- Ümit Karan
Football player infobox
playername = Ümit Karan
fullname = Ümit Karan
height = height|meters=1.81
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|10|1
cityofbirth =Berlin
countryofbirth =Germany
currentclub = flagicon|Turkey Galatasaray
clubnumber = 99
position =Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1996–2001
2001—
2005
clubs =Gençlerbirliği Galatasaray S.K.
→Ankaraspor (loan)
caps(goals) = 133 (58)
149 (70)
012 0(5)
nationalyears = 1999—
nationalteam = Turkey
nationalcaps(goals) = 012 0(7)
pcupdate =14 October ,2007
ntupdate =14 October ,2006 Ümit Karan (born
October 1 ,1976 inGermany ) is a Turkish football player playing as a striker. He is currently playing for Galatasaray.He formerly played for
Gençlerbirliği S.K. and Ankaraspor.After playing for Gençlerbirliği for 5 seasons and scoring 47 goals, he moved to Galatasaray at the start of the 2001/2002 season and was a key player in
Mircea Lucescu 's squad as the main striker after Mario Jardel's departure.During the 2004/2005 he was loaned to
Ankaraspor by manager Gheorghe Hagi due to his dip in form. However, Ümit made a strong return for the 2005/2006 season with Galatasaray's new managerEric Gerets . Getting along well with Gerets and his playing style, Karan scored 16 goals in 18 matches at the start of the season. But early in 2006, Umit's season was cut short by a knee injury, which kept him out of the game for 6 months.At the start of the 2006/2007 season, Ümit regained his place on the team after the injury layoff, scoring his 100th goal in the
Turkcell Super League on September 18, 2006, againstBeşiktaş . He became the 30th player to reach that mark in the league's history.Ümit has great finishing ability and he is usually in chase of sensational goals, particularly with volleys and bicycle kicks. His most sensational goal is arguably the one he scored against
Vestel Manisaspor . Ümit latched onto a 40 meter pass just inside the box and struck a one time shot with his right foot and curled it around the helpless goalkeeper [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vE0zHkro_Y YouTube - ümit karan van basten ] ] . He also possesses good pace, stamina and strength but he is usually accused for going down easily on the pitch and arguing with the officials. He is also loved by the supporters, but he has had his share of problems with his former Galatasaray managersFatih Terim andGheorghe Hagi .Honours
* Galatasaray
** Turkish League: 3 (2001-02, 2005-06, 2007-08)
**Turkish Super Cup : 1 (2008)External links
* [http://www.galatasaray.org/futboltakimi/pages/oyuncu_26.php Profile at galatasaray.org]
* [http://www.tff.org/Default.aspx?pageId=30&kisiId=28144 Profile at TFF.org]
* [http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/spieler/3378/Ümitkaran/profil.html Profile at transfermarkt.de]
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