Abdülkerim Durmaz

Abdülkerim Durmaz — Biography

Abdülkerim Durmaz is a former libero, coach and pundit who came up at Karagümrük and won the league with Fenerbahçe. In 2014 he began commenting on Beyaz TV's Beyaz Futbol and Derin Futbol programmes and on the Vole app, and he is known for his match analysis and score predictions.

He started in the Fatih Karagümrük academy in 1975 and played his first senior match in 1978 against Tarsus İdman Yurdu. In 1982-83 he helped the team reach the top division and, in the same season, finished as top scorer with 16 goals. He moved to Fenerbahçe in 1984-85, winning the Süper Lig as well as the 1985 President's Cup and Fleet Cup and the TSYD Cup in 1985 and 1986. He is associated with Fenerbahçe's European Cup success against the French champions Girondins Bordeaux and with Turkey's 5-0 defeat by England. At the request of Todor Veselinović he was loaned to Ankaragücü in 1988-89, then played for Sakaryaspor and Zeytinburnuspor, returned to Karagümrük and ended his career at Güngören Belediyespor in 1995-96. He made his under-21 debut against the Soviet Union in 1984 and his senior debut against Poland in September 1984, and won 11 senior caps.

After retiring he worked as a sports columnist for a while and began coaching in 1996-97 at Karagümrük. He later also managed Güngören Belediyespor, Eyüpspor, Kasımpaşa, Kahramanmaraşspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, Adana Demirspor, Pendikspor and İstanbul Güngörenspor.