Bülent Korkmaz (born
24 November 1968 in
Malatya
) is a retired Turkish
football centre back and
former manager of Galatasaray. He played for
Galatasaray for his whole career (1987-2005), despite offers from
several top clubs.
Bülent is arguably the most successful sportsman in Turkish
football history. Nicknamed
Büyük Kaptan (the Great
Captain) by the Galatasaray fans, he was renowned for his courage,
loyalty, leadership, passion and warrior-like defending. His
bravery and combative style made him a model for aspiring
defenders, and if his aggression occasionally got the better of
him, it was all part of a ferocious will to win.
He retired at the end of the 2004-2005 season and was honoured by
UEFA for his illustrious playing career.
Youth Career
Bülent Korkmaz entered the Galatasaray youth setup at age 11 as a
goalkeeper. His coach at the time said
that he was not suited for that role so he was moved into the
defensive midfielder role, and
subsequently
central defender.
At age 16,
as Bülent's skill was evident, he was offered a contract by
German
club Bayer
Leverkusen. However, he kept his loyalty to Galatasaray.
He was promoted to the senior squad in
1987.
Club Career
Bülent spent a quarter of a century at Galatasaray, where he won a
massive 29 trophies, including one
UEFA
Cup, one
UEFA Super Cup, 8
League titles and 5
Domestic cups. He reached the
semi-finals of the
European Cup in the
1988-1989 season. Bülent became the 13th player in history to make
100 European club competition appearances (102 matches).
International Career
Internationally, he was the first
Turkish international to reach
100
caps (102 caps). He was also part
of the Turkish squad that finished third at the
2002 FIFA World Cup and, in 2003,
repeated finishing position at the
FIFA Confederations Cup. Bülent
also represented Turkey in
EURO 96.
Miscellaneous
He was selected in the
World Team in 2001 against a joint
team fielded by 2002 World Cup co-hosts Japan and South Korea, and
also in 2003 against
Juventus
F.C.
Arguably, his most memorable moment as a Galatasaray player
occurred during the
2000 UEFA Cup
Final between Galatasaray and
Arsenal
F.C.. His
shoulder was dislocated and
Bülent declined to leave the pitch, so the doctors strapped his
shoulder to his chest and he played the rest of the match, helping
his side to a
penalty shootout
final victory.
Personal Life
Bülent's younger brother,
Mert, was
also a professional footballer, retired in 2008. Both played at
Galatasaray from 1993-97.
Managerial Career
On
30 August 2005,
Bülent became assistant manager for
Gençlerbirliği S.K.,but
resigned before the season's end. In January 2007, he took on a new
job as manager of
Kayseri
Erciyesspor, who were at the bottom of the
Turkish league. Despite successful
football and better results in the second half of the league,
(including reaching the Cup final), the side was relegated from the
league, and Korkmaz again resigned, agreeing to become
Bursaspor manager in June 2007.
He was fired from Bursaspor in October 2007, and returned to
Gençlerbirliği, this time as the main coach.
Galatasaray
On February 23, 2009, after the sacking of Michael Skibbe, Bülent
became the new manager of Galatasaray, signing a 1.5+1 year
contract without discussing his salary. His resignation letter is
accepted by the club board at June 3rd. His absence was replaced by
Frank Rijkard former Barcelona
coach.
Honours
- Galatasaray
- Turkish League:
8 (1987-88, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1997-98,
1998-99, 1999-00, 2001-02)
- Turkey Cup: 6
(1990-91, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2004-05)
- President Cup: 5
(1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997)
- Chancellor Cup:
2 (1990, 1995)
- TSYD Cup: 6 (1987-88,
1991-92, 1992-93, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00)
- UEFA Cup: 1 (1999–00)
- UEFA Super Cup:
1 (2000)
- Turkey
Career statistics
Club
Manager
References
- Gençlerbirliği go for Bülent
- Galatasaray entlässt Trainer
- Includes Turkish Cup
- Includes Atatürk Cup, Chancellor Cup, President Cup and
TSYD Cup
- Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search