EURO 2008 INFO

The right side of Fenerbahçe SK Gökhan Gönül has entered the calculations of Turkey for the UEFA EURO 2008 ™ despite only having been international four times so far.

Dimension attacker
In its 23 years, Gökhan has grown with Fenerbahçe this season, reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. After making 20 appearances in league with the team, and have relegated to the bench to Önder Turacı, Gökhan has shown that it is more than simply a defense, rising to the attack and giving precise passes from the band.

Comparison with Cafú
The coach of Fenerbahçe, Zico, compared to Gökhan with his Brazilian compatriot Cafú: "His acceleration is equally fast. Many of its attributes are like those of Cafú. Just need more experience to eliminate differences between them." Gökhan is already a model for other young players Turks. The end Gökhan Emreciksin, MKE Ankaragücü told him: "It's a very good example of a complete player."

Rapid ascent
The professional career of Gökhan began in Ankara, where he signed his first contract in 2002 with the Gençlerbirliği SK. However, he had to make a name playing for the team from the quarry, Gençlerbirligi Oftaşspor, which surprised many achieving promotion to the Süper Lig this season. The Fenerbahçe, in bid to Galatasaray AS fichó him for 1.4 million euros last summer, and quickly regained investment.

Two calls
The form of Gökhan with Fenerbahçe inevitably attracted the attention of national selector Fatih Terim, who is aware of the bad shape of the player's Galatasaray Sabri Sarıoğlu but he does not want to delay Hamit Altıntop, FC Bayern Munich player, a more defensive position . To achieve this, İbrahim Kaş of Besiktas JK and Gökhan were called for the penultimate game of classification to Norway.

Shocking luck
İbrahim left owner, but had to withdraw the fourth time due to injury. Then Gökhan jumped into the field and made a big party in the crucial 1-2 victory in Oslo to maintain its position in Group C. In the last match, Turkey assured their participation in the EURO winning 1-0 to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Gökhan has also played in the friendly with Sweden and Belarus.

A long journey
With his team equalized on points with Galatasaray at the top of the Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe is the Gökhan priority at the moment but already has one eye on rivals Turkey in the final phase: the Czech Republic, Portugal and Switzerland. "We try to get the best results possible and to see where we can go," he said. If continuing the great form of Gökhan could be a long way.