Hamit Altıntop

Hamit Altıntop

Altintop playing for Galatasaray in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Hamit Altıntop
Date of birth	8 December 1982
Place of birth	Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Galatasaray
Number	5
Youth career
1991–1992	Schwarz-Weiß Gelsenkirchen-Süd
1992–1997	TuS Rotthausen
1997–2000	Wattenscheid 09
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2003	Wattenscheid 09	75	(12)
2003–2007	Schalke 04	113	(8)
2007–2011	Bayern Munich	63	(7)
2011–2012	Real Madrid	5	(1)
2012–	Galatasaray	60	(1)
National team
2000	Turkey U18	5	(3)
2001	Turkey U20	6	(1)
2003	Turkey U21	9	(2)
2004–2014	Turkey	82	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 November 2016.

Hamit Altıntop (Turkish pronunciation: [häˈmit äɫˈtɯnto̞p], born 8 December 1982) is a Turkish professional footballer. He is a versatile midfielder who can play either in a defending or attacking role and on both flanks. He is well known for his flair of long-shot ability. He is the identical twin brother of footballer Halil Altıntop, who was born 10 minutes after Hamit.

Altıntop was part of the Turkey squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008. After the tournament he was voted as part of the 23-man Team of the tournament awards. He won the 2010 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring the best goal of the season in an UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Kazakhstan in a 3–0 win for his country.^[1]

Club career

Schalke

Altıntop started his professional career in local German club Wattenscheid in 2000 along with his brother. As successful performances grabbed the attention of bigger clubs, he was transferred to Schalke 04 in 2003, where he played in a primarily defensive midfield role. In the 2006–07 summer transfer window, Schalke signed his brother Halil from Kaiserslautern. Schalke came second in the Bundesliga, only pipped by VfB Stuttgart by two points.

Altıntop with Schalke in 2005

Bayern Munich

Altıntop joined Bayern Munich for the 2007–08 season on a free transfer from Schalke 04. He scored his first goal in his first game for Bayern when they faced the Brazilian champions São Paulo. Munich went on winning the game 2–1 after his spectacular free-kick. Remaining as one of Munich's starters, he scored another left-foot goal out of 30 meters distance against Werder Bremen in the DFB-Ligapokal. Munich completed the match with a 4–1 victory.

Altıntop also scored a controversial penalty against Aberdeen in the first leg of their tie in the UEFA Cup competition on 14 February 2008 at Pittodrie. The initial penalty kick was saved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield; however, Altıntop scored with the rebound. The match finished 2–2.^[2]

In 2009–10 season, Bayern Munich competed in Champions League and they eventually went to 2010 UEFA Champions League Final, which was played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid on Saturday, 22 May 2010. He started the match in the first 11, but he was substituted for Miroslav Klose, on 63rd minute.

On 2 June 2010, Altıntop signed a new one-year contract with Bayern Munich.^[3] He was eventually released by Bayern during the end of the 2010–11 season, after failing to negotiate an extension to his contract. Thus, he became a free agent.

Real Madrid

On 19 May 2011, it was announced Altıntop would move on a free transfer to Real Madrid. He signed a four-year contract with the Spanish club.^[4] He made his debut for the club on 27 September at the Santiago Bernabéu in a Champions League match against AFC Ajax, coming on in the 84th minute as a replacement for Mesut Özil. He made his La Liga debut for the club on 15 October at the Santiago Bernabéu in a match against Real Betis, coming on in the 78th minute as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored his first goal for the club on 18 December at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez in a match against Sevilla FC on the 89th minute from an assist from Xabi Alonso, coming on in the 86th minute as a replacement for Karim Benzema. He made his first starting debut for the club on 28 January 2012 at the Santiago Bernabéu in a victory over Zaragoza, playing a full match. He made his first Champions League starting debut for the club on 4 April 2012 at the Santiago Bernabéu in a 2011–12 Champions League quarter-finals match against APOEL F.C., playing a full match.

Galatasaray

On 13 July 2012, he signed a four-year contract with the Galatasaray SK for €3.5 million from Real Madrid.^[5][6] Altıntop will earn €2.4 million per-season in 2012–13 and 2013–14 in addition to a €20,000 per-match bonus.^[7] He made his Galatasaray debut on 12 August 2012 in the 2012 Turkish Super Cup final against the Turkish Cup Champions Fenerbahçe. Galatasaray won 3–2, winning the title for the 12th time. He made his Süper Lig debut the following week against Kasımpaşa. Altıntop's first goal for Galatasaray was a 30-meter free kick in the 37th minute of a Champions League defeat of former club Schalke 04 on 12 March 2013.^[8]

International career

Altıntop playing for Turkey in 2010

Altıntop played in all five of Turkey's matches at UEFA Euro 2008. He assisted all three goals in the comeback against the Czech Republic and in the quarter finals against Croatia he scored the third penalty to make it 3–1 in the shoot out. After goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber saved the next Croatian penalty, Turkey advanced to the semi-finals against Germany. Turkish coach Fatih Terim used him as a right defender in the first two games of the tournament, a move that was heavily criticized by the media, since Altıntop was a midfielder for his then-club Bayern Munich. After the match against Switzerland, Terim switched him to midfield for the remainder of the tournament, which boosted both Turkey's and his own performance. His bold playing style and decisive passes made him a dominant player in the Turkish midfield. He was awarded with the Carlsberg Man of the Match award following the quarter final match against Croatia. At the conclusion of the tournament, Altıntop was widely acknowledged to be one of the tournament's stars, and was included in UEFA's official 23-man "Team of the Tournament".^[9]

In January 2011, Altıntop won the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year of 2010 for his volley against Kazakhstan in September 2010 in a Euro 2012 qualifier.^[10]

He was captain of the national team for the first time on 30 March 2011 in a 2–0 victory against Austria.

Career statistics

Club

As of 27 November 2016.^[11][12]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		DFB-Ligapokal		Europe		Total
2000–01	Wattenscheid 09	Regionalliga Nord	11	1	—		—		—		11	1
2001–02			31	4	—		—		—		31	4
2002–03			33	7	—		—		—		33	7
Total			75	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	75	12
2003–04	Schalke 04	Bundesliga	30	5	0	0	—		3	1	33	5
2004–05			30	0	6	1	—		8	0	44	1
2005–06			22	1	2	0	2	0	9	1	35	2
2006–07			31	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	37	2
Total			113	8	10	1	4	0	22	2	149	10
2007–08	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	23	3	5	1	3	1	9	3	40	8
2008–09			11	2	3	0	—		4	0	18	2
2009–10			15	0	5	1	—		6	0	26	1
2010–11			14	2	3	0	—		7	0	25[lower-alpha 1]	2
Total			63	7	16	2	3	1	26	3	86	13
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Supercopa de España		Europe		Total
2011–12	Real Madrid	La Liga	5	1	3	0	0	0	4	0	12	1
Total			5	1	3	0	0	0	4	0	12	1
Turkey			League		Türkiye Kupası		TFF Süper Kupa		Europe		Total
2012–13	Galatasaray	Süper Lig	29	0	1	0	1	0	9	1	40	1
2013–14			5	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
2014–15			23	1	4	1	0	0	5	0	32	2
2015–16			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015–16			3	0	1	1	0	0	—		4	1
Total			58	1	7	1	2	0	14	1	81	3
Total	Germany		253	27	26	2	7	1	48	5	335	35
	Spain		5	1	3	0	—		4	0	12	1
	Turkey		60	1	8	2	2	0	14	1	84	4
Career total			318	29	37	4	9	1	66	6	431	40

1. Includes appearance in the DFL-Supercup

International

Turkey national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2004	6	0
2005	10	0
2006	11	0
2007	11	2
2008	9	0
2009	6	1
2010	9	3
2011	6	0
2012	9	1
2013	3	0
2014	2	0
Total	82	7

International goals

Scores and results table. Turkey's goal tally first:

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 March 2007	Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany	Norway	1–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2.				2–2
3.	12 August 2009	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine	Ukraine	3–0	3–0	Friendly
4.	3 March 2010	BJK İnönü Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey	Honduras	2–0	2–0	Friendly
5.	3 September 2010	Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
6.	7 September 2010	Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey	Belgium	1–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
7.	24 May 2012	Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria	Georgia	1–0	3–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

Schalke 04^[13]

• DFB-Ligapokal: 2005

Bayern Munich^[13]

• Bundesliga: 2007–08, 2009–10
• DFB-Pokal: 2007–08, 2009–10
• DFB-Ligapokal: 2007
• DFL-Supercup: 2010
• UEFA Champions League Runner-up: 2009–10

Real Madrid^[13]

• La Liga: 2011–12

Galatasaray^[13]

• Süper Lig: 2012–13, 2014–15
• Türkiye Kupası: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Süper Kupa: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016

Individual

• FIFA Puskas Award: 2010
• UEFA EURO 2008 Team of the tournament^[9]

Personal life

Altıntop is a practicing Muslim. He said in an interview with a local Turkish television station that he has always been fasting (during the Islamic month of Ramadan) since he reached puberty although it was more difficult when fasting days coincided with match days and that Muslim players would feel more powerful during this holy month.^[14] In 2014, Altıntop married Feyza Veli in a wedding ceremony in Istanbul's renowned Çırağan Palace.^[15]

Trivia

Hamit's surname "Altıntop" means "gold ball" when it is literally translated. 'Altın' means 'gold' and 'top' means 'ball' in Turkish language.

References

1. "Altintop claims the FIFA Puskás Award 2010". FIFA.com. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
2. "Aberdeen 2–2 Bayern Munich". BBC Sport. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
3. "Altintop signs new Bayern Munich deal". Ontheminute.com. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
4. "Madrid swoop for free agent Hamit Altıntop". UEFA.com. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
5. "Hamit Altıntop Galatasaray'da" (in Turkish). Galatasaray. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
6. "Altıntop leaves Madrid to join Galatasaray". UEFA. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
7. "Galatasaray disclose financial details of Altintop transfer from Real Madrid". turkish-football.com. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
8. Homewood, Brian (12 March 2013). "Galatasaray oust Schalke in pulsating five-goal clash". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Reuters. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
9. "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". euro2008.uefa.com. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
10. "Argentina's Lionel Messi wins Fifa Ballon d'Or award". BBC Sport. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
11. "Altıntop, Hamit". National Football Teams. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
12. "Hamit Altıntop". Mackolik.com. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
13. "Hamit Altıntop". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
14. "Real's Muslim player fasting in Ramadan". Press TV. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
15. "Galatasaraylı futbolcu Hamit Altıntop evlendi". CNNTürk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.

External links

• Real Madrid official profile
• Hamit Altıntop profile at Fussballdaten
• Hamit Altintop at worldfootball.net
• Hamit Altıntop – FIFA competition record
• Hamit Altıntop – UEFA competition record
• Hamit Altıntop at National-Football-Teams.com
• Hamit Altıntop career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Hamit Altıntop at the Internet Movie Database