Kemal Akbaba

Kemal Akbaba — Biography

Kemal Akbaba was born on April 1, 1988, in the Selim district of Kars. A striker, he took up football in 2000 in the youth system of Gençlerbirliği and, apart from one season at Köprülü Bahçelispor, grew up at the club until he turned professional. He was first called up to Turkey's national sides in 2002 with the under-15s and then wore the under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 shirts. In 2004 he scored a hat-trick against Russia in a 7-4 win at the Castelo Branco Tournament, and the same year, when Turkey won the Viktor Bannikov Tournament, he scored the last penalty of the final shoot-out against Ukraine.

He signed his first professional contract in 2005-06 and was sent on loan. At Gençlerbirliği ASAŞ his four goals helped the team reach Lig A; the following season, with Gençlerbirliği Oftaş, he scored 10 goals as the side won the Lig A title and rose to the Süper Lig. In 2007-08 he was loaned to Samsunspor, but the deal ended at mid-season and he spent the second half with Türk Telekom, scoring twice. He first played in the Süper Lig in late 2008, appearing in 6 matches that season. He was then loaned to Hacettepespor and later to Kırşehirspor.

Before 2010-11 he moved to Beşiktaş, mostly playing for the reserve side and scoring 8 goals; on December 5, 2010, he was named in the squad for the Bursaspor match. He later also played for BB Erzurumspor and moved to Ayvalıkgücü Belediyespor in 2022.