Rasim Kara

Rasim Kara — Biography

Rasim Kara (born 10 June 1950 in Eskişehir) is a Turkish former international footballer and manager of Circassian descent. A goalkeeper, he began playing in the youth ranks of Eskişehir Işıkspor before moving on to Uşakspor and then Bursaspor, where he became first-choice goalkeeper in 1974-75 and played throughout the club's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final run. He transferred to Beşiktaş in 1975-76 and guarded the club's goal for nine seasons, winning the 1977 Prime Ministry Cup and the 1981-82 league title, and also played in the club's European Champions' Cup tie against Aston Villa. He ended his playing career with a testimonial match against Malatyaspor in 1984. He won two Under-21 caps and a total of ten senior caps for Turkey across his Bursaspor and Beşiktaş years, making his senior debut against Ireland on 29 October 1975.

Kara moved into coaching in 1988-89 with Uzunköprüspor, then worked at Antalyaspor before serving as assistant to Sepp Piontek and later Fatih Terim with the Turkey national team during the period that saw the country qualify for the European Championship for the first time, in 1996. He was Beşiktaş head coach in 1996-97, leading the club to a league runner-up finish and the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup, and later held short-term posts at Bursaspor, Çanakkale Dardanelspor, Çaykur Rizespor and Kocaelispor. Abroad, he coached Canada's Ottawa Wizards and Azerbaijan's Khazar Lankaran and Qarabağ, and has also served as a regional coordinator in the Turkish Football Federation's football development department.