Famous Director of National Football Team: Fatih Terim

To be a football coach in Turkey is one of the biggest responsibilities that one can have. Now think about being the coach of the National Football Team and being the coach of one of the most successful teams in Turkey, Galatasaray. He is Fatih Terim, a football legend. Besides being a legend, he is a very controversial one. Being the best has both advantages and disadvantages. 

His Career in Football

He began his career at Adana Demirspor as a footballer, and he played an important role in Adana Demirspor's success of promotion to 1st Turkish League. He played as a center back in Adana Demirspor and showed up in 125 matches. Terim scored 25 goals in those 125 matches and got attention from other clubs. Then he transferred to Galatasaray for 1.4 million and played there until he retired in 1985. He played as a captain of the team also and never experienced a single championship there. Whatsoever, things have changed in his coaching career.

Beginning of His Coaching Career

When we look at Terim's football career, even if we see ups and downs regularly, we witness a winner's mentality. He coached many teams from Ankaragücü to Milan, Galatasaray to Fiorentina. He coached Ankaragucu, where he started his coaching career. Remaining in the relegation with Ankaragücü in his first season, Terim succeeded in making it to the semi-finals of the Turkish Cup. In the second season, he finished the league second with Ankaragücü. Terim, who coached Göztepe for a short time in the 88-89 season, got eight wins and one draw in his first nine games. Terim, who was later called to coach the National Team U-21, continued his duty there. Fatih Terim, who won his first trophy with the national team's U21 team, brought players like Arif Erdem, Ergün Penbe, and Sergen Yalçın to the national team. Eliminating the France U21 team with Zinedine Zidane in their squad in the semi-finals, the U21 Turkish National Team eliminated Algeria in the finals and won the gold medal in the Mediterranean Games. After his success in U21 National Team, he coached the National Football Team. At that time when Fatih Terim was coaching Turkey, Turkey qualified for the European Championship for the first time, but Terim left his job after the National Football Team said goodbye to the tournament with no points.

Terim at National Team

Terim became manager of the national team the second time in the summer of 2005. He came with the hope of the World Cup, but they were eliminated in the qualifying matches and could not go to the 2006 Fifa World Cup. Yet, one of the most important successes of his life was about to come. Turkey National Team had remarkable success at EURO 2008 and became the third-best at the tournament. We watched some of the best matches in football history at that time. After that year, Terim couldn't continue his success for the 2010 World Cup and resigned from the national team this time.

His third time in the National Team was the most controversial year in his career. Terim, who became the coach of the Turkish football team without the knowledge of the Galatasaray management(according to the statements of Galatasaray management), could not qualify for the World Cup once again. Although there were many rumors, such as bonuses given to the players, Fatih Terim had one of his best percentage periods at that time. He played 44 games, got 27 wins, eight draws, and nine losses.

Terim at Galatasaray

Terim's career at Galatasaray is divided into four periods, and his 4th term is still ongoing. When he took over Galatasaray for the first time, Fatih Terim helped Galatasaray win the Turkish League 4 times in a row. After that, he won UEFA Europe League with Galatasaray, and that made Terim the best Galatasaray manager in its history. 

The second time, in 2002, he didn't have a successful one as Galatasaray due to management problems.

The third time, when Galatasaray was relatively successful in Europe, Fatih Terim was in charge of the team between 2010-2013. In the 2011-2012 season, Galatasaray finished the league at the top ahead of Fenerbahçe and lifted the trophy in the Fenerbahce's stadium. In the 2012-2013 season, Terim had his 200th win against Galatasaray coach against Bursaspor. Galatasaray had a fantastic run in the Champions League that year as they eliminated Schalke in the Round of 16 and advanced to the quarter-finals against Real Madrid but they were eliminated in the quarters, unfortunately. That season, Galatasaray won its 19th Turkish League championship. In the following season, Terim was let go from the club after three draws and one win in the season's beginning.

Currently, he is managing Galatasaray once again, and it is his fourth time. He won 2017-2018, 2018-2019 Turkish League seasons with Galatasaray yet, Terim couldn't continue his success over the last two years. Now, he is still in Galatasaray and expecting success with the arrival of the new president of Galatasaray, Burak Elmas.