Okan Yılmaz

Okan Yılmaz — Biography

Okan Yılmaz is a former international striker and coach, remembered as Bursaspor's all-time leading scorer. He was the Süper Lig's top scorer twice, with 23 goals in 2000-01 and 24 in 2002-03, and played his part in Turkey's third place at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. After retiring as a player he turned to coaching.

He turned professional at İnegölspor in 1996 and moved to Bursaspor in 1998, scoring 98 goals in 224 league games over seven years. In 2003 he signed a 5.5 million dollar pre-contract with Marseille, with CSKA Moscow also interested, but pulled out at the last moment and stayed. He did not leave when the club he captained dropped out of the Süper Lig, and in 2004-05 he was top scorer of the 1. Lig with 25 goals. In later years he played for Malatyaspor, Konyaspor, Sakaryaspor, Diyarbakırspor, Orduspor, Panthrakikos in Greece, Vanspor, Tepecikspor, Alanyaspor and Altınova Belediyespor; he never rediscovered his old form and retired on 1 July 2012.

He was in the under-21 squad at the 2000 European Championship finals and scored 5 goals in 8 senior caps. At the Confederations Cup he scored from the penalty spot against the United States and again against Brazil, failed to convert an 88th-minute penalty in the semi-final against France, and scored the winner against Colombia in the third-place match. As a coach he has worked at Altınova, Menemenspor, Karşıyaka and Mudanyaspor, and in Bursaspor's youth setup.