Mehmet "Şifo" Özdilek (born 1 April 1966, in

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

) is a Turkish football manager and former player. He is nicknamed "Şifo" after Belgian star

Enzo Scifo Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo (; born 19 February 1966) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. He has also managed the Belgium national under-21 football team and several Belgian club sides. He played for clubs in Belgium, France and Italy, ...

with whom he shared a similar playing style. Having spent most of his professional career with Beşiktaş, he is regarded as one of the idols of the İstanbul side. Özdilek is one of the most prolific scorers of Turkish football despite playing mainly in midfield. During his Beşiktaş days he has managed to score 130 goals which was a record for most goals scored by a midfield player in Turkish top-flight. For 13 years, Beşiktaş has worn his form. In 1991, he won the Footballer of the Year award in Turkey. He took part in the squad which was the "Undefeated Champion" in 1992. With 130 goals It is the domestic

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who scored the most points of the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

in all time. He also scored 100 goals and entered the 100s club. He was captain of Beşiktaş for 4 years. On behalf of Mehmet Özdilek, who won the appreciation of everyone who is impartial with the personality of the example, the Special Jubilee Match was organized by Besiktas with

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

on 4 August 2001. Beşiktaş's

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

defeat at the

BJK İnönü Stadium İnönü Stadium ( tr, İnönü Stadyumu) was a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey and the home ground of the football club Beşiktaş J.K. Previously, the ground had also been shared with Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahçe S.K. The ground was ...

led to one of the most spectacular jubilees of the Turkish Football History. The match donated all of its income to the Education Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) itself. He never saw any red cards in official matches in his career.

Club career

Early years

Born in

, Özdilek started to play at the amateur level with his hometown outfit Samsun Ladikspor. While he was only 16, he was scouted and picked up by

Kahramanmaraşspor Kahramanmaraşspor is a Turkish professional football club based in Kahramanmaraş. League participations * Süper Lig: 1988–89 * TFF First League: 1984–88, 1989–93, 1994–96, 2013–14 * TFF Second League: 1993–94, 1996–2008, 2009� ...

, a team which has freshly promoted to the second-tier of Turkish football. Özdilek managed to make an immediate impact on his new team and became a regular of the starting line-up while Kahramanmaraşspor's record in the league improved every season. In the 1986–87 campaign, Özdilek had an outstanding season and became the topscorer of the Turkish 1. League with 29 goals while his team narrowly missed promotion. The following season proved to be an even more successful one for Kahramanmaraşspor. With Özdilek's contribution the team finished at the top of the league and promoted to the first-tier of Turkish football for the first time in their short history. His consistently high performance did not go unnoticed and at the end of the 1987–88 season he was transferred to Beşiktaş, the team which he spent the remainder of his career with.

Beşiktaş

In Özdilek's first year Beşiktaş have won the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupas� ...

and came second in the league. The following years proved to be even more successful for the team. Under Gordon Milne's helm, Beşiktaş's young outfit started to dominate Turkish football in a way which was unprecedented before. In the 1988–89 season Beşiktaş claimed the double, winning both the league and the

and broke the record for the highest scoring game of Turkish football history, beating

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a sports club based in Adana, Turkey. Founded by railway workers in 1940, the club is competitive in football, watersports, racquet sports and martial arts. Football team's thriving success at the Adana League and the ...

10–0. Özdilek contributed to this glorius season by scoring a goal in the Cup final against

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

. In the following year, Beşiktaş became the league champion again without breaking much sweat. The team has lost only one game throughout the campaign but the team managed to improve even more on the next season. In the 1991–92 football season, Beşiktaş became the only undefeated champion of the Turkish top-flight while Özdilek netted 12 goals. This record-breaking string of results came to an end only in the following season when Beşiktaş was finally beaten by Galatasaray after 48 weeks.

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season ended bitterly for Beşiktaş when the team did not just lost the

to Galatasaray in the Cup final, but also lost the championship to after 3 years to the same team on goal difference while Özdilek scored 13 goals in the campaign. 1993–94 season was not a successful one. For the first time in 8 years, Beşiktaş finished the league outside of the top two while Özdilek had a quiet year comparing to his high standards and netted 8 goals. The sole consolation of the year was another

added to the club's trophy cabinet. Next year saw the arrival of

Christoph Daum Christoph Paul Daum (born 24 October 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player. Daum played as a midfielder and was a junior for several clubs from the region of Duisburg. He began his senior career with Hamborn 07 and E ...

replacing Milne, revitalising the team and winning the league again. This was Özdilek's 4. league title with Beşiktaş and he contributed to campaign with 8 goals. In the 1995–96 season Özdilek was in top form again, netting 11 goals while Beşiktaş finished the league at the third place. Mehmet continued to score heavily on the next season and scored 11 goals in the league while Beşiktaş improved comparing to the last season and finishing the league at the second place after Galatasaray. The following season proved to be one of the least successful campaigns of Beşiktaş. The team finished the league at the sixth place. Along with the

title, Özdilek's spectacular performance was a source of consolation. Mehmet scored 16 times in the league, becoming third most-scoring among all the players and the most-scoring

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

player. He also scored in the Cup final against Galatasaray. This was Özdilek's fourth Cup title with Beşiktaş. Beşiktaş lost against Valerenga and was eliminated from the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

. Then a middle-aged man was shouting behind the crowd behind the wire looms: "Captaaaiiinnn!". The black and white captain, Özdilek, did not remain indifferent to the man's call, facing the other side of the wire. "When the first half is over I told my son to go to bed because he would go to school tomorrow. What am I going to say to this kid when he wakes up in the morning? How will I say that Beşiktaş is being handed down for God's sake?" Özdilek apologized. In 1998–99 season Beşiktaş once again came very close to a double and prevented by Galatasaray. ''The Black Eagles'' lost the league with just one point difference. Özdilek scored heavily in this season, too, and netted 13 goals. In the next year, the scenario remained the same. Galatasaray won the league with four-point ahead of Beşiktaş while Mehmet scored 11 goals in the contest. Following season proved to be the last one for Özdilek and he retired from football after playing 14 years for Beşiktaş. He wore the black and white colours for the last time on the pitch in a testimonial honouring his services for his club against the Italian giants,

. Gathered money was donated to a charity which grants free education to the children in need. With 130 goals under his belt, Mehmet is still, the second most-scoring player of Beşiktaş's history after Feyyaz Uçar.

International career

During his playing career, he made 31 appearances for the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in men's international football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu), the governing bod ...

from 1990 to 1997. He played at

UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1992 was a series of parallel association football competitions to be held over 1990 and 1991 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1992, to be held in Sweden. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending champ ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

stages.

Style of play

Özdilek used both legs with the same skill, turning his opponents head-to-head with unbelievable strikes. Although it was short, it made a very aesthetic head kick. Great goals scored, nice unforgettable goals rust out of the feet. The wrists were soft and he turned the soccer ball between his feet as he wanted. The midfield served as the brains of the team, directing the game as he wanted, not showing the ball in the opposite direction. He attracted attention with his sportsmanship in the field, approached his fans with love and humility, respecting his opponents.

Coaching career

Mehmet Ozdilek resigned as coach of the Turkish national football team. He then worked in many Turkish clubs. In 2013, at a Turkish nightclub, Özdilek was seen having a large beer.

Career statistics

Club

Sources:

International

Managerial

''Last updated 4 June 2013''

Honours

Club

;Kahramanmaraşspor * Turkish 1. League: 1988

Beşiktaş

Winner: (19 Cups) *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, 1992,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, 1994, 1998 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known ...

: 1989, 1992, 1994,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

* Chancellor Cup: 1997 * Atatürk Cup: 2000 *

TSYD Cup The TSYD Cup ( tr, Türk Spor Yazarları Derneği Kupası, Turkish Sports Writers Association Cup) was a friendly football competition in Turkey. The tournament started in 1963. It was played throughout six regions in Turkey: Adana, Ankara, Istanbu ...

: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1996 Runner-up: (12 Cups) *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, 1999,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

: 1993, 1999 *

: 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 * Chancellor Cup: 1996

Individual

* Turkish 1. League Topscorer: 1986/87, 1987–88 * Turkish Player of the Year: 1991 * 100's club member: 130 goals in 386 matches *

Topscorer 1990: 4 goals * Beşiktaş is the 2nd footballer who wears the most in European Cups: 48 matches * Beşiktaş formally scored the most goals in all times in Süper Lig local midfielder: 130 goals * He is the domestic midfielder who scored the most points in all time in the Super League: 130 goals * 513 appearances with Beşiktaş has been the second footballer since

Rıza Çalımbay Rıza Çalımbay (born 2 February 1963) is a UEFA Pro Licensed Turkish football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Sivasspor. He was one of the symbol names of Beşiktaş and was among the best players of his time. Beca ...

in the official matches since 1959. * Beşiktaş Süper Lig 3 football players who played most matches: 386 matches * Beşiktaş has scored the most goals in official matches since the founding of the 4th footballer: 156 goals * After Beşiktaş's Feyyaz Uçar, he scored most goals in the Süper Lig, 2nd footballer: 130 goals *Beşiktaş J.K. Squads of Century (Bronze Team)

References

External links

*
BJK Profile

Mehmet Özdilek
at Footballdatabase {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozdilek, Mehmet 1966 births Living people Turkish footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Turkey international footballers Süper Lig players Süper Lig managers Association football midfielders Turkish football managers Ligue 1 players Turkey youth international footballers People from Samsun Turkey under-21 international footballers Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1987 Mediterranean Games Sarıyer S.K. managers