Cihan Özkara

Cihan Özkara — Biography

Cihan Özkara is an attacking player who began his football in Germany, went on to play for clubs in Germany, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and chose to represent Azerbaijan internationally. Holding German, Turkish and Azerbaijani citizenship, the 1.89 m forward played in the Süper Lig for Sivasspor and also wore the shirts of İstanbulspor and Kayseri Erciyesspor.

His path started in Ahlen. He spent about eight years in the youth ranks of LR Ahlen, joined Arminia Bielefeld in the summer of 2007 and returned a year later to his old club, by then called Rot Weiss Ahlen. He signed a professional contract in 2009 and entered the first team in the 2. Bundesliga, making 16 league appearances in his first season; when the team was relegated he played in the 3. Liga. At the start of 2011-12 he moved to Turkey with Sivasspor. In January 2015 he went to Azerbaijan on loan until the end of the season to play for Simurq Zaqatala, and on September 4, 2020, he signed a three-year contract with İstanbulspor.

He opted to play for Azerbaijan at international level. For the under-21 side he made his debut on August 9, 2011, in a 3-1 win over Estonia and scored twice in that first match. His first senior appearance was a friendly against Japan on May 23, 2012, and from 2012 onward he won 18 caps for Azerbaijan and scored one goal.