Volkan Demirel is a Turkish goalkeeper who spent almost his entire career in one club. He joined Fenerbahçe in 2002 and has been playing for this club ever since. Also Volkan Demirel spent 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 an amateur level, having joined the Kartalspor club already at the age of eighteen. He spent one year at the youth academy, after which he was called up to the main team, where he immediately began to play in the main 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 “Fenerbahçe” noticed him, and in the summer of 2002 Volkan Demirel moved to a new club. Kartalspor, naturally, offered the young talent to renew the contract, but it is impossible to refuse the offer of such a club as Fenerbahce. Therefore, at the age of 21, Demirel moved to a new team, where he gradually began to work his way to the base.
The game for Fenerbahce
Volkan Demirelle, whose photos by that time began to be distributed in all sports publications of the country, was considered a great talent - and many thought that he should have spent some time in a club where he would have a constant playing practice. However, the fact remained that Demirel moved to Fenerbahçe, where in his first season he appeared on the field in just one match. Unfortunately, the first five years of a player’s career in the new club went a little better.
In the next season, he played already much more - as many as 22 matches, but at the same time he just replaced the main goalkeeper. Over the next three years, Volkan also did not appear on the field too often, playing only 62 matches.
However, everything changed in 2007 - the goalkeeper of Fenerbahçe and the Turkish national team Ryushtu Regber left the club to join Besiktas, so Demirel took a place in the goal, which he has not left since then. Already in the 07/08 season, he entered the field as many as forty times - and it was in that year that the club first managed to get to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. However, it cost the club 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 luck of the team disappeared. Only in 2011, Demirel was able to once again raise the trophy over his head - and the team made a double, having won the Turkish Cup.
In 2013, Demirel won another Turkish Cup, and in 2014 he again won the Turkish Championship with his club. And all this time Demirel was the main goalkeeper, and in 2012 became the team captain. In total, for 14 years at the club Volkan played in 370 matches - with 85 of them falling in the first five years, when he was a reserve goalkeeper. This season, Demirel has remained the main goalkeeper, despite the fact that he will turn 35 in October. Volkan has already added ten matches to his statistics, three of which defended “to zero”. The player’s contract is designed until the end of this season, but so far it is unknown whether the goalkeeper will want to extend it or decide to end his career.
Team appearances
Also for a long time Volkan Demirel was the main goalkeeper of the Turkish national team. Unfortunately, his achievements in the national team are not particularly impressive - but it is worth noting that the Turks never won anything without him. Therefore, reaching the semifinals of the 2008 European Championships was a real breakthrough. In total, Demirel played 62 matches for the national team, debuting in April 2004 in a friendly match with the Belgians.
The 2008 European Championship was Volcan’s first major tournament, and he managed more than well - until the 90th minute of the third match, when he received not just a red card, but a suspension for three matches. As a result, the Turks were able to win in the quarter-finals against the Croats, but could not beat the Germans in the semifinals.
Since Demirel was at the gates of the national team, the Turks did not manage to break into a major tournament. In November 2014, Demirel's farewell match took place, in which the Turkish national 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 at Fenerbahçe.
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, has developed perfectly. In 2010, he married Zeynep Sever - a Turkish girl who moved to Belgium at the age of twelve. In 2009, she won the Miss Belgium title. After that, she presented her country at the Miss Universe contest, entering the list of the fifteen best participants, but at the Miss World contest she was no longer able to show any impressive results.
But beauty is not the only thing that Zeynep has. Volkana’s wife is also an athlete and stands for Fenerbahçe - not just for men's football, but for women's volleyball club.