Zafer Yelen (born 30 August 1986) is a Turkish

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 plays for MSV Normannia 08.

Career

Club career

Yelen was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany. He played for various clubs in Berlin, most recently for

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and t ...

in the Junior League East, where he was discovered by the former

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

coach

Frank Pagelsdorf Frank Pagelsdorf (born 5 February 1958 in Hanover) is a German football manager and former player. Coaching career He was manager of Hamburger SV from 1997 to 2001. He has also had a brief time as manager in UAE The United Arab Emirates ...

. He then got Timo Lange, the coach of the league, to transfer him to FC Hansa. In the 2005–06 season, his first season in the adult area, Yelen scored 14 goals in 30 games for the second string Rostock team in the league. For the 2006–07 season, he advanced to the second division team where he was a regular player and his playmaking skills developed. He scored five goals in 26 starts and was promoted at the end of the season with

to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. Through his achievements in the second division he was also appointed to the Turkish national under-21 team and played on 7 February 2007 in his first game for them. In the following 2007–08 Bundesliga season, Yelen completed 20 games for the Baltic city dwellers, but was immediately relegated to the second Bundesliga, whereupon Yelen initially sought a change in Turkey, which for lack of sufficient financial security did not come about. After the 2008–09 season with just two appearances for Hansa he tried again to force a change in Turkey. End of the season his contract was finally cancelled in Rostock, and Yelen moved to the Turkish first division side

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

. In July 2011, Yelen joined second division club

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt also fielded a rather successfu ...

International

He was a member of the Turkish U-21 national team. He played twice in

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

and five times in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification.

References

External links

*
TFF Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yelen, Zafer 1986 births Living people German footballers Turkish footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Tennis Borussia Berlin players FC Hansa Rostock players Trabzonspor footballers German sportspeople of Turkish descent Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Türkiyemspor Berlin players Süper Lig players Footballers from Berlin Men's association football midfielders