Colin Kazim-Richards

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Colin Kazim-Richards (born 26 August 1986, Leytonstone, London, England, UK), also known as Colin Kâzım or Kâzım Kâzım in Turkey, is an English-born footballer who plays for Fenerbahçe in the Süper Lig and internationally for Turkey having qualified for Turkish nationality through his mother's ethnicity. ^[1] An anglicised form of the Turkish given name Kâzım was intended to be a middle name, which would have rendered his full name as 'Colin-Kazim Richards', but due to an error, he was legally registered as 'Colin Kazim-Richards'. ^[1]

[edit] Personal life

Kazim-Richards attended Greenleaf Primary School in Walthamstow, where he developed an interest in football, which continued into his secondary education at Aveling Park, Walthamstow.^[2] His mother is a Turkish Cypriot (which enabled him to join the Turkish national team), and his father is of Antiguan descent.^[1] When applying for Turkish citizenship, he was forced to change his name due to Turkish laws not allowing foreign names once citizenship has been established.^[3] Kazim-Richards selected the name Kâzım Kâzım.

I don't feel religious. It's difficult because half my family is Muslim, and the other half is Christian. I've always felt Turkish, though. My nine [grandmother], she can't speak English. Half of my family, their first language is Turkish, and so I went to Turkish school before I played football, although I can't remember any of it now.

^[4][5]

[edit] Club career

[edit] In England

Kazim-Richards began his professional career at Bury, after joining the club at the age of 15 and progressing through the club's youth team and centre of excellence. He broke into the first team in the 2004-2005 season, and his performances caught the attention of larger clubs.

At the age of 19, he was signed on a three-year contract by Brighton & Hove Albion for £250,000. The contract was signed after a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, won the sum for the club in a competition run by Coca-Cola which, in turn, led to Kazim-Richards being dubbed the "Coca-Cola Kid". He was often brought on as a second-half substitute, and by the end of the 2005-2006 season, he had scored six league goals for the club, including its 5,000th league goal. He submitted a transfer request after being omitted from the starting line-up of Brighton's opening match as they began their campaign in 2006-2007 against Rotherham.

Consequently, Brighton sold him to Sheffield United for £150,000 on 31 August 2006 (also the deadline day for the transfer window). Kazim-Richards signed a three-year deal with the Blades after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms. After his later successes with Turkey, his manager at Brighton, Mark McGhee said:

"We brought him to Brighton because he had potential but he was impossible to work with. I can't say anything positive about the boy apart from he had potential and he has still got potential. How he is in the Turkey team I don't know but their manager has taken them to the last four so he knows what he's doing."^[6]

[edit] In Turkey

On 15 June 2007, Kazim-Richards signed a four-year contract with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe.^[7] He scored his second UEFA Champions League goal for Fenerbahçe in the quarter-final first leg against Chelsea on 2 April 2008.

[edit] International career

Kazim-Richards scored and was credited with an assist in his debut for the Turkey under-21 team in a victory against Switzerland on 24 March 2007. On 30 April, the Turkish national coach Fatih Terim declared that Kazim-Richards would play for the senior team.^[8]

Terim called him up for matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brazil.^[9] He received his first senior international cap in a 0–0 friendly draw against Brazil on 5 June 2007, a game in which he played 38 minutes. He was a member of Turkey's Euro 2008 squad, playing in all five matches as the side reached the semi-finals.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fenerbahçe profile
• TFF profile
• Career moves at transfermarkt.de
• Colin Kazim-Richards career stats at Soccerbase
• PremierLeague.com profile
• Official website
• Colin Kazim- Richards' fansite

v • d • e Turkey squad – UEFA Euro 2008 Semi-finalists 1 Rüştü • 2 Servet • 3 Hakan • 4 Gökhan Zan • 5 Emre • 6 Mehmet Topal • 7 Mehmet Aurélio • 8 Nihat • 9 Semih • 10 Gökdeniz • 11 Tümer • 12 Tolga • 13 Emre Güngör • 14 Arda • 15 E. Aşık • 16 Uğur Boral • 17 Tuncay • 18 C. Kazım • 19 Ayhan • 20 Sabri • 21 Mevlüt • 22 Hamit • 23 Volkan • Coach: Terim