Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel

Volkan Demirel is a Turkish goalkeeper who spent almost his whole career in one club. He moved to Fenerbahce in 2002 and has since played for this club. Also Volkan Demirel played many matches at the gates of the Turkish national team.

Carier start

Volkan Demirel was born on October 27, 1981 in Turkey, for a long time he played football exclusively at the amateur level, joining the club "Kartalspor" at the age of eighteen. One year he spent at the youth academy, after which he was summoned to the main team, where he immediately began to perform in the first team.

Already in his first season Demirel defended 26 matches, and in the second - 25. Young talent did not go unnoticed - scouts of one of the strongest clubs in Turkey, "Fenerbahce" spotted him, and in the summer of 2002 Volkan Demirel moved to a new club. "Kartalspor", naturally, offered the young talent to extend the contract, but from the offer of such a club as "Fenerbahce", it is impossible to refuse. Therefore, at the age of 21 Demirel moved to a new team, where he gradually began to make his way to the base.

The game for "Fenerbahce"

Volkan Demirel, photos of which by that time began to spread across all sports publications of the country, was considered a great talent - and many thought he had to spend some more time in the club, where he will have a constant gaming practice. However, the fact remained a fact - Demirel moved to the "Fenerbahce", where in his first season appeared on the field in just one match. Unfortunately, the first five years of the player's career in the new club were not much better.

In the next season, he played a lot more - as many as 22 games, but at the same time just replaced the main goalkeeper. Over the next three years, Volkan also did not appear too often on the field, playing only 62 games.

However, everything changed in 2007 - the goalkeeper of "Fenerbahce" and the national team of Turkey Rüştu Rejber left the club to join the "Besiktas", so Demirel took the place at the gate, which he did not leave since. Already in the season 07/08 he went on the field for forty times - and it was in that year that the club managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time. However, it cost the club a dominance in the local arena.

In 2004, 2005 and 2007 Demirel became the champion of Turkey, practically not playing at the base. But, as soon as he became the main goalkeeper, the team's luck disappeared. Only in 2011 Demirel was able to raise the trophy again over his head - and the team made a double, having won also the Cup of Turkey.

In 2013, Demirel won another Cup of Turkey, and in 2014 - again won the championship in Turkey with his club. And all this time Demirel was the main goalkeeper, and in 2012 he became the captain of the team. In the total for 14 years in the club, Volkan played in 370 games - 85 of them fall on the first five years, when he was the reserve goalkeeper. In the current season Demirel remained the main goalkeeper, despite the fact that he will turn 35 in October. Volkan has already added to his statistics ten matches, three of which defended "to zero." The player's contract is calculated before the end of this season, but it is not yet known whether the goalkeeper will want to extend it or decide to retire.

National team appearances

Also for a long time the main goalkeeper of the national team of Turkey was Volkan Demirel. His achievements in the national team, unfortunately, are not particularly impressive - but here it is worth noting that the Turks never won anything without him. Therefore, the entrance to the semifinal of the 2008 European Championship was a real breakthrough. Only for the national team Demirel played 62 games, making his debut in April 2004 in a friendly match against the Belgians.

The 2008 European Championship was the first major Volkan tournament, and he managed more than well - until the 90th minute of the third match, when he received not just a red card, but disqualification for three matches. As a result, the Turks were able to win in the quarterfinals of the Croats, but could not beat the Germans in the semifinals.

Since Demirel was at the gate of the team, the Turks could not get through to a major tournament. In November 2014, the farewell match of Demirel took place, in which the Turkish team lost to the Brazilian national team with a score of 0: 4. After that, Volkan refused to play for the national team, focusing on a career in the "Fenerbahce".

Personal life

This is all that can be said about the sports career of such a player as Volkan Demirel. The player's personal life, in turn, was fine. In 2010, he married Zeynep North - a Turkish girl who moved to Belgium at the age of twelve. In 2009, she won the title "Miss Belgium". After that, she presented her country at the Miss Universe contest, entering the list of the top fifteen participants, but she could not show any impressive results at the Miss World contest.

But beauty is not the only thing Zeynep has. The Volkan's wife is also an athlete and stands for "Fenerbahce" - but not for the men's football, but for the women's volleyball club.