Rüştü Reçber

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Rüştü Reçber (born May 10, 1973 in Korkuteli, Antalya) is a Turkish football goalkeeper, who is currently with Beşiktaş JK and the Turkish national team. Rüştü is a very experienced international goalkeeper. He is known as a great shot stopper with excellent positional sense and reflexes. He has played a key role in the success of the Turkish national squad, with over 100 international caps to his name. FIFA named Rüştü the best goalkeeper in the world in 2003. In 2004, he was selected to FIFA 100 by Pelé as one of the 125 best living footballers.

[edit] Rise to Fame

Rüştü was first discovered by legendary and current Turkish manager Fatih Terim during a training session for Antalyaspor. Terim was impressed by Rüştü. He told the goalkeeper he would someday become Turkey's greatest ever goalkeeper, even though he was the 3rd choice goalkeeper of his club. Terim recommended Rüştü to the big three clubs of Istanbul, Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş J.K. In 1993, Rüştü signed a contract with Besiktas. However, shortly afterwards, he got into a car crash which injured him, and he failed to pass the medical. The transfer was canceled. He is known to wear black stripes under his eyes on the pitch.

[edit] Fenerbahçe SK

At the beginning of the 1993-1994 season, he signed for Fenerbahçe. Rüştü was loaned back to Antalyaspor for the season. During the 1994-95 season, Fenerbahce and Turkey first choice goalkeeper Engin Ipekoğlu injured himself, and Rüştü was handed the opportunity to prove himself, and rose to the occasion. For the next nine seasons, his spots both in Fenerbahçe and the national team was unchallenged. Rüştü won four Turkish Super League titles during his time at Fenerbahce.

[edit] FIFA World Cup 2002

Turkey finished 3rd in the tournament, with Rüştü one of the impressing players, making his way into the FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament. The tournament had enhanced his reputation, Rüştü caught the attention of the big European Clubs, such as Arsenal FC, Manchester United and FC Barcelona. However, Rüştü had made a promise to the Fenerbahce fans before the World Cup, that he would see out his contract which ended after the 2002-03 season. When that time came, Rüştü was very close to signing for Arsenal FC, but he had a dispute with manager Arsene Wenger, and that transfer was cancelled, and he was transferred to La Liga giant FC Barcelona.

[edit] FC Barcelona

Rüştü had a successful pre-season with Barcelona in his first season, until injury hit him. The opening matchday of La Liga arrived, and Rüştü made his full recovery a day beforehand. Manager Frank Rijkaard chose to play Victor Valdes, because Rüştü's Spanish was still very weak. Rüştü was angered by this, "It is not normal for a goalkeeper of my history to be left out, because I don't know Spanish!" Everything went downhill from there, and after a short, uneventful spell with Barcelona, he returned to Fenerbahçe, initially on loan.

[edit] Beşiktaş JK

After winning the league title for a third time with Fenerbahçe in 2006-07, Rüştü had a dispute with the club about his future role in the team. Beşiktaş saw this opportunity to sign Rüştü, who was a free agent at the time. After transferring, Fenerbahce fans were engraged by his decision to move to a rival team. He has put in great performances for Beşiktaş, but injuries are taking their toll on him. It is questioned how much longer he will survive this nightmare of picking up niggling injuries.

[edit] Honours

• 1996: Turkish Super League National Champions with Fenerbahçe
• 1998: Atatürk Cup Winners with Fenerbahçe
• 2000: EURO 2000 Quarter-Finalist with Turkey
• 2001: Turkish Super League National Champions with Fenerbahçe
• 2002: FIFA World Cup Third Place with Turkey
• 2003: FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place with Turkey
• 2005: Turkish Super League National Champions with Fenerbahçe
• 2007: Turkish Super League National Champions with Fenerbahçe

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] External links

• (Turkish) Rusturecber.net Official Web Site (page is under construction)
• (English) FootballDatabase provides Rüştü Reçber's profile and stats

v • d • e Turkey squad - UEFA Euro 1996 1 Adnan • 2 Recep • 3 Alpay • 4 Vedat • 5 Tugay • 6 Sağlam • 7 Hami • 8 Ogün • 9 Hakan Şükür • 10 Oğuz • 11 Orhan • 12 Faruk • 13 Rahim • 14 Saffet • 15 Tayfun • 16 Sergen • 17 Abdullah • 18 Arif • 19 Tolunay • 20 Bülent • 21 Şanver • 22 Rüştü • Coach: Fatih Terim

v • d • e Turkey squad - UEFA Euro 2000 1 Rüştü • 2 Tayfur • 3 Ogün • 4 Fatih • 5 Alpay • 6 Arif • 7 Okan • 8 Tugay • 9 Hakan Şükür • 10 Sergen • 11 Tayfun • 12 Ömer • 13 Osman • 14 Suat • 15 İzzet • 16 Ergün • 17 Oktay • 18 Ayhan • 19 Abdullah • 20 Hakan Ünsal • 21 Fevzi • 22 Ümit Davala • Coach: Denizli

v • d • e 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 • 12 Ömer • 13 İzzet • 14 Tayfur • 15 Nihat • 16 Ümit Özat • 17 İlhan • 18 Ergün • 19 Abdullah • 20 Hakan Ünsal • 21 Emre Belözoğlu • 22 Ümit Davala • 23 Zafer • Coach: Güneş

v • d • e Turkey squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Rüştü • 2 Servet • 3 Hakan • 4 Gökhan • 5 Emre • 6 Mehmet • 7 M. Aurélio • 8 Nihat • 9 Semih • 10 Gökdeniz • 11 Tümer • 12 Tolga • 13 Emre Güngör • 14 Arda • 15 E. Aşık • 16 Uğur • 17 Tuncay • 18 C. Kazım • 19 Ayhan • 20 Sabri • 21 Mevlüt • 22 Hamit Altıntop • 23 Volkan • Coach: Fatih Terim