Who is Hakan Sukur?

Answer 1

Hakan Şükür (born September 1, 1971 in Sakarya, Turkey) is a Turkish footballer who played as a striker. He has received the nickname "King (Kral)" from his admirers. Along with the team-mate Gheorghe Hagi, he was a member of the UEFA Cup-winning Galatasaray side of 2000. He is remembered by supporters for his scoring in European competition that year, including his superb goals against Leeds United, one in which he danced past two of their defenders to score and help send his team to the final. He is also remembered for his penalty in Galatasaray's penalty shoot-out victory over Arsenal F.C. in the final. He played most of his football career at Galatasaray, having spent eight seasons with them in the 1990s. In 2000, he moved to Italy where he played for Inter Milan then a short spell at Parma. He then moved to England to play for Blackburn Rovers In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Şükür's national team went all the way to the semi-finals even though he was out of form for most of the tournament. He finally showed a glimpse of his talent when, in the third-place game against South Korea, he scored what is still the fastest goal ever in a World Cup finals match. İlhan Mansız forced a Korean defender into a blunder immediately off the opening kickoff, Şükür pounced on the free ball and put the ball into the Korean net after only 10.8 seconds. Şükür was capped for the 100th time in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. He is the third Turkish player, after Bülent Korkmaz and Rüştü Reçber, to receive this honor. As of May 10, 2008, Şükür topped up his seasonal goals to 249. This makes him the highest scoring player in Turkish football's top flight history. He overtook Tanju Çolak. After a UEFA Cup match against Panionios, Hakan Şükür announced that he's leaving Galatasaray at the end of this season. For more information follow the related link below.