Clubs: SG Wattenscheid 09, FC Schalke 04, FC Bayern München

UEFA honours
UEFA EURO 2008: Team of the Tournament
UEFA Champions League: runner-up 2010

• Born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to a Turkish guest worker family, he played with twin brother Halil at regional league level for Wattenscheid before joining hometown club Schalke in 2003.

• Scored five goals in his debut Bundesliga campaign and spent four successive seasons playing for Schalke in the UEFA Cup.

• Won his maiden cap for Turkey in February 2004 − versus Denmark − and scored his first two international goals during a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier against Norway in Frankfurt in which Turkey came from two goals down to draw 2-2.

• Recovered from a broken foot to star at UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland/Austria; provided all three assists in a dramatic 3-2 win against the Czech Republic and was the only Turkey player named in UEFA's Team of the Tournament.

• Left Schalke − and brother Halil − for Bayern in summer 2007 and was a regular for most of the team's double-winning campaign until injury kept him out of the season's climax; also absent for most of 2008/09 with further injury problems.

• Used sparingly during Bayern's Bundesliga and German Cup successes in 2009/10 (only seven league starts) but played over an hour of the UEFA Champions League final loss to FC Intenazionale Milano in Madrid.

• Scored in both of Turkey's opening UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers in September 2010, victories against Kazakhstan (3-0) and Belgium (3-2); the spectacular volley struck in Astana earned him the FIFA 2010 Puskás Award for goal of the year.