Turkish Cafu coming to the boil

Marauding Fenerbahçe SK right-back Gökhan Gönül has roared into the reckoning for Turkey's UEFA EURO 2008™ squad despite being capped just four times to date.

Attacking dimension
At 23, Gökhan has really grown up in public with Fenerbahçe this season as they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Having made 20 league appearances this term, and consigned Önder Turacı to the bench, Gökhan has proved he is more than just a mere defender, frequently surging forward and delivering accurate crosses from the flank.

Cafu comparisons
Fenerbahçe coach Zico has compared Gökhan to fellow Brazilian Cafu, saying: "His acceleration is as fast. Most of his attributes are similar. He just needs more experience to eliminate the differences between him and Cafu." Gökhan is already a role model for other young Turkish players, with MKE Ankaragücü winger Gökhan Emreciksin saying: "He is a very good example of a complete player."

Quick return
Gökhan's professional career began in Ankara, where he signed his first contract at Gençlerbirliği SK in 2002. However, he was to make his name playing for the club's feeder team, Gençlerbirligi Oftaşspor, who surprised many by winning promotion to the Süper Lig last season. Amid competition from Galatasaray AS, Fenerbahçe signed him for €1.4m last summer and quickly saw a return on their investment.

Two call-ups
Gökhan's form for Fenerbahçe inevitably brought him to the attention of national team coach Fatih Terim, who was concerned about the inconsistent form of Galatasaray's Sabri Sarıoğlu but unwilling to move FC Bayern München's Hamit Altıntop into a more defensive role. To that end, Besiktas JK's İbrahim Kaş and Gökhan were called up for the penultimate qualifier against Norway.

Lucky break
İbrahim got the nod in the starting lineup, but was taken off after just 15 minutes through injury. Gökhan came on and impressed so much during a crucial 2-1 win in Oslo, that he retained his place for the final Group C game, when Turkey secured their place in the finals with a 1-0 win at home against Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has since appeared in friendlies against Sweden and Belarus.

A long way
With his club side level on points with Galatasaray at the top of the Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe are Gökhan's top priority at the moment, but he has already cast an eye over Turkey's finals opponents, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Switzerland. "We will try to get the best results we can and see how far we can go," he said. Given Gökhan's electric form this season, that could well be a long way.