Murat Yakın

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Murat Yakın
Personal information
Full name	Murat Yakın
Date of birth	September 15, 1974
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height	184cm
Nickname	Muri
Position	Defender (Central)
Club information
Current club	Concordia Basel - Coach
Youth clubs
-1992	Concordia Basel
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1992-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 1999-2000 2000-2001 2000-2001 2001-2006	Grasshoppers VfB Stuttgart Fenerbahçe FC Basel Fenerbahçe FC Basel Kaiserslautern FC Basel	101(17) 23(2) 23(3) 11(1) 3(0) 12(1) 9(0) 91(24)
National team
1994-2006	Switzerland	50 (4)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Murat Yakın (born September 15, 1974 in Basel) is a Swiss-Turkish football coach and former international player, who is currently the coach of Concordia Basel.

Murat has been capped over 50 times for Switzerland and played in Euro 2004. His brother Hakan Yakın plays in the Swiss Super League with BSC Young Boys. Murat spent the best years of his career playing for his home town club of FC Basel, where he was the defensive lynchpin, captain, and libero, of a team that enjoyed domestic and relative European success. He has won the Swiss league on five occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005), and the Schweizer Cup three times (1994, 2002, 2003). Although his spells abroad were not wholly successful, he was widely regarded as one of Swiss football's finest products, frequently being linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe. In 2003, he played in the FIFA 'Match against Poverty' as part of a star-studded ensemble showcasing the world's best players.

The Yakın brothers have come to symbolise the growing multiculturalism within Switzerland, and the gradual amalgamation of different traditions with Swiss culture. This has contributed towards the generation of an iconic status being bestowed upon them, an accolade that has led to constant media scrutiny and an unstinting popularity among the Swiss public. Murat remains an It boy of the football world. He is currently romantically associated with the former Miss Switzerland candidate and model Anja Müller, with whom he has happily spent the past two years, together representing one of the most glamourous couples in the sporting world. Retirement has led to involvement in a flurry of modelling work and celebrity endorsements, as well as some acting.

Away from football, Murat is a keen chef, listing his favourite food as being the Middle-Eastern delicacy sucuk (his 'sucuk döner' and 'ĥĥä' having bizarrely gained cult status among former teammates and associates, as well as elements of the Turkish rap industry). Although of celebrity status, he can often be spotted humbly dining with friends in the kebab houses and greasy spoons of Basel. He also enjoys golf, music, tennis and film, and notes his footballing idols as being Diego Maradona and Pelé.

[edit] External links

• Official site of the Yakın brothers
• Article detailing Murat's connection with two of his passions: kebabs and Turkish rap