João Batista Casemiro Marques (born 4 March 1975) is a 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, rugby lea ...

who played the majority of his career in Turkey.

Career

João Batista played for

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 matc ...

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 ...

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

in Turkey and

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

in Ukraine.

International career

Having not been capped by his native

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Batista had the option of playing for

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 ...

if called up as Mehmet Aurélio. He was one of favourite player for

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 ...

when he played for

Personal life

João Batista has dual Turkish citizenship with Mertol Karatay name on his passport.

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people Brazilian emigrants to Turkey Turkish people of Brazilian descent Turkish men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Minas Gerais Men's association football midfielders Süper Lig players Ukrainian Premier League players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Konyaspor footballers Gaziantepspor footballers União São João Esporte Clube players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Naturalized citizens of Turkey Converts to Islam 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Turkey-footy-midfielder-stub