Özgür Can Özcan

Özgür Can Özcan — Biography

Özgür Can Özcan is a Turkish footballer, born 10 April 1988 in Antalya, who stands 1.84 m tall and plays as a forward. He began playing football in the youth ranks of Manavgat Belediyespor before moving to Galatasaray's academy, where he was promoted to the first-team squad by Gheorghe Hagi in the 2004-05 season. He became known for his sportsmanship after scoring with his hand in a youth match between Galatasaray and Denizlispor, telling the referee himself, having the goal disallowed and receiving a yellow card; he was later given a World Fair Play Award for the gesture. He made his professional debut in a Turkish Cup match against Mersin İdman Yurdu on 27 October 2005, scoring in that game, and won the Süper Lig title with Galatasaray in the 2005-06 season.

He was subsequently loaned out to Kayserispor, Gaziantepspor and Sakaryaspor in turn, helping Sakaryaspor avoid relegation in 2008-09 with 17 goals in 31 league matches. After a loan spell at Çaykur Rizespor, he transferred outright to Adanaspor ahead of the 2010-11 season, and in the following years played for Karşıyaka, Denizlispor, Akhisar Belediyespor, TKİ Tavşanlı Linyitspor (on loan), Adana Demirspor, Giresunspor, Gazişehir Gaziantep, Boluspor and, from 2020, Tuzlaspor. Capped 70 times across Turkey's youth national teams from under-15 to under-21 level, scoring 33 goals, he was part of the under-17 squad that won the European Championship and finished fourth at the World Cup in 2005. In 2022 he signed with Nevşehir Belediyespor, and he has also been listed with TFF Second League club Kırklarelispor.