Esra Sibel Tezkan

Esra Sibel Tezkan — Biography

Esra Sibel Tezkan is a defender who grew up in Germany and has played for Turkey's women's national teams at under-17, under-19, under-21 and senior level. Born in Bremerhaven, she has spent her club career in Germany and played in the Middle Rhine regional league for Bergisch Gladbach 2009.

Because her father, an amateur footballer, took her to his matches, she became interested in football at an early age. With no girls around to play with she played with boys; at five her father registered her with a club, where she again played with boys, and she says that time benefited her strength. At 11 she joined the women's side of SC Fortuna Köln, and four years later, aged 15, she moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. In 2013-14 she signed for 1. FFC Bergisch Gladbach 2009, who play in the Middle Rhine Women's Regional League.

She was invited to the national team through Bilgin Defterli, a Turkish women's footballer who moved from Turkey to Germany for her career. She made her under-17 debut against Bulgaria at a friendship tournament on June 27, 2010, and played four times at that level. For the under-19s she began against Romania on September 11, 2010, and won 13 caps, appearing in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 UEFA Under-19 Championship (including the Kuban Spring Tournament) and in the 2012 Championship's Group A matches. She played once for the under-21s, against Belgium on November 26, 2014, and took part in the senior team's friendly against Georgia on February 26, 2015, and in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifiers.