The thirty-five-year-old’s second spell in Kadıköy has come to an end.
A short article on the club’s official site said it all - “Thanks Emre Belözoğlu.” Fenerbahçe general secretary Mahmut Uslu also wished the player success and happy days in the future.
Emre started his professional career at Galatasaray where he participated in the string of national championships that Galatasaray won between the years 1997 and 2000.
Internazionale Milano brought Emre to Italy in 2001 and he would spend four seasons there during a period of domination by Juventus.
Emre Belözoğlu represented Turkey at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea. Emre scored against Costa Rica in the group stage and started in all matches except the round of sixteen match against Japan as Turkey made a glorious run to the semi-finals.
Emre first joined Fenerbahçe from Newcastle United in 2008 and was part of the controversial 2010-11 squad which won 16 of 17 games on the way to winning the league title. After spending half of the 2012-13 season in Spain with Atletico Madrid, Emre returned to Fenerbahçe where he was made captain by Aykut Kocaman.
Despite racial terms and racism based on skin colour being so rare in Turkish sport, as well as Turkish society at large, Emre has been accused of using racially abusive words to black players on three occasions. He even received a suspended prison sentence for racial abuse to Didier Zokora in 2012. Additionally, Emre served a ban from the national team for six matches for violence against Swiss players after Turkey was eliminated by Switzerland in the World Cup play-off.
Despite having the reputation of being a hot head, Emre has been celebrated for his skill and versatility in midfield; Pele chose him in his list of the 125 best living players in 2004 and his short height of 170 centimetres brought up comparisons to Diego Maradona.
Another theme to Emre’s career has been injury. Needless to say this situation has not improved in the twilight of his career. Although Emre only missed eight matches in the 2014-15 season, one cannot help but think injury concerns formed at least part of the club’s choice to allow Emre to leave the team.
This article perhaps reads like the thirty-five-year-old plans to retire, but current rumours (Daily Sabah (English)) suggest that Emre will join another Istanbul team - Başakşehir, the fourth place team in the recent season which will play in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
No comments:
Post a Comment