Fatih Terim, Commendatore OSSI, (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish football former player and manager. Terim was born in Adana, Turkey to Nuriye and Talat Terim.^[1] His father Talat, is a Turkish Cypriot who emigrated to Turkey.^[2][3][4][5] Terim is regarded as a hard-line motivator whose no-nonsense approach was honed during 11 years as a rugged defender with Galatasaray. His nickname is İmparator, which is the Turkish word for "Emperor". This nickname is also widely used in Italy in his reference.

In a survey conducted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) in 80 countries, Terim was placed among the best 8 managers in the world. He received his award at a ceremony held in Rothenburg, Germany on January 8, 2001. Terim was nominated to be named UEFA manager of the year 2008. Eurosport named Terim as the best coach at Euro 2008.^[6] In December 2008, Terim was ranked the 7th best football manager in the world by World Soccer Magazine.^[7] Despite his successful record as the manager of Turkey in UEFA Euro 2008, Terim resigned from his post in October 2009 upon the failure of Turkish national team's qualification for FIFA World Cup 2010.

Playing career[link]

In 1969, Terim's professional football career began as a junior player with Adana Demirspor. Because of his financial difficulties, he was the only player in the team who was being paid secretly by the club at the time. Three years later, he became the captain of the team. He recalls his first game with the captain badge. Just before the game, I cheered up my teammates, as a captain has to do, and ran out to the field. As I looked back on the field, no one was behind me. I was so fast that nobody could follow me. I was so excited. Terim played 6 more years with Adana Demirspor. As a successful striker, he joined Galatasaray in 1974. As the team captain, he had to fill in for injured defenders and eventually he ended up playing regularly as a sweeper/defender. Terim played for 11 years for the Istanbul club. However, during his time with Galatasaray, the club was not able to win the championship trophy in the Turkish league. Terim was capped to the Turkish national team 51 times, from 1974 to 1985, and was the national team captain for 35 international games, establishing the national record for both categories at his time. He ended his playing career in Galatasaray in 1985. Abdullah Gegic, a legendary football coach with Partizan Belgrade (of former Yugoslavia) and Eskişehirspor (of Turkey), knew Terim from his days as a central defender and described Terim as an intelligent defender with Beckenbauer like qualities. Gegic attributed Terim's successes as a coach to his unique understanding of the game that was developed during his time playing as a central defender.

Managerial career[link]

Early years[link]

After retiring from professional football his initial training came from Jupp Derwall while they were at Galatasaray. Terim's coaching career began when he was appointed the coach of Ankaragücü. He coached the club for 18 months and moved on to coach Göztepe in İzmir which lasted one year. He did not have any significant success with these teams. In 1990 he was appointed as assistant to Turkey's national coach Sepp Piontek, where he also coached the U21 team. After serving as assistant coach for three years, he was appointed Turkish national team coach in 1993. Three years later, the Turkish national team succeeded in qualifying for the final tournament of the Euro '96 for the first time in its history under his management. Although the national team did not perform well in the tournament (losing all the games, and not being able to score a single goal), the qualification to the tournament was still considered a great achievement for Turkish football. After Euro 1996, Fatih Terim signed a contract with Galatasaray. Under his management Galatasaray won the championship in the Turkish league for four consecutive years, crowning his achievements by winning the UEFA Cup in 2000, making Terim the most successful Galatasaray manager in its history. His departure allowed Mircea Lucescu to clinch the UEFA Super Cup in 2000 for Galatasaray.

Fiorentina[link]

His success with Galatasaray lead Terim to Serie A, signing a one year contract with Fiorentina. His aggressive and offensive style of football, and his tense relations with the mercurial club president and owner Vittorio Cecchi Gori made Terim a favourite amongst Fiorentina fans. In Fiorentina, Terim had a significant start, beating Milan (4-0) and holding Juventus to a 3-3 thrilling draw, and eliminating Milan 4-2 on aggregate to reach the final of the Coppa Italia. However, in the middle of the 2000-01 season, Terim declared that he was not going to extend his contract with the club since Cecchi Gori did not intend to make the investments that he requested. After his declaration, the team's performance declined significantly, and his continuing clashes with the club president urged him to resign before the season ended. Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi praised his work in Florence, "In five months he built up a phenomenal side at Fiorentina. Name me another foreigner capable of that. He's extraordinary - he could coach any side."^[8]

AC Milan[link]

In the summer of 2001, he was named the coach of Milan turning down offers from other clubs like Barcelona and Liverpool. Immediately he signed Rui Costa, Ümit Davala and Filippo Inzaghi to the club. He transformed Milan's system, playing with a system very similar to the Total football style of Rinus Michels, playing a 4-3-1-2 with Rui Costa as the key player. Terim built a highly offensive and aggressive Milan, but during this period Milan was well known for being vulnerable at the back, conceding goals and drawing against lesser teams. After several disappointing results his contract was terminated, making his Milan career last only 5 months.

Galatasaray[link]

In the summer of 2002 he returned to Galatasaray. Due to internal problems within Galatasaray's management, financial difficulties of the club, and the failure of his transfer policies, he had a disappointing performance. This led him to resign and take a break in his managing career in March 2004. In the meantime clubs like Internazionale and Roma tried to lure Terim back to the Serie A, but with no success. In the summer of 2005, Terim was asked to manage the Turkish national team once again.

Turkey[link]

He successfully led Turkey to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, where they eventually lost to Germany. Shortly after the success at Euro 2008, he was recommended by former Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson for the Newcastle managerial position, but he was overlooked for the job. After a disappointing qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, where Turkey failed to make the automatic qualification or play-off's, Terim resigned from the position.

Euro 2008[link]

Terim and his Turkey side were hailed as the "comeback kings". Turkey started Euro 2008 with defeat to Portugal. As Turkey trailed Switzerland at half-time, Terim's tactical changes were the spur. Turkey went on to snatch a win two minutes into stoppage time. In the final winner-take-all group game against the Czech Republic, who were riding a comfortable two goal lead, Turkey shocked the football world by coming back and scoring three goals in the final fifteen minutes. During their quarter final clash with Croatia, Turkey had extreme difficulty in finding attacking options, having been handicapped with many suspensions and injuries. As the game looked to be heading into a penalty shootout, Terim and Turkey were stunned when Croatia scored in the 119th minute of extra time to almost certainly win it. Terim did not allow his players to give up. Turkey again somehow managed an equalizing goal, sending the game into a penalty shootout. Turkey subsequently won the shootout and progressed to the semi-finals. Eventually losing to Germany in the semi-finals with 13 available players, Terim finished his campaign at the tournament with an amazing statistical record - out of the estimated 490 minutes of playing time, Turkey only lead for 13 of them. Terim's contract was extended to 2012 at the conclusion of the tournament, despite heavy speculation that he may return to Italy or go to England to manage at club level.

World Cup 2010[link]

Since going out of the European Championships in the semi-finals Terim has continued to manage the Turkish National Team. In the World Cup 2010 qualifying stage, they have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2 matches, leaving them 4 points adrift from second placed Bosnia-Herzegovina up to April 2009. This has seen Turkey move up to 10th position in the FIFA World Rankings. On 11 October 2009 announced his resignation from his job,^[9] the game on 14 October 2009 was his last game as manager of the Turkey national football team.^[10]

Galatasaray[link]

After an unsuccessful season, Galatasaray was being unable to qualify for European football. After the internal conflict amongst board members in addition to the poor performance of the squad during the 10-11 season, Galatasaray appointed a new chairman Ünal Aysal. Ünal Aysal's first scoop for building a better Galatasaray squad to claim the dominance in the Süper Lig was to appoint a new manager. Ünal Aysal called up Fatih Terim his first and the only choice for a third time to manage Galatasaray, and 3rd Fatih Terim era for Galatasaray has been started. As of January 7, 2012, Galatasaray currently has a winning streak in the Super Lig of 8 games and is currently the Leaders of the league with 69 points (9 points ahead of rivals Fenerbahce). Galatasaray is having one of their best seasons since Terim took charge of Galatasaray for the 3rd time and also has made Galatasaray gain many successful youth players such as Semih Kaya, Emre Çolak, Berk Unsal but only 2 of the 3 has a place in the first 11 because Berk Unsal still has yet to prove himself at the age of 17. At the end of the season, Terim strolled to success and Galatasaray was the champion again.

Honours[link]

Player honours[link]

Galatasaray

• Türkiye Kupası: 1975-76, 1981-82
• TFF Süper Kupa: 1982

Managerial honours[link]

U-21 Turkey

• Mediterranean Games: 1993

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2011–12
• Türkiye Kupası: 1998-99, 1999-00,
• TFF Süper Kupa: 1996, 1997
• UEFA Cup: 1999-00

Awards and achievements[link]

• UEFA Euro 2008 Manager of the Tournament: 2008

Career statistics[link]

Player[link]

^[11]

International[link]

^[12]

International goals[link]

^[12]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 March 1979	İzmir Atatürk Stadium, Izmir, Turkey	Malta	2–1	Win	UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
2.	24 September 1980	İzmir Atatürk Stadium, Izmir, Turkey	Iceland	1–3	Lost	1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Managerial statistics[link]

As of 20 May 2012^[11]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Turkey U-21		1990	1993	&1000000000000002500000025	&1000000000000001300000013	&100000000000000040000004	&100000000000000080000008	&1000000000000005200000052.00
Turkey		1993	1996	&1000000000000003400000034	&1000000000000001700000017	&100000000000000080000008	&100000000000000090000009	&1000000000000005000000050.00
Galatasaray		1996	2000	&10000000000000195000000195	&10000000000000127000000127	&1000000000000004400000044	&1000000000000002400000024	&1000000000000006512999965.13
Fiorentina		2000	2001	&1000000000000002300000023	&1000000000000001000000010	&100000000000000090000009	&100000000000000040000004	&1000000000000004347999943.48
Milan		2001	2001	&1000000000000001300000013	&100000000000000080000008	&100000000000000030000003	&100000000000000020000002	&1000000000000006153999961.54
Galatasaray		2002	2004	&1000000000000008300000083	&1000000000000004300000043	&1000000000000001600000016	&1000000000000002400000024	&1000000000000005181000051.81
Turkey		2005	2009	&1000000000000005800000058	&1000000000000002600000026	&1000000000000001800000018	&1000000000000001400000014	&1000000000000004482999944.83
Galatasaray		May 2011	Present	&1000000000000004200000042	&1000000000000002600000026	&1000000000000001100000011	&100000000000000050000005	&1000000000000006189999961.90
Total				&10000000000000452000000452	&10000000000000256000000256	&10000000000000108000000108	&1000000000000008700000087	&1000000000000005664000056.64

Decoration[link]

In 1998, he was decorated with the Turkish "State Medal of Distinguished Service" by President Süleyman Demirel.^[13] On May 8, 2008, Fatih Terim was honored with the rank Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (2nd Class / Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) by the Italian state at a reception hosted by the Italian embassy in Ankara.^[14]

See also[link]

• List of UEFA Cup winning managers
• List of Turkey national football team managers
• List of Galatasaray S.K. managers
• List of A.C. Milan managers

Notes[link]

1. ^ Includes Atatürk Cup, Chancellor Cup, President Cup and TSYD Cup
2. ^ Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup

References[link]