'İlhan Mansız' (born
August 10,
1975 - in
Kempten im Allgäu,
Bavaria,
West Germany) is a retired
Turkish football player of
Crimean Tatar origin, who gained international recognition at İstanbul's
Beşiktaş J.K., and was later acquired by the
Vissel Kobe soccer club in
Japan.
He attracted much attention from female fans due to his fashionable dressing style and
hairdo, being listed among other soccer players such as
David Beckham who are often categorized as
metrosexuals. Being of Tatar origin, he gained many Japanese female fans because of his looks, which was an important factor in his transfer to Vissel Kobe.
İlhan made his debut for
Turkey as a substitute during their final group-stage qualifier against
Moldova in
October 2001. The speedy
striker earned his way onto coach
Şenol Güneş' squad on the strength of an outstanding 2001-2002 season for
Beşiktaş, when he led the
Turkcell Super League in scoring and helped the squad to a third-place finish.
The goal of his career came in the
2002 World Cup quarterfinal against
Senegal. He came on as a substitute for
Hakan Şükür in the 67th minute, and netted a
golden goal in the 94th minute to send
Turkey through to the last four of the competition, in which they ended up taking 3rd place. In the 3rd place game İlhan Mansız assisted
Hakan Şükür to score the
fastest goal ever in a World Cup finals match.
[1]
İlhan is something of the
David Beckham of the
Turkish side, mobbed by screaming fans wherever he goes. And, like Beckham, he has lived up to his reputation off the field and on it. Since making his debut, he has had a massive rise to prominence.
After his Japan journey, he signed a contract with
Hertha Berlin but because of his injury, he never had a chance to play. His contract was cancelled due to a clause in the contract saying that if his knee was injured again, they would release him. After his short stint with Hertha Berlin, İlhan signed a one year contract with Turkish club
Ankaragücü. He was slowly but surely coming back from his plague of injuries and helping
Ankaragücü in the Turkcell Super League.
Before 2006/07 season, he declared his decision to retire from football. As of 2007 there were rumors that he was getting training in Los Angeles, USA to make a come back to football. These rumors are revealed by İlhan Mansız and he declared to sign contract with Ankaragücü again. However, this final comeback attempt was abandoned before the 2007/08 season, as he announced his retirement.
[2]
Notes
1. Video of fastest goal ever in World Cup history
2. İlhan abandons comeback plans