Semih Kaya (, born 24 February 1991) is a former Turkish 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, 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 ...

, most recently for

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 ...

. On August 12, 2022, he announced on his social media accounts that he was leaving football.

Club career

Early career

Kaya joined Galatasaray's youth academy from Altay's youth team when he was 15. On 25 February 2007, when he was playing against older young players in the season of Süper Gençler Ligi (Super Youth League) against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, in the fifth minute of the game, a kick from

Batuhan Karadeniz Batuhan Karadeniz (born 24 April 1991) is a Turkish professional footballer. Started his career at İçerenköy Spor Kulübü at the age of 10, Karadeniz rose to fame at Süper Lig club Beşiktaş, where he player in youth levels between 2003 a ...

collided with his head, forcing him to leave the game; he later went to a hospital to undergo head surgery (

coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...

). The start of the 2008–09 season saw foreign interest in Kaya rise, with reports that Italian club

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

were monitoring him ahead of a transfer deal, though the rumours never materialized. Kaya's first

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 ...

appearance was against İstanbul B.B. on 19 February 2009. After not receiving significant playing time, he joined fellow Süper Lig club

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matche ...

on loan in January 2010 for the remainder of the season, and, in the summer of 2010 he signed for Turkish First League side

Kartalspor Kartalspor is a sports club located in the Kartal district of Istanbul, Turkey. The club's football team plays in the Bank Asya First League after finishing 2nd in the Second League Promotion Group in the 2006–2007 season. Kartal SK started the ...

on loan. On 18 October 2010, he scored two goals in the A2 Lig game against Altay.

Return to Galatasaray

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Kaya was not typically selected for Galatasaray's starting line-up, but following injuries to other players, notably

Gökhan Zan Gökhan Zan (born 7 September 1981 in Antakya) is a retired Turkish footballer. Club career Zan started his career with Hatayspor and then moved on to Çanakkale Dardanelspor before joining Beşiktaş in 2003. He needed time to make his mark wi ...

, and a fall in form of

Servet Çetin Servet Çetin (born 17 March 1981) is a Turkish footballer who last played for Mersin Idmanyurdu in the Süper Lig. He received the nickname ''Ayıboğan'' which literally means; ''a man who could choke a bear'', due to his height and strength. ...

, Galatasaray coach

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish association football manager and former player. He is the former manager of Galatasaray, a position he previously held four times. Terim has managed several clubs in Italy (Milan and Fiorentina) ...

granted him a chance to prove himself. Following a series of solid performances, he soon became first-choice centreback alongside the Czech

Tomáš Ujfaluši Tomáš Ujfaluši (, born 24 March 1978) is a Czech former professional footballer. He operated as either a central defender or a right back. Other than in his country he played professionally in Germany (four years), Italy (four), Spain (three ...

. Kaya scored his first goal for the club against

Samsunspor Samsunspor is a Turkish professional Association football, football club located in the city of Samsun. The club was formed through a merger of five clubs: 19 Mayıs, Akınspor, Fener Gençlik, Samsunspor, and Samsunspor Galatasaray.

on 7 January 2012 in the 51st minute of a 2–0 comeback, with the game ending 4–2 for Galatasaray. In the 2011–12 season, he played 30 games and was a key member of the championship-winning squad. He continued to be first choice centre-back for the club and country, delivering calm and confident performances despite against top teams such as

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and, internationally, against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He finished his second year with 36 appearances in all competitions. On 18 November 2013, his contract was extended for three years until 2016.

Galatasaray – third spell

On 3 February 2022, Kaya joined Galatasaray for the third time in his career.

International career

Kaya has played for all levels of the Turkey national team, including the under-21 level despite being at a younger age at the time. He made his debut for senior Turkish side on 29 February 2012, playing the entire game against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in a 2–1 loss. He is part of the Turkey national team 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 ...

Personal life

Kaya's grandfather was

Torbesh The Macedonian Muslims ( mk, Македонци-муслимани, Makedonci-muslimani), also known as Muslim Macedonians or ''Torbeši'' ( mk, Торбеши), and in some sources grouped together with Pomaks, are a minority religious group w ...

and he emigrated from Macedonia to the Turkish city of

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

. He is the youngest of three brothers.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Galatasaray *

(4): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2018–19 * Türkiye Kupası (4): 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19 * Süper Kupa (5):

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; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

AC Sparta Prag *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 19 ...

(1) : 2019–20

Individual

: Young Player of the Year (1): 2011–12

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaya, Semih 1991 births Living people People from Bergama Turkish footballers Turkey international footballers Turkish people of Macedonian descent Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Galatasaray A2 footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Gaziantepspor footballers Kartalspor footballers Süper Lig players Association football central defenders UEFA Euro 2016 players AC Sparta Prague players Expatriate footballers in the Czech Republic Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Czech First League players Yeni Malatyaspor footballers