Mesut Ünal (born 3 April 1973) is a Turkish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, best known for his

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

stints with

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

and Sakaryaspor.

Club career

A youth product of

, Ünal made his professional debut with Bursaspor in a 1–0

loss to Zeytinburnuspor on 14 November 1993. He had several spells with Bursaspor throughout his career, and also spent time with Sakaryaspor.

International career

Ünal made one appearance with the Turkey U21s in a

1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1994–96), had 44 entrants. After the quarter-finals stage, Spain were chosen as the hosts of the final stages, consisting of four matches in total. Italy U-21s won the compe ...

2-0 qualification win over Switzerland U21 on 24 April 1995.

Personal life

Mesut's son,

Enes Ünal Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Getafe and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his Süper Lig debut on 25 August 2013 for Bursaspor against Galatasaray, making h ...

, is also a professional footballer and international for Turkey.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ünal, Mesut 1973 births Living people Footballers from Istanbul Turkish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Turkey men's youth international footballers Süper Lig players TFF First League players TFF Second League players Bursaspor footballers Sakaryaspor footballers Altay S.K. footballers Balıkesirspor footballers