Personal information | |||
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Full name | Yıldıray Baştürk | ||
Date of birth | 24 December 1978 | ||
Place of birth | Herne, West Germany | ||
Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
Playing position | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1986–1987 | Wanne-Eickel | ||
1987–1996 | Wattenscheid 09 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1996–1997 | Wattenscheid 09 | 20 | (6) |
1997–2001 | VfL Bochum | 104 | (13) |
2001–2004 | Bayer Leverkusen | 73 | (8) |
2004–2007 | Hertha BSC | 71 | (14) |
2007–2010 | VfB Stuttgart | 31 | (4) |
2010 | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
1998–2008 | Turkey | 49 | (2) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:10, 24 April 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
Yıldıray Baştürk (pronounced [jɯɫˈdɯˈɾaj baʃˈtyrk]; born 24 December 1978) is a retired German-born Turkish footballer who most recently played for English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.
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The son of a miner, Baştürk began his football career at Sportfreunde Wanne-Eickel. As a teenager Baştürk played for SG Wattenscheid 09, and his breakthrough in the Bundesliga came with city rivals VfL Bochum, for whom he even played in the UEFA Cup. After the 2001 transfer to Bayer 04 Leverkusen more success was coming his way. Baştürk and Leverkusen finished second in the German league, the German Cup and the 2002 Champions League Final.
In July 2004 he was transferred to Hertha BSC, where he remained until 2007 when his contract expired. Baştürk agreed to join German champions VfB Stuttgart on a Bosman transfer on 28 May 2007 for the start of the 2007–08 season.[1]
On 27 January 2010, it was announced that Baştürk had agreed to join Blackburn Rovers from Stuttgart until the end of the season on a free transfer,[2] after his contract with Stuttgart was terminated.[3] Baştürk was handed his first start for Blackburn in the Premier League when he started against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 April 2010 at Molineux, however he was substituted at half-time. Baştürk was not offered a contract extension by Rovers.
In 2002 he also played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where the Turkish team came third. Baştürk currently has 49 caps and two goals for Turkey. However, after he was left out of Turkey's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, he said he would never play for the national team as long as Fatih Terim remains as the coach.[4]
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Mirko Dickhaut |
VfL Bochum captain February 2001 – June 2001 |
Succeeded by Rein van Duijnhoven |
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