Ümit Aydın Davala (born 30 July 1973) is a Turkish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. During his stint at

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, he won four

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

, three

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () 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 Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

, one

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and one

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, 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 offic ...

title between 1996 and 2001. He won the

2003–04 Bundesliga The 2003–04 Bundesliga was the 41st season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 1 August 2003 and concluded on 22 May 2004. Teams Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top fifteen teams from the previo ...

with

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. Davala represented

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

with 41 caps in international competitions, scoring 4 goals. He was part of the Turkey squad which earned a bronze medal at

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Club career

Davala played as a defender of

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

with

VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the n ...

, ASV Feudenheim, Türkspor Mannheim,

Afyonspor Afjet Afyonspor (2013) is a Turkish professional football club based in Afyonkarahisar, which currently competes in the TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level i ...

Diyarbakırspor Diyarbakırspor is a Turkish football club located in the city of Diyarbakır. Formed in 1968, they are nicknamed ''Diyar'' ("Land"). Domestically, Diyarbakırspor have finished runners-up for the 1.Lig (Second Division) in 1976–77, and in ...

and

İstanbulspor İstanbulspor Kulübü is a Turkish association football, 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 the TFF First League. For many d ...

before joining

in 1997. He won three successive Turkish championships. In 2000, he helped the club to win the

by scoring two goals in the final against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. In the same year, he helped the club win the

2000 UEFA Cup final The 2000 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place on 17 May 2000 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark to decide the winner of the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. The game event pitted Galatasaray of Turkey and Arsenal of England, and was t ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and the

2000 UEFA Super Cup The 2000 UEFA Super Cup was a football match played on 25 August 2000 between Real Madrid of Spain and Galatasaray of Turkey. Real Madrid qualified by beating Valencia in the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final, while Galatasaray had made it to the Su ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. In September 2001, Davala transferred to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in a He made the transfer because he wanted to follow his former coach at Galatasaray,

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

, who had been named head coach of Milan. However, in November, Terim was fired and replaced by

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

, after which Davala lost his first-team place. In June 2002, Davala was sold to

Inter Milan 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 Association football, football List of football ...

in exchange for

Dario Šimić Dario Šimić (; born 12 November 1975) is a Croatian former footballer. Šimić was a versatile defender who played as full-back, sweeper or centre back; a physical and hard-tackling defender, he was known in particular for his strength and ...

, but was immediately loaned to Galatasaray. In July 2003, Davala was loaned to

, helping the club win the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

double. In July 2004, he was signed permanently by Bremen, but injuries limited his appearances. A hip injury suffered in October 2005 proved too difficult, and over the winter break of the 2005–06 season, Davala was released by the club. He subsequently retired from professional football.

International career

Davala was part of the

squads for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

and the

. In the latter, he stood out for his mohawk hair style and scored a goal against

PR China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the group stage, adding the winner against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the second round. He also provided the cross that resulted on

İlhan Mansız İlhan Mansız (born 10 August 1975) is a German-born Turkish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also a competing figure skater. He is of Crimean Tatar descent. Playing career Club career Mansız gained internation ...

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in the quarter-finals. Turkey would finish the tournament in third place.

Futsal career

Following retirement from professional football, Davala played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

in international level. He was called up on

Turkey national futsal team The Turkey national futsal team represents Turkey in international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the European Championships and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, which founded the national team in 2006. ...

by head coach

Ömer Kaner Ömer Kaner (born 21 May 1951) is a Turkish Association football, football coach and former player. He played at Eskişehirspor, Fenerbahçe and Fatih Karagümrük, Karagümrük as a striker. He is currently been head coach of Turkey national fu ...

, in order to

qualify Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

2010 UEFA Futsal Championship The 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship was the seventh official edition of the UEFA-governed European Championship for national futsal teams. It was hosted by Hungary, between January 19 and January 30, 2010, in two venues located in Budapest ( Papp L ...

. In an interview held in 2020, Ömer Kaner stated that Davala found hard to accommodate in futsal, at that time.

Coaching career

Davala had been the head coach of Turkey national under-21 team until June 2008. He then joined

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

as an assistant manager on 11 June 2008. After a loss to

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

, the Galatasaray board stated "radical changes" were on the way, and, true to its word, the board declared that assistant coaches Davala and Edwin Boekamp were sacked on 10 October 2008 after a brief chat with club president

Adnan Polat Adnan Polat (born 1953 in Erzurum) is a Turkish businessman, manager and former president of Galatasaray SC. He graduated from Işık High School in 1971 and Long Island University Business Management department in 1976. He started working in t ...

. However, Davala rejoined Galatasaray as an assistant manager again in June 2011.

Musical career

Davala released several rap themed songs, just after he retired from football. One was a collaboration with

Kayahan Kayahan Açar (29 March 1949 – 3 April 2015) was a Turkish pop music singer-songwriter. He was an accomplished composer, consistently ranking among the best-selling Turkish musicians of all time. Kayahan composed all of his own material and ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Davala goal.''

Honours

Turkey *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Galatasaray *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

: 1999–2000 *

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

: 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000 Werder Bremen *

: 2003–04 *

: 2003–04 Order * Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

Ümit Davala
at TFF.org * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davala, Umit Living people 1973 births Footballers from Mannheim Men's association football midfielders Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Turkish men's futsal players Turkish football managers German men's footballers German sportspeople of Turkish descent UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Süper Lig players Serie A players Bundesliga players Afyonkarahisarspor footballers İstanbulspor footballers Diyarbakırspor footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers AC Milan players Inter Milan players SV Werder Bremen players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy VfR Mannheim players Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers UEFA Europa League–winning players Galatasaray S.K. (football) non-playing staff