İlhan Mansız

İlhan Mansız — Biography

İlhan Mansız was born on 10 August 1975 in Kempten, Germany, to a tailor mother and a factory-worker father; he moved with his family to Eskişehir at nine, returned to Germany four years later, and rose through the youth ranks of SV Lenzfried, FC Kempten and FC Augsburg, winning a German youth title with Augsburg in 1993 before joining 1. FC Köln at nineteen. At his father's urging he returned to Turkey, playing for Gençlerbirliği, Kuşadasıspor and Samsunspor before a contentious move -- having signed with both Galatasaray and Beşiktaş -- brought him to Beşiktaş in 2001, where he was that season's top scorer. He is also remembered for a rainbow flick past Roberto Carlos at that World Cup. In 2003 Beşiktaş sold him to Vissel Kobe of Japan for $4.5 million, the first Turkish player in an Asian league; after a trial at Hertha Berlin he ended his career at Ankaragücü in 2005. A 2007 car accident and seven knee operations ended a comeback bid. He was Beşiktaş's assistant coach alongside Guti in 2018, stepping down in 2019 for health reasons. Taking up figure skating at 33, he competed with partner Oľga Beständigová at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy and won the Turkish pairs title in 2015.