 1999 Super Lig

1998- 1999 Turkish Cup

1999- 2000 Super Lig

1999- 2000 Turkish Cup

1999- 2000 UEFA Cup

2004- 2005 Turkish Cup

2005- 2006 Super Lig

2007- 2008 Super Lig

Parma

2001- 2002 Coppa Italiana

Career

2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan is destined to be remembered by Turkish football fans as they finished third in the tournament. At the same time, a Turkish striker’s name will be recorded in the history book of football as the fastest goal scored in a World Cup finals. He also retired as the top scorer of his national team as well. His name is Hakan Sukur.

Hakan Sukur began his footballing career in his local club, Sakaryaspor. He scored his first-ever professional goal in the age of 18, which he scored the winning goal after he substituted in a match against Eskisehirspor. In 1990, Bursaspor signed Hakan Sukur. He helped his team to a sixth-place finish and making his Turkish national team debut in the same period too. In which he scored his first international goal in just his second match against a more famous Denmark side.

His performance in Bursaspor and the Turkey national team has attracted the attention of Galatasaray. Hakan Sukur scored at least 16 goals in each of the three seasons in Istanbul. This scoring ratio has impressed the Italian side Torino FC to sign him. He was the second-ever Turkish to play in Serie A. But the move soon to be proved as a failure as Hakan Sukur never settle and only netting once in the league. He subsequently returned to Galatasaray after just one season in Turin.

It is his second spell in Galatasaray earned him a greater reputation as the deadliest striker worldwide. In between 1996-1997 season and 1997-1998 season, Hakan Sukur scored 80 goals in just 89 games in two seasons. Put this statistic in the current footballing world, it is more like a Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo statistic. The climax of his second Galatasaray spell was definitely his victory against Arsenal in 1999-2000 season UEFA Cup with the likes of Gheorghe Hagi and Hassan Sas in the squad. He scored one of the penalties in the shootout to help to clinch the title. This result also marked the first-ever Turkish side to win a UEFA competition.

He moved to Italy again after the UEFA Cup victory and a successful Euro 2000 campaign. This time Inter Milan is the one who signed this Turkish superstar. However, his playing time was limited due to the presence of Ronaldo Nazario and Christian Vieri. In order to gain more playing time, he signed for Parma after one and a half year in Nerazzurri side. Still, he struggled to perform in Parma too.

Despite his poor form in Italy, Hakan Sukur was selected and captained Senol Gunes’ FIFA 2002 World Cup squad. He scored his first and only world cup goal in just 10.8 seconds into the third-place match against South Korea. This goal is the fastest ever goal in the entire World Cup history and still stands until the time of writing. Hakan Sukur’s name will be always remembered in the Turkish football fans heart as the achieved the unthinkable by finishing third in the tournament.

However, his form in the national team still did not translate into Parma’s pitch. Hakan Sukur had been released by Parma to join Blackburn Rovers on December. His first match in England only started on March 2003 as he suffered a broken leg in a training session. He scored his only two goals in the Premier League in the same match against Fulham one month later. Hakan Sukur returned to Galatasaray for the third time after failing to secure a contract with Blackburn Rovers. After topping up 55 goals on his scoring chart for Galatasary in another five years, Hakan Sukur decided to retire at the age of 37.

Post Retirement

After his retirement, Hakan Sukur involved himself in politics. He 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). He resigned from his position two years later and work on football pundits for Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. In 2016, Hakan Sukur was charged with insulting President Erdogan on Twitter and fled Turkey in 2017 taking up self-exile in San Francisco. He bought a share of a cafe in Palo Alto and still running it until the time of writing.