Önder Turacı

Önder Turacı — Biography

Önder Turacı (born July 14, 1981, in Liège, Belgium), full name Önder Özden Turacı, is a Belgian-born Turkish former international footballer who played as a defender; he stands 1.86 m tall. Born in Liège to a Turkish family that had emigrated from Kemah, Erzincan, he began playing football at the age of five, came up through Tilleur Liège's youth system, and joined Standard Liège's first team in 1999.

A dual national, Turacı first played for Belgium's U-19 and U-21 teams, including at the 2002 European U-21 Championship; once past the standard age cutoff he chose to represent Turkey instead, making his senior debut in a friendly against Belarus on August 18, 2004. Belgium's federation objected to that friendly's status under the FIFA eligibility rules of the time, which kept him out of the Turkish side for several years; after the rules changed again he resumed playing for Turkey from 2009, finishing with six caps in total.

Turacı transferred to Fenerbahçe for the 2004-05 season and won the Turkish Super League with the club in 2005 and 2007; dropped to a rotation role in 2007-08, he signed a pre-contract with Russia's FK Moskva, but returned to Fenerbahçe -- paying $250,000 to cancel the Russian deal -- once Luis Aragonés replaced Zico as coach. He left Fenerbahçe in August 2010, and also played for Kayserispor, Antalyaspor, Göztepe, and Sarıyer during his career. On October 5, 2016, he was stabbed by his former brother-in-law.