Semih Aydilek
Personal information
Full name Semih Aydilek[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-16) 16 January 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Frankfurt am Main, West Germany
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
199x–2007 Eintracht Frankfurt
2007–2008 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Birmingham City 0 (0)
2009 → Motherwell (loan) 0 (0)
2009–2012 Kayserispor 24 (0)
2012–2014 Konyaspor 3 (0)
2015–2016 SpVgg 05 Oberrad
2016 Hanauer SC
2019–2020 Türk Gücü Friedberg 3 (0)
International career
2006 Turkey U17 4 (1)
2006 Turkey U18 2 (0)
2008 Germany U19 7 (3)
2008–2009 Germany U20 5 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 October 2015

Semih Aydilek (born 16 January 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Internationally, Aydilek represented Turkey, the country of his parents, at under-17 and under-18 level, but later chose to represent the country of his birth, and played for Germany at under-19 and under-20 level.

Club career

Birmingham

Aydilek was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to Turkish parents,[2] and spent ten years in the youth system of home-town club Eintracht Frankfurt.[3] While playing in a youth tournament in 2006, he was spotted by Terry Westley, youth academy manager at English club Birmingham City,[4] who persuaded the player that a move to England would benefit his career.[5] Aydilek agreed to join Birmingham, then in the Premier League, in October 2007, though the move could not be completed until his German passport came through in December.[3][4] He played regularly with their reserve team, with whom he won the 2007–08 Birmingham Senior Cup.[6] He was given a squad number prior to being named as a substitute for the League Cup defeat to Southampton in August 2008, but took no part in the game.[7]

In February 2009, Aydilek joined Motherwell of the Scottish Premier League on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, where he linked up with fellow loanee and Birmingham team-mate Artur Krysiak.[8][9] Motherwell manager Mark McGhee had not seen the player, but signed him on the recommendation of his Birmingham counterpart, former Scotland national manager Alex McLeish, who felt he had potential but needed to play in competitive football to develop his game.[10] He was an unused substitute in the SPL draw with Celtic in February 2009,[11] but never appeared for the first team.[12]

In Turkey

When his contract expired at the end of the 2008–09 season,[13] Aydilek signed a four-year contract with Turkish club Kayserispor.[14] An unused substitute in the opening game of the Süper Lig season,[15] he made his debut in the next, on 16 August as a 76th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw at home to Gaziantepspor.[16] He made his first start for the club on 29 November as Kayserispor beat Manisaspor 1–0 away from home,[17] and finished the season with 13 Süper Lig appearances, mostly as a substitute, without scoring.[14] During the 2010–11 season, Aydilek made ten appearances for the Süper Lig side, four starts and six as a substitute.[14]

Later career

In May 2016, while at German lower-league side Hanauer SC, received a 14-match ban.[18]

International career

Aydilek represented Turkey at under-17 and under-18 level while an Eintracht Frankfurt player.[14] However, having received a German passport, he accepted a call-up to the German under-19 team in January 2008. He made his debut in a friendly against Poland under-19,[19] and made a significant contribution to their qualification for the final stages of the 2008 UEFA under-19 championships.[2][20][21] At the pre-tournament training camp, he suffered a severe tear to his ankle ligaments, so missed the final tournament which Germany went on to win, and was still recovering from the injury while his team-mates were in pre-season training at the start of the 2008–09 season.[2]

In September 2008 he appeared for the German under-20 team,[22] and, despite feeling pressure to commit to Turkey,[13] he accepted selection for the German team to compete at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In their opening game in the tournament, Aydilek was fouled to earn his side a penalty kick, which he converted himself to open the scoring in a 3–0 defeat of the United States.[23] He scored the second goal of the final group game, a 3–0 defeat of Cameroon, but was sent off a few minutes later, which brought a suspension for the round of 16.[24] Germany were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Brazil 2–1 after extra time; Aydilek missed a chance when one-on-one with the goalkeeper and set up the opening goal for Lewis Holtby, but had been substituted by the time Brazil equalised.[25]

Honours

Birmingham City

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009™: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 6 October 2009. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Tattum, Colin (15 August 2008). "Semih Aydilek hopes to restart Birmingham City career". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b Palmert, Roland (2 January 2008). "Aydilek stürmt in Birmingham". Bild (in German). Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b Tattum, Colin (23 October 2007). "Blues have big hopes for new striker". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Aydilek set for start". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Birmingham Senior Cup – Birmingham City 5 Burton Albion 0". Birmingham Mail. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Aydilek gets squad number". Birmingham City F.C. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.
    "Southampton 2–0 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Motherwell take Sheridan on loan". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  9. ^ "Young Blues duo on the move". Birmingham City F.C. 2 February 2009. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.
  10. ^ Roberts, Chris (5 February 2009). "I signed Semih Aydilek on say-so of Alex McLeish, says Motherwell boss Mark McGhee". Daily Record. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  11. ^ Moffat, Colin (22 February 2009). "Motherwell 1–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Motherwell 2008/09 player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  13. ^ a b Waddell, Gordon (8 February 2009). "I could be an outcast after snubbing Turkey, says Motherwell loan signing Semih Aydilek". Sunday Mail. Scotland. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d "Player Details". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Gençlerbirliği Kayserispor Match Details". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  16. ^ "Kayserispor Gaziantepspor Match Details". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  17. ^ "Manisaspor Kayserispor Match Details". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  18. ^ "14 Spiele Sperre für 1960er Aydilek". Hanauer Anzeiger (in German). 19 May 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  19. ^ "U 19-Junioren Team Nationalspieler Semih Aydilek" (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  20. ^ "U 19-Junioren Statistik 2007/08" (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  21. ^ "Germany make solid start". UEFA. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  22. ^ "Saison 2008/2009" (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  23. ^ "German class undoes USA". FIFA. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  24. ^ "Germans on top, Lions head home". FIFA. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  25. ^ "Supersub Maicon to Brazil's rescue". FIFA. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
    "Match 47 Cairo". FIFA. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

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