Ümit Özat

Ümit Özat — Biography

Ümit Özat is a former left-back and center-back who was part of the Turkey squad that took third place at the 2002 World Cup and won three league titles with Fenerbahçe. After retiring he worked as a head coach, and today he is in the news as a sports commentator, with his remarks on Fenerbahçe, the national team and the Süper Lig reported regularly.

He played 166 official matches for Gençlerbirliği between 1995 and 2000, scoring 14 goals, then moved to Fenerbahçe in 2001 via Bursaspor. Under Christoph Daum he played as a playmaker, holding midfielder and left-back; he became team captain in 2003 and won the Süper Lig in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2006-07. In 2007 he went to Köln, coached by Daum, where he was captain too. In August 2008 he collapsed on the pitch in a match against Karlsruhe, and after a heart condition was found he retired in March 2009. He won 41 caps for Turkey and was runner-up at the 1997 Mediterranean Games with the under-21 side.

He began coaching as an assistant at Köln and Ankaragücü and took charge of Ankaragücü in 2010. In later years he managed Manisaspor, Elazığspor, Boluspor, Samsunspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, Gençlerbirliği, Giresunspor and Adana Demirspor, and from December 2019 to June 2020 he was in charge of Bosnia's Čelik Zenica. In April 2024 he became chief sports adviser to Zafer Party leader Ümit Özdağ.