Semih Yuvakuran

Semih Yuvakuran — Biography

Semih Yuvakuran was born on 1 September 1963 in Bursa; he began as a striker and left winger in Bursaspor's youth ranks before settling into the left-back role; at the end of the 1983-1984 season, at the request of then-manager Tomislav İvić, he moved to Galatasaray, becoming a mainstay of the Jupp Derwall era. With the yellow-and-reds he won the league in 1986-1987 and 1987-1988, plus a Turkish Cup and a Presidential Cup, and reached the European Cup semi-finals under Mustafa Denizli; a contested move to rivals Fenerbahçe in 1990 followed, but he could not repeat that success and was never again called up to the national side. He earned 25 caps for Turkey and closed his playing career with a loan spell at Edirnespor.

After retiring he coached Gebzespor from November 2004, assisted at Denizlispor, and in 2012 took over Turkmenistan's FK Balkan (Nebitchi Balkanabat) twelve points off the pace and led it to the title. He presented sports news on Kanal 7 for years and still works as a commentator on A Spor. He and wife Aycan have triplet sons: goalkeeper Utku, Berkay, who appeared on Survivor, and Alperen; having played for both sides, he is often asked to weigh in on Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahçe.