Alpay Özalan

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Personal information
Alpay Ōzalan
Full name	Alpay Fehmi Ōzalan
Date of birth	29 May 1973
Place of birth	İzmir, Turkey
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	1. FC Köln
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992-1993 1993-1999 1999-2000 2000-2003 2004-2005 2005 2005-present	Altay SK Beşiktaş J.K. Fenerbahçe SK Aston Villa FC Incheon United Urawa Red Diamonds 1. FC Köln	23 (1) 148 (9) 26 (3) 52 (1) 10 (0) 13 (0) 21 (1)
National team²
1995-2005	Turkey	98 (4)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Alpay Özalan (born 29 May 1973 in İzmir) is a Turkish football player. He is a centre back who helped the Turkey national football team reach the semi-finals in the World Cup 2002. However, his football ability is often overshadowed by his controversial antics.

Alpay was named in the World Cup select XI that year. After his heroics in the tournament, Real Madrid and Barcelona tried to capture his services. His club then Aston Villa refused to sell him, and Alpay returned to the club demanding an extremely large pay increase. This lead to him becoming a very unpopular figure at Villa Park, missing much of the 2002-03 season under Graham Taylor. Alpay returned to the Villa team for the beginning of the 2003/04 season. In Villa's first home game, he was booed at when walking on to the pitch. Alpay scored in that game, with silence felt all around the pitch. In consequence, Alpay's goal celebration served to mock the Villa fans by placing his finger on his mouth. Due to this action, he was again dropped due to the angry reaction of Villa fans.

Later, Alpay made a name for himself at the end of 2003 by clashing with England captain David Beckham. The incident caused a rift with Alpay and the English fans, and that, along with the controversies he was previously involved in meant that he was sacked by Aston Villa and removed from Turkish National team. He travelled to K-League side Incheon United's first foray into professional football in 2004.

Alpay spent less than six months with the team before moving to the J. League with Urawa Red Diamonds. In his first season with the Diamonds, he was awarded best foreign player of the year. The following season with the club proved to be a catastrophe, Alpay averaged a booking every 40 minutes, receiving 8 yellow and 3 red cards. The Japanese club annulled his contract due these disciplinary problems. Alpay insisted that these cards were given due to his poor reputation.

On 1 August 2005, Alpay signed a one-year-contract with the German Bundesliga team 1. FC Köln. This transfer insured his place back into the national team. After great performances against Germany, Denmark and Ukraine, Alpay would meet his greatest challenge yet. They were to face Switzerland in the play-off rounds of World Cup 2006 qualification. Turkey lost 4-4 on aggregate due to Switzerland's two away goals. The Turkish media put the blame on Alpay for the defeat, after giving away a penalty during the return leg in Turkey. Violence occurred after the game, and TV footage shows Alpay leading the pack into the tunnel and lashing a kick at Benjamin Huggel. According to Swiss player Raphael Wicky, Alpay had punched him in the forehead and attacked other Swiss players as well. FIFA accepted these claims and awarded Alpay a six match ban for Turkey's competitive games.

Few days after the Istanbul incident, Alpay returned to his club 1. FC Köln (FC Cologne) and received a four match ban from the German Football Federation for an ugly elbow incident in a weekend defeat at Hamburg. Alpay, now 33, hit Hamburg defender Guy Demel with his elbow in the 65th minute of the game but referee Drees didn't see the incident and TV footage was required to punish Alpay Özalan.

A very memorable moment in Alpay's career in complete contrast to his general fame was during Euro 96 in the game between Croatia and Turkey. In a counter attack, he allowed Croatian Goran Vlaović to dribble the ball half the field without fouling him to stop the attack. In consequence, Vlaovic scored the single goal of the game and Turkey lost. Alpay was awarded with a fair-play award due to his action.

A very memorable match of him probably was the 2002 World Cup Qualifying game against Macedonia in Turkey. He scored three goals and the match result was 3-3.

On May 24, 2006 he has extended his contract with 1. FC Köln for two more years although 1. FC Köln will play in the 2nd Bundesliga at least for one season.

FC Köln legend and president Wolfgang Overath thinks Alpay is the ideal leader, quoting "Alpay wears his uniform with passion. He's a great individual, his determination brings flair and a passionate mentality to win amongst the squad, and on top of that, he's an incredible leader to the youth. He really is special player. In all of my years of football, I have never seen anyone like Alpay."

Although he is a greatly determined and skillful defender, he is usually victimised to be accused of being too aggressive. This reputation succeeds him, and is the main reason why Alpay is not playing for a world class team.

Alpay has recently been watched by scouts from English side Leeds United and is said to have impressed.

[edit] External links

Alpay's official website (currently under construction)

1. FC Köln - Current Squad

	Turkey squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Third Place
1 Rüştü \| 2 Emre Aşık \| 3 Bülent \| 4 Fatih \| 5 Alpay \| 6 Arif \| 7 Okan \| 8 Tugay \| 9 Hakan Şükür \| 10 Baştürk \| 11 Hasan Şaş \| 12 Ömer \| 13 İzzet \| 14 Tayfur \| 15 Nihat \| 16 Ümit Özat \| 17 İlhan Mansız \| 18 Ergün \| 19 Abdullah \| 20 Hakan Ünsal \| 21 Emre Belözoğlu \| 22 Ümit Davala \| 23 Zafer \| Coach: Güneş

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Alpay Özalan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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