Hamit Altıntop

Hamit Altıntop
Personal information
Hamit Altıntop playing for Bayern Munich
Full name	Hamit Altıntop
Date of birth	8 December 1982 (age 29)
Place of birth	Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Number	16
Youth career
1991–1992	Schwarz-Weiß Gelsenkirchen
1992–1997	TuS Rotthausen
1997–2000	Wattenscheid 09
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2000–2003	Wattenscheid 09	75	(12)
2003	Schalke 04 II	1	(0)
2003–2007	Schalke 04	113	(8)
2007–2011	Bayern Munich	63	(7)
2008	Bayern Munich II	1	(0)
2011–	Real Madrid	4	(1)
National team^‡
2004–	Turkey	68^[1]	(6)
Honours[show]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:02, 28 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2011

Hamit Altıntop (born 8 December 1982) is a German-born Turkish professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid in La Liga.^[2] 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, as shown when he played for Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich. 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.^[3]

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

Bayern Munich

Altıntop joined Bayern Munich for the 2007–2008 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 Liga-Pokal. Munich completed the match with a 4–1 victory.
Altıntop also scored against Aberdeen in the first leg of their tie in the UEFA Cup competition on 14 February 2008. The initial penalty kick was saved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield; however, Altıntop scored with the rebound. The match finished 2–2.^[4]
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 with Miroslav Klose, on 63rd minute.
On 2 June 2010, Altıntop signed a new one year contract with Bayern Munich.^[5] 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 will move on a free transfer to Real Madrid. He signed a four year contract with the Spanish club.^[6] 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 feels upset about the limited playing time and is contemplating a move away from the club.^[7]

International career

Hamit Altıntop playing for Turkey.

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 is a midfielder for his club Bayern Munich.^{[citation needed]} 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 universally acknowledged to be one of the tournament's stars, and was included in UEFA's official 23-man "Team of the Tournament".^[8]
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.^[9]
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 28 January 2012

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		Premiere 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
2003–04	Schalke 04	Bundesliga	30	5	0	0	—		3	1	33	5
2003–04	Schalke 04 II	Regionalliga Nord	1	0	—		—		0	0	1	0
2004–05	Schalke 04	Bundesliga	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
2007–08	Bayern Munich		23	3	5	1	3	1	9	3	40	8
2008–09	Bayern Munich		11	2	3	0	—		4	0	18	2
2008–09	Bayern Munich II	3rd Liga	1	0	—				—		1	0
2009–10	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	15	0	5	1			6	0	26	1
2010–11	Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	14	2	3	0			7	0	24	2
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
2011–12	Real Madrid	La Liga	4	1	3	0	—		3	0	10	1
Total	Germany		253	27	26	2	7	1	48	5	334	35
Total	Spain		4	1	3	0	—		3	0	10	1
Career total			257	28	29	2	7	1	51	5	344	36

International goals

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.	28 March 2007	Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany	Norway	2–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3.	12 August 2009	Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine	Ukraine	0–3	0–3	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	0–2	0–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
6.	7 September 2010	Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, İstanbul, Turkey	Belgium	1–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
Correct as of 7 September 2010