Recep Çetin

Recep Çetin — Biography

Recep Çetin, known as "Takoz Recep", is a former right-back. At Beşiktaş he was a fixture of the starting eleven for a decade and won four league titles; he represented Turkey 56 times at senior level and was in the squad for Euro 1996. With his defensive strength and charismatic look he still has a cult following among fans.

He began in the youth side of Sakaryaspor in 1979 at fourteen and, with no place in the top flight there, moved to Boluspor in 1984. His first league match was against Beşiktaş; his team went down a year later, then won its second-division group in 1985-86 and returned. In 1988 he joined Beşiktaş straight from the Olympic side's trip to Seoul; on top of the titles of 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1994-95 he won four Turkish Cups and played 261 league games. In 1998 he moved to Trabzonspor and a year later to İstanbulspor, where his career ended.

For Turkey he is remembered for his only goal, a 45-metre strike against Switzerland on 14 December 1994, chosen goal of the week in the qualifiers, which made his nickname a legend. At Euro 1996 he played in the last two matches, captaining the side against Denmark. He later moved into coaching, took charge of Somaspor in 2025 and left in December. He is in Beşiktaş's silver team of the century selection.