Hakan Arıkan

Hakan Arıkan — Biography

Hakan Arıkan made his name on 4 August 2006, when he saved two penalties, one in the 15th minute and one in stoppage time, as Ankaraspor drew 1-1 with Galatasaray. A 1.92 m goalkeeper who began as a right-back and moved between the posts later, he used that breakthrough to reach Beşiktaş and the national team. He was known for his reflexes and penalty saves, and became a players' agent in 2021 after retiring.

He took up football at 12 with Karamürsel İdman Yurdu, then played for Petkimspor and Kocaelispor, where he made his league debut against Altay in 2003. He moved to Ankaraspor in the second half of 2005-06. In 2007 he joined Beşiktaş in a deal involving the goalkeeper Ramazan Kurşunlu and an extra 700,000 euros, and competed with Rüştü Reçber for the number one shirt; his Champions League display against Liverpool was praised by the Daily Telegraph. He won the Süper Lig and the Turkish Cup in 2008-09 and the cup again in 2010-11. He later played for Mersin İdman Yurdu, Antalyaspor and Kayserispor, and joined Trabzonspor on loan midway through 2014-15.

His senior debut for Turkey came on 5 June 2007 in the friendly against Brazil that marked Tugay Kerimoğlu's farewell. He played in EURO 2008 qualifiers against Malta, Hungary and Moldova, going off injured in the 17th minute in Moldova. He won four senior caps in all and missed out on the EURO 2008 squad.