Rüştü Reçber (; born 10 May 1973) is a Turkish 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 ...

and a current sports executive. During his professional career, he played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

, Fenerbahçe,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

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 ...

. Rüştü was part of the Turkey national squad that reached the semi-finals 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 Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and

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 association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. At the former, where Turkey finished third, his performances saw him selected for the tournament's all-star team. He is Turkey's record appearance holder, having earned 120

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. He made his debut against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in 1994 and his final appearance came against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 2012. Rüştü was named the best goalkeeper in European competitions in 2002, selected for the 2002

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

Team of the Year by public vote. In 2004, he was selected to

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list compiled by Brazilian professional footballer Pelé featuring his choices of the "greatest living footballers" at the time of its release. The list was unveiled on 4 March 2004 during a gala ceremony at the Natural Histor ...

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

as one of the 125 best living footballers in the world.

Club career

1985–2003: early years and Fenerbahçe

Born in

Korkuteli Korkuteli is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,433 km2, and its population is 56,285 (2022). It is north-west of the city of Antalya. It was previously called İstanoz or Stenez. Etymology Its modern na ...

, Rüştü began his career at nearby

, having converted from a forward to a goalkeeper. Early in his career, he missed out on moves to two of the

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based Big Three of Turkish football: he rejected Galatasaray at the age of 17 because coach Mustafa Denizli wanted him to start off at the youth team, and in 1993 a move to

fell through when he was seriously injured in a car crash. After debuting for Turkey under-21, Rüştü was told by national manager

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 ...

in 1992 that he would become the greatest goalkeeper in the nation's history. In 1993, he joined the last remaining of the Big Three, Fenerbahçe, spending his first season back on loan at Antalyaspor. He gained his big break in October 1994, when club and national starting goalkeeper Engin İpekoğlu injured his foot against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

; he debuted against Petrol Ofisi and went on to make 240 appearances in his first spell, also becoming captain and winning the

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 ...

twice.

2003–2004: Barcelona

In July 2003, Rüştü was very close to signing for Arsenal, but he had a dispute with manager

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

who he felt insulted his fitness. Instead, he joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club Barcelona. After manager

Frank Rijkaard Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in footballing history, Rijkaard was described by British broa ...

chose to play Víctor Valdés in the first two league matches because Rüştü's Spanish was still very weak. Rüştü was upset by this, saying "It is not normal for a goalkeeper of my history and caliber to be left out because I don't speak Spanish." Rüştü made his debut on 15 October 2003 in the UEFA Cup first round second leg at home to Slovakia's MŠK Púchov, an 8–0 win. He totalled only seven games – four in the league, of which the first was a 3–1 win at Espanyol in the Derbi barceloní on 13 December.

2004–2012: return to Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş

Having played just four league games (seven overall), Rüştü was loaned back to Fenerbahçe on 27 August 2004 for the season. On 28 July 2005, this was extended for another year. In his combined two spells, Rüştü is the Fenerbahçe goalkeeper with second-most appearances, with 294 games, following Volkan Demirel. After winning the league title for a third time with Fenerbahçe in 2006–07, Rüştü moved to city rivals Beşiktaş on a three-year deal, along with teammate Mehmet Yozgatlı. Rüştü won the league with his new team in 2008–09. He also won 2010–11 Turkish Cup where he played all 120 minutes, including penalties, as the club won the tournament.

International career

2002 FIFA World Cup

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 ...

finished third in the

in South Korea and Japan. Rüştü was one of two goalkeepers in the 16-man Team of the Tournament, alongside Germany's

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...

. On 26 March 2005, captain Rüştü earned his 100th cap in a 2–0 home win over

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

qualification.

Euro 2008

With first choice goalkeeper Volkan Demirel suspended, Rüştü started the

quarter-final match against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. A questionable foray from his goalmouth allowed Croatia to score the match's first goal with a minute remaining in extra time. Rüştü immediately made amends for his mistake though, assisting on Semih Şentürk's injury time goal in the 122nd minute. In the ensuing

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, he faced four kicks, saving the last one from

Mladen Petrić Mladen Petrić (; born 1 January 1981) is a retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. During his career, he played for Grasshopper Club Zürich, Grasshopper, FC Basel, Basel, B ...

to secure Turkey's victory in the shootout and enabling Turkey to progress to the Euro semi-finals for the first time ever. In the aftermath of the 3–2 semi-final loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, a game in which he was captain, he announced his retirement from the national team. However, he was since called up against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for a

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifying match. He was called up for the last time for

in a game against

on 26 May 2012, the last of his 120 caps.

Style of play

Rüştü was renowned as a gifted shot-stopper, possessed an excellent positional sense. Using his height, he was also able to come up for high balls. He also possessed strong reflexes and good deflecting ability. Known as a penalty stopper, his shoot-out performance against

in the

quarter-finals was described as ''heroic'' by

in 2015. He was featured in a UEFA Training Ground series video under the title of ''Rüştü's Turkish Delight'', in which he was described as a ''Master of Penalties''. He was an eccentric goalkeeper, who also stood out for his charismatic personality. Physically, he was recognisable for his long hair and anti-glare paint under his eyes. He was also adept at taking goal kicks and clearing backpasses.

Personal life

Rüştü is married to Işıl Reçber (née: ''Kepe'') and the couple have a son and a daughter. The couple first met in period when Rüştü just signed for Fenerbahçe from Antalyaspor, in 1994. Rüştü used to be a Galatasaray supporter in his childhood. His son, Burak, born in 2007, plays football at Galatasaray academy. In March 2020, Reçber tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was admitted to hospital for care where he was put under isolation. He was discharged in April.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Barcelona * Copa Catalunya: 2003–04 Fenerbahçe *

: 1995–96, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07 *

Atatürk Cup The Atatürk Cup was a football competition in Turkey. The first edition was played between the winners of the Prime Minister's Cup and the Presidential Cup in 1998 to memorialize the 60th anniversary of Atatürk's death. Fenerbahçe defeated Be� ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Beşiktaş *Süper Lig: 2008–09 *

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 ...

: 2008–09, 2010–11 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 ...

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

bronze medalist:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

third place:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual * Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2001 *

All Star Team: 2002 * UEFA Team of the Year:

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2002: 3rd *

Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century: 23rd *

Order * Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service

References

; Citations ; Video References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Recber, Rustu 1973 births Living people FIFA 100 Turkish men's footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Antalyaspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers La Liga players Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain FC Barcelona players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club Süper Lig players Footballers from Antalya