Mehmet Topal (born 3 March 1986) is a Turkish former professional

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, rugb ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. He was

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d ''Örümcek'' (

Spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

), due to his ability to use his long legs to win loose balls or cut passes. He spent most of his career with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and Fenerbahçe, totalling five major trophies with those clubs. He also had a two-year spell in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. A Turkish international from 2008 to 2018, Topal represented the nation in two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Club career

Early years

Born in

Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city h ...

, Topal started his football career at local Malatya B.S. at the age of 13. He made his senior debut with lowly

Dardanel Spor A.Ş. Dardanel is a Turkish food packager based in the town of Çanakkale, Turkey, on the Dardanelles strait. History 1984–1999 The company was founded in 1984 by Niyazi Önen as Turkey's first producer of canned tuna fish, and was listed on the ...

in the third division. In September 2006, Topal joined

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 ...

powerhouse

Galatasaray SK Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, moving to the club alongside Japanese Junichi Inamoto.

Galatasaray

Topal appeared in only 11 games in his first season in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. However, due to an injury to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

international

Tobias Linderoth Tobias Jan Håkan Linderoth (; born 21 April 1979) is a professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Swedish club Skövde AIK. He played as a midfielder, and played professionally in Sweden, Norway, England, Denm ...

, he was handed his chance in the starting XI, later commenting on his teammate: "He helped me a lot, told me about the areas I should improve and how to do so. Sadly, I got my chance through his injury but I want him to recover in the shortest time possible." In April 2008, Topal extended his contract with ''Gala'' for five years, having played 26 matches during the campaign to help the team win the national championship and also reaching the Turkish national team in that timeframe. In the 2008 summer transfer window, there were rumours surrounding a move to Everton in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, with

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manch ...

apparently keen to bring the player to

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

. Topal eventually stayed put, appearing in an average of 22 games in the following seasons but also having to deal with injury early into 2009–10.

Valencia

On 12 May 2010, Topal signed for

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

for a fee believed to be in the region of

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5.5 million. On 14 September, he made he first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

appearance with his new club, playing the full 90 minutes against Turkish side

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 ...

in a 4–0 group stage win. Topal scored his first goal with the ''Che'' at

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

, on 25 September 2010 (2–0). In the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, he netted the game's only goal away against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 17 February 2012 in the

round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

to take his side through 2–0 on aggregate; the 30-yard strike was widely regarded as one of the best goals of that tournament. He played six matches to help his team reach the semi-finals of the latter competition, but overall played second-fiddle to legendary

David Albelda David Albelda Aliqués (; born 1 September 1977) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He played mainly for local Valencia during his extensive professional career, being team captain for ov ...

during his stint even though the former was ostracised by manager

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for a period of time.

Fenerbahçe

Topal moved to Fenerbahçe SK on 1 July 2012, for a reported fee of €4.5 million. He signed a four-year contract with a €2 million annually salary, plus bonuses. He contributed 27 appearances and three goals in his second season, as the club won the national championship after a three-year wait. On 11 August 2015, whilst he drove home after training accompanied by youth player Uygar Mert, Topal's car was shot at by unknown men. He appeared in 11 games in the Europa League round-of-16 run and, precisely at that stage, against

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

, scored the only goal in the first leg at the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium () (Known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi, or Ülker Stadium for short) is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is th ...

. In the second match, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for two bookable offences – the second of which resulted in a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

– as his team had a further two players ejected in an eventual 4–2 aggregate loss. On 26 June 2019, the 33-year-old Topal left by mutual consent.

Istanbul Başakşehir

On 26 August 2019, Topal joined İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. on a two-year deal, the latter one being optional. After conquering the domestic league at the end of the campaign, he became the first footballer to achieve the feat with three teams.

International career

Topal earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

on 6 February 2008, coming on for

Emre Belözoğlu Emre Belözoğlu (, born 7 September 1980) is a Turkish former professional footballer and manager who is currently serving as the manager of İstanbul Başakşehir. During his playing career, he played as a midfielder. He was named in the FIFA ...

in the 78th minute of a 0–0 friendly home draw with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. Shortly after, he was selected by manager Fatih Terim for his

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...

squad, playing all the games in Austria and Switzerland but one for the eventual semi-finalists. On 22 May 2016, Topal captained the nation for the first time, in their 1–2 friendly loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. A week later, he scored his first international goal on his 58th cap, the only one of a last-minute victory over

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. Picked for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, he started in all the matches, featuring as a

central defender 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 ...

in a 0–3 group stage defeat against

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Career statistics

Club

International

:Turkey score listed first, score column indicates score after each Topal goal)

Honours

Galatasaray *

: 2007–08 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Fenerbahçe *Süper Lig: 2013–14 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

: 2012–13 *Turkish Super Cup:

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İstanbul Başakşehir *Süper Lig: 2019–20 Beşiktaş *Turkish Super Cup:

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Turkey *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

bronze medal:

References

External links

* *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Topal, Mehmet 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Malatya Turkish footballers Association football midfielders Süper Lig players TFF First League players Yeni Malatyaspor footballers Dardanelspor footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers La Liga players Valencia CF players Turkey youth international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2016 players Turkish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain