Tanju Çolak

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Tanju Çolak, born 1963 in Samsun, Turkey, was a successful Turkish footballer in the striker position.

He made his debut for Samsun Yolspor. From there he was transferred to Samsunspor where he was the top scorer in both the 1984-1985 and 1985-1986 seasons. Çolak them moved to Galatasaray SK after finishing 1986-1987 season. He was the top scorer in Europe with 39 goals in the 1987-1988 season. At the same time, he was awarded the Golden Boot award given by "French Football Magazine". He is the only Turkish footballer to date to win this trophy. Çolak became top scorer again in the 1991-1992 season, and transferred to Galatasaray's rivals Fenerbahçe SK at the end of the season.

He had a lifetime total of 240 goals and took over the title of top goal scorer in the Premier Super League by breaking the legendary Metin Oktay's record. Çolak, nicknamed as "Bay Gol" (Mr. Goal), finished his career at Istanbulspor, and retired with a legacy as a good striker who had his career damaged by criminal scandals.

During and after his time as an active striker, he set the standards to which every Turkish forward is held. His positioning and finishing abilities are comparable to only the best scorers of all time, however, due to the shortness of his career, and the ultimate lack of success of both Turkish club and national teams caused him to be relatively unknown to non-Turkish populations. For instance, another forward at his caliber, Marco van Basten enjoyed a more winning career, highlighted with a European Championship Trophy and three European Cups, and is being regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

Tanju Çolak wore the shirt of the Turkish national team in 31 matches and scored 9 goals. With his goals in victories against Neuchatel Xamax and Monaco, he played an important role for his club Galatasaray to reach the semi-final of the European Cup in 1988-1989.

[edit] Career achievements

• Lifetime goal total (240 in 1988). This is currently the highest amount of goals in Turkish football history.
• Most goals in a season (39 in 1987-1988 at Galatasaray),
• Most goals in a match (6 in 1992-1993 at Fenerbahçe),
• 5 times top league scorer (1985-1986, 1986-1987, at Samsunspor - 1987-1988, 1990-1991 at Galatasaray - 1992-1993 at Fenerbahçe),
• European top scorer 3rd place (33 goals in 1985-1986 at Samsunspor),
• European top scorer 1st place (39 goals in 1987-1988 at Galatasaray),
• European top scorer 2nd place (31 goals in 1990-1991 at Galatasaray).