Nihat Kahveci

Nihat Kahveci — Biography

Nihat Kahveci, known on the shirt simply as Nihat, is a former international forward who came through the Beşiktaş system and made his name in Spain with Real Sociedad and Villarreal. He is remembered for the goals that carried Real Sociedad to second place in La Liga in 2002-03 and for his two goals against the Czech Republic at Euro 2008. After retiring he earned a UEFA Pro Licence and works as a football commentator for TRT.

He began playing at Esenlerspor and was taken into Beşiktaş's academy, and coach John Toshack promoted him to the first team in 1997-98. He mostly played on the right wing for the black-and-whites and won the Turkish Cup. In January 2002, again at Toshack's initiative, he moved to Real Sociedad, where he flourished as a striker: in 2002-03 he finished joint second in the league scoring list with Ronaldo on 23 goals, and his partnership with Darko Kovačević kept the team in the title race. In 2004 he received the Don Balón award for best foreign player. Injuries interrupted his career; he joined Villarreal on a free transfer in 2006 and helped the side finish second in 2007-08 with 18 goals. He returned to Beşiktaş in 2009, but the second spell did not deliver what was expected, his contract ended in 2011 and he retired in January 2012.

For the national team he scored 17 goals in 62 matches and was in the squad that took third place at the 2002 World Cup.