Yıldıray Baştürk

Yıldıray Baştürk (, born 24 December 1978) is a retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Born in Germany, he was capped 49 times for the Turkey national football team, representing the team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup where they finished in third place. In the same year he also appeared for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. Baştürk also played for Wattenscheid 09, VfL Bochum, Hertha BSC, VfB Stuttgart and English club Blackburn Rovers.

Club career

Early years, Bochum and Bayer The son of a miner, Baştürk began his football career at Sportfreunde Wanne-Eickel. As a teenager Baştürk played for SG Wattenscheid 09, and his breakthrough in the Bundesliga came with city rivals VfL Bochum, for whom he even played in the UEFA Cup. After the 2001 transfer to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Baştürk was part of a team that finished second in the league, the DFB-Pokal and the 2002 UEFA Champions League final in the 2001–02 season. Due to his role in Bayer's success and Turkey's third-place finish at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Baştürk finished ninth in the voting for the 2002 Ballon d'Or.

Hertha and Stuttgart In July 2004 he was transferred to Hertha BSC, where he remained until 2007 when his contract expired. Baştürk agreed to join German champions VfB Stuttgart on a Bosman transfer on 28 May 2007 for the start of the 2007–08 season.

Blackburn Rovers On 27 January 2010, it was announced that Baştürk had agreed to join Blackburn Rovers from Stuttgart until the end of the season on a free transfer, after his contract with Stuttgart was terminated. Baştürk was handed his first start for Blackburn in the Premier League when he started against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 April 2010 at Molineux, however he was substituted at half-time. Baştürk was not offered a contract extension by Rovers. The following year he was a free agent and he finally announced his retirement in May 2011.

International career In 2002, Baştürk played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where the Turkish team came third. He amassed 49 caps and scored two goals for Turkey. However, after he was left out of Turkey's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, he said he would never play for the national team as long as Fatih Terim remains as the coach.

Career statistics

International

International goals Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Baştürk goal.

Honours Bayer Leverkusen UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2001–02

Turkey FIFA World Cup: Third place 2002 FIFA Confederations Cup: Third place 2003

Order Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service