Emre Aşık (born 13 December 1973) is a Turkish former

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

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 ...

. He played centre-back for several clubs in the Turkish

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 ...

, most notably,

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 ...

. Aşık began his career with Sönmez Filamentspor in the

TFF Third League TFF 3. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Third League) is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Football League.Turkish Third Footba ...

, and also played for

Balıkesirspor Balıkesirspor is a Turkish club based in Balıkesir. Established in 1966, the football team played in the Süper Lig after achieving promotion having finished as runners-up of the TFF First League in 2013–14. The team's previous promotion was ...

, Fenerbahçe,

İstanbulspor İstanbulspor is a Turkish football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05 they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to TFF 1. Lig. For many decades it was the fourth most famous and ...

and Beşiktaş; he is one of thirteen footballers who has played for both Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. Throughout his career, Aşık was known as a tough and controversial defender who received many cautions and expulsions, totaling 108 yellow cards and 13 red cards in league play. On international level, Aşık was a member of the Turkey national team that finished third at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

and semi-finalists at

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 European ...

Club career

Early years (1990–1993)

Aşık made his league debut with Sönmez Filamentspor on 27 May 1990 against Edremit Belediyespor. He started the match and was substituted out in the 86th minute. He did not make any more appearances that season, but became a fixture in the side the following season, making 27 appearances in the

transferred Aşık at the start of the 1992–93 season. He made his debut for the club on 30 August 1992 against

Bucaspor Bucaspor was a professional Turkish football club based in Buca, Izmir. Formed in 1928, Bucaspor were nicknamed Fırtına (Storm). The club colours were yellow and navy. It was dissolved in 2020. History Bucaspor was the fifth football club t ...

, and scored his first professional goal ten days later against

Muğlaspor Muğlaspor is a sports club in located in Muğla, Turkey. The football club plays in the Turkish Regional Amateur League The Turkish Regional Amateur League ( tr, Bölgesel Amatör Ligi) is the fifth tier of the Turkish football league syst ...

. He went on to make 27 appearances in the

TFF Second League TFF 2. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Second League), is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continuation of the then second lev ...

Fenerbahçe (1993–1996)

At the start of the 1993–94 season, Aşık was transferred to the first of the

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 ...

''Big Three'' clubs he played for, Fenerbahçe. He made an instant impact with his new club, scoring the winning goal in the 109th minute of the

Chancellor Cup The Prime Minister's Cup ( tr, Başbakanlık Kupası) was a football competition organised by the Turkish Football Federation in Turkey. It began in 1944 and continued until 1950 as a unique kind of super cup competition between the winners of ...

final against

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, ...

on 11 August 1993. He went on to make 23 league appearances for the club as they finished one point behind champions

. The following season, Aşık saw less playing time, making 16 league appearances. He also played in the

final, losing 4–3 to Galatasaray. Aşık found himself on the pitch four times during Fenerbahçe's league championship 1995–96 season, with all appearances coming in the first half.

İstanbulspor (1996–2000)

signed the international defender at the start of the 1996–97 season, with Aşık making twelve appearances. Aşık became a fixture in the side, making 23 appearances the following season. He made 25 appearances in 1998–99 and 26 in 1999–2000, bringing his total to 86 appearances. Aşık also scored six goals for the club, with all six coming in his last season, 1999–2000.

Galatasaray (2000–2003)

Following their

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

win in 1999–2000,

signed Aşık to a three-year contract. The Turkish international featured 17 times for the Lions in his first season, helping the club to a second-place finish. Aşık was also recalled to the Turkey national team, earning his first cap since 1995. His second season with the club proved to be more successful, making 27 appearances en route to the club's 15 league title. At the end of the season, Aşık was selected to participate in the

. He made seventeen appearances for the club the following season.

Beşiktaş (2003–2006)

After winning a Süper Lig title and an

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

with Galatasaray, Aşık signed a three-year contract with rivals Beşiktaş. In his first season with the club, Aşık earned the nickname "the hero of Stamford Bridge" after putting in a performance to help Beşiktaş defeat

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

two to nil on 1 October 2003. He contributed one goal in 23 league appearances for the Black Eagles as they finished third. Aşık was unable to find the pitch often the following season, making nine appearances before being transferred mid-season.

Return to Galatasaray (2006–2010)

Aşık returned to Galatasaray in February 2006 after making 32 appearances for Beşiktaş in three seasons, signing a one-year contract. He made 12 league appearances in his first season back, and was loaned out to

Ankaraspor Ankaraspor Kulübü (), formerly known as Osmanlıspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. History Ankaraspor was founded as "Ankara Bele ...

the following season. In his only season with the

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

-based club, Aşık made 26 appearances and scored one goal. His performances earned him a selection to the

squad by

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) ...

. Aşık returned to Galatasaray the following season, with the team winning a

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 ...

title. Marred by injuries during his twilight years, Aşık made 24 appearances over his last two seasons before deciding to hang up his boots. He finished with 343 total appearances and 19 goals scored.

International career

Aşık holds the distinction of being a part of the two most successful

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 in ...

squads: third place at the

, and a semi-final finish at

. Aşık began his international career with the Turkey U-18 team. He made 17 appearances for the team from 1992 to 1993. He was also part the Turkey U-20 squad for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship. He played in the three group stage matches, but Turkey did not advance to the knockout stage. Aşık, along with former

teammate Okan Buruk, received a farewell match when Turkey faced off against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in a friendly on 22 May 2010. Aşık started the match, marking his 36th cap. He was substituted out of the match in the ninth minute with Buruk.

2002 FIFA World Cup

Aşık was picked for the squad after winning the

with

. He did not see any action in the opening match against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, but started their second match against Costa Rica. Against

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, Aşık found himself in the starting eleven once more. He picked up his second yellow card in as many matches, suspending him from participation in Turkey's first knockout round match against Japan. He did not see any action during the rest of the campaign as Turkey finished third, the highest finish in team history.

UEFA Euro 2008

Having spent a season on loan at

, Aşık was chosen as a reserve defender behind starters

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. ...

and

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 ...

. However, following an injury to Zan, Aşık was slotted into the first eleven for the team's group stage match against Switzerland. After playing the entirety of the match in a two to one goal victory for Turkey, Aşık was benched in favor of Emre Güngör. Güngör also suffered an injury, and Aşık was given the starting job again. Aşık received a yellow card against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, his second of the tournament, ruling him out of the semi-final tie against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Turkey went on to lose 3–2, but still achieved their most successful campaign in the European Championships; a semi-final finish.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aşık goal.''National team appearances of Emre Aşık
- eu-football.info

Honours

Fenerbahçe *

: 1995–96 Galatasaray *

: 2001–02, 2005–06 *

: 2008 Turkey *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place: 2002 *

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 ...

semi-finals:

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; ...

References

External links

*
TFF.org profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asik, Emre 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Bursa Turkish footballers Turkey international footballers Olympic footballers of Turkey Turkey youth international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Süper Lig players Balıkesirspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers İstanbulspor footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Ankaraspor footballers Association football central defenders Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games