Semih Şentürk

Semih Şentürk

Personal information
Full name	Semih Şentürk
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Fenerbahçe
Number	23
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 September 2008

Semih Şentürk (born April 29, 1983, in İzmir, Turkey) is a Turkish footballer who currently plays for the Turkcell Super League club Fenerbahçe in the striker position.

Club career

Fenerbahçe

Semih Senturk was a hit at the PAF Youth team, bagging in goals that prompted him to be recruited to the senior side. He appears in the team usually as a substitute and has been known to score crucial goals in the latter stages of games. Since the beginning of the football season 2007/2008 he has become the second captain of Fenerbahce. Semih has spent his entire club career at Fenerbahçe having risen through the ranks of the Fenerbahçe youth team. He scored 63 goals in 56 games for the youth team and was subsequently called up to the first team.. His goalscoring exploits increased hopes among the supporters that Semih could be the future of the Fenerbahçe attacking line. Indeed, he managed to become something of a regular fixture in the team during the 2007-08 campaign, in which he scored 17 goals and finished the season as League's top scorer. His more prominent role in the team was rewarded after he was named as the vice-captain of the team in 2007 after the departure of the former captains Ümit Özat, now at Köln, and Tuncay Şanlı, now at Middlesbrough.

He secured an away victory in the 2nd round of the Champions League qualifiers, guaranteeing a place for his team in the third knockout phase of the Champions League. His four goals against MTK Budapest on 6 August 2008 meant that Semih became only the second Turkish player after Fethi Heper to score four goals in a single European match. Also he is a member of the leader fan group Genç Fenerbahçeliler (GFB). His nick name is "Semih the Young", even if many fans and he himself got bored of it.

International career

Şentürk was called up the Turkey national football team following his successful performances in the 2007-08 season. He wears the number 9 shirt, which was previously worn by Turkish football legend Hakan Şükür.

Euro 2008

Şentürk was selected as part of the squad for the finals of the European Championships in 2008. On 11 June he came on as a substitute in the 46th minute and in the 57th minute of Turkey's second Group A match against Switzerland, he scored the equaliser with a powerful header outjumping the Swiss defence and beating the goalkeeper, even though he got a hand on it.

In the quarter-finals match versus Croatia, Şentürk saved the Turkish squad from a late 1-0 defeat to Croatia, scoring a last-second equalizer in the 120+2 minute, now holding the record for scoring the latest goal in a European Championship tounament. Just three minutes after Croatia's goal, Turkish goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber cleared an offside free-kick long into Stipe Pletikosa's area, giving Şentürk the opportunity to score with a powerful left-foot shot. Turkey went on to win the subsequent penalty shoot-out 3-1 and advance to semi-finals. Semih successfully converted the second spotkick.

The semi-finals match against Germany turned out to have a thriller ending in which Şentürk played a key role. In the 86th minute, just 7 minutes after of Miroslav Klose's goal (which gave Germany a 2 to 1 advantage), Şentürk intercepted a low cross provided by team-mate Sabri Sarioglu and scored a crucial equalizer. However, his side went on to be defeated as Germany's left-back Philipp Lahm managed to score a decisive goal in the 90th minute, which knocked out Turkey from the competition. After EURO 2008 finished Semih Senturk received the name super-sub.

Career Statistics

Club

Club Performance

Turkey	Season	League		Turkish Cup		Super Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Fenerbahçe	2009-10	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	0	--	--
	2008-09	18	7	5	1	0	0	6	4	29	12
	2007-08	27	17	3	0	-	-	8	2	38	19
	2006-07	18	1	7	7	-	-	m	m	25	8
	2005-06	22	9	5	4	m	m	m	m	27	13
	CAREER TOTAL		---	---	--	-	-	-	--	--	---
Correct as of 27 August 2009 - missing data "m" will be updated soon

International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	May 29 2008	MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany	Finland	2 - 0	2 - 0	Friendly
2.	June 11 2008	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland	1 - 1	2 - 1	UEFA Euro 2008
3.	June 20 2008	Ernst Happel Stadion, Wien, Austria	Croatia	1 - 1	1 - 1	UEFA Euro 2008
4.	June 25 2008	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Germany	2 - 2	2 - 3	UEFA Euro 2008
5.	September 6 2008	Hrazdan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	0 - 2	0 - 2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	April 1 2009	Ali Sami Yen Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey	Spain	1 - 0	1 - 2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

• Fenerbahçe
  • Turkcell Super League Champion: 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07
  • Turkcell Super League Runner-up: 2005-06, 2007-08
  • Turkish Super Cup: 2007
  • Champions League Quarter Final:2007-2008

National Team

• UEFA European Football Championship Semi-finalist:2008
• UEFA European Football Championship Top-Goal Scorer:Second Place:2008

Individual

• Fenerbahçe
  • Turkish Premier League Top Scorer (17 goals): 2007-08

Trivia

• He played 56 times for Fenerbahçe PAF and scored 63 goals.
• Even at the age of 26, he is still called as "Genç Semih (Semih the Young)" by media and fans.
• His playing style was compared with Ole Gunnar Solskjær during 2007/08 season, as he scored most of his goals after coming from bench. This comparison came with another nickname for him, "Nöbetçi Golcü (Sentinel/Reserved Scorer)".
• Semih Şentürk scored the latest goal at 120+2 minutes in European Cup history in Turkey's Euro 2008 quarterfinal match against Croatia.
• Semih Şentürk is frequently called "The Lifeguard" because of his knack for scoring goals late in matches.

External links

• Official Web Site
• Profile at fenerbahce.org
• Profile at TFF.org
• Profile at transfermarkt.de
• Highlights of Croatia vs. Turkey match