Hamit Altıntop

Hamit Altıntop
Hamit Altintop crop.JPG
Personal information
Date of birth 8 December 1982 (1982-12-08) (age 28)
Place of birth Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Right Midfielder/Central midfielder
Club information
Current club Bayern Munich
Number 8
Youth career
1991–1992 Schwarz-Weiß Gelsenkirchen-Süd
1992–1997 TuS Rotthausen
1997–2000 Wattenscheid 09
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2003 Wattenscheid 09 75 (12)
2003 Schalke 04 II 1 (0)
2003–2007 Schalke 04 113 (8)
2007– Bayern Munich 49 (5)
National team
2004– Turkey 55 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 03:55, 4 June 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:07, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Hamit Altıntop (born 8 December 1982) is a Turkish professional footballer. He is a versatile midfielder who can play either in a defending or attacking role and on both flanks. He is well known for his flair of long-shot ability, as shown when he played for Schalke 04 and so far with Bayern Munich. He is the identical twin brother of footballer Halil Altıntop, who was born 10 minutes after Hamit.

Altıntop was part of the Turkey squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008. After the tournament he was voted as part of the 23-man Team of the tournament awards.

Contents

Schalke

Altıntop with Schalke

Altıntop started his professional career in local German club Wattenscheid in 2000 along with his brother. As successful performances grabbed the attention of bigger clubs, he was transferred to Schalke 04 in 2003, where he played in a primarily defensive midfield role. In the 2006–07 summer transfer window, Schalke signed his brother Halil from Kaiserslautern. Schalke came second in the Bundesliga, only pipped by VfB Stuttgart by two points.

Bayern Munich

Altıntop joined Bayern Munich for the 2007–2008 season on a free transfer from Schalke 04. He scored his first goal in his first game for Bayern when they faced the Brazilian champions São Paulo. Munich went on winning the game 2–1 after his spectacular free-kick. Remaining as one of Munich's starters, he scored another left-foot goal out of 30 meters distance against Werder Bremen in the Liga-Pokal. Munich completed the match with a 4–1 victory.

Altıntop also scored against Aberdeen in the first leg of their tie in the UEFA Cup competition on 14 February 2008. The initial penalty kick was saved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield; however, Altıntop scored with the rebound. The match finished 2–2.[1]

In 2009–10 season, Bayern Munich competed in Champions League and they eventually went to 2010 UEFA Champions League Final, which was played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid on Saturday, 22 May 2010. He started the match in the first 11, but he was substituted with Miroslav Klose, on 63rd minute.

On 2 June 2010, Altıntop signed a new one year contract with Bayern Munich.[2]

International career

Altıntop played in all five of Turkey's matches at UEFA Euro 2008. He assisted all three goals in the comeback against the Czech Republic and in the quarter finals against Croatia he scored the third penalty to make it 3–1 in the shoot out. After goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber saved the next Croatian penalty, Turkey advanced to the semi-finals against Germany. Turkish coach Fatih Terim used him as a right defender in the first two games of the tournament, a move that was heavily criticized by the media, since Altıntop is a midfielder for his club Bayern Munich. After the match against Switzerland, Terim switched him to midfield for the remainder of the tournament, which boosted both Turkey's and his own performance. His bold playing style and decisive passes made him a dominant player in the Turkish midfield. He was awarded with the Carlsberg Man of the Match award following the quarter final match against Croatia.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Altıntop was universally acknowledged to be one of the tournament's stars, and was included in UEFA's official 23-man "Team of the Tournament".[3]

Career statistics

Club appearances
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wattenscheid 09 2000–01 11 1 11 1
2001–02 31 4 31 4
2002–03 33 4 33 4
Total 75 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 75 9
Schalke 04 2003–04 30 5 30 5
2004–05 30 0 30 0
2005–06 22 1 22 1
2006–07 31 2 31 2
Total 113 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 113 8
Bayern Munich 2007–08 23 3 9 3 32 6
2008–09 11 2 2 0 4 0 17 2
2009–10 15 0 5 1 6 0 26 1
2010–11 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 49 5 8 1 0 0 19 3 76 9
Career total 237 22 8 1 0 0 19 3 264 26
As of 21 August 2010
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 28 March 2007 Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany  Norway 1–2 2–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2. 28 March 2007 Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany  Norway 2–2 2–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3. 12 August 2009 Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine  Ukraine 0–3 0–3 Friendly
4. 3 March 2010 BJK İnönü Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey  Honduras 2–0 2–0 Friendly
5. 3 September 2010 Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan 0–2 0–3 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
6. 7 September 2010 Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey  Belgium 1–1 3-2 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
Correct as of 4 September 2010

Honours

Club

FC Schalke 04

Bayern Munich

Individual

References

External links