Murat Yakin

Murat Yakin

Personal information
Full name	Murat Yakin
Date of birth	(1974-09-15) 15 September 1974
Place of birth	Basel, Switzerland
Height
Position(s)	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1997	Grasshopper	101	(17)
1997–1999	VfB Stuttgart	23	(2)
1998–2000	Fenerbahçe	26	(3)
2000	Basel	23	(2)
2000–2001	1. FC Kaiserslautern	9	(0)
2001–2006	Basel	91	(24)
Total		273	(48)
International career
1994–2004	Switzerland	49	(4)
Managerial career
2006–2007	Concordia Basel
2009–2011	Thun
2011–2012	Luzern
2012–2014	Basel
2014–2015	Spartak Moscow
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Murat Yakin (Turkish: Murat Yakın; born 15 September 1974 in Basel) is a Swiss-Turkish football coach and former Swiss national player. He last managed FC Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League.

Playing career

During his playing career he was capped 49 times for Switzerland, and played in Euro 2004. Murat spent the best years of his career playing for his home town club of FC Basel, where he was the defensive linchpin, captain, and libero, of a team that enjoyed domestic and relative European success. He won the Swiss Super League on five occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005), and the Schweizer Cup three times (1994, 2002, 2003). He recalls the 2002–03 Champions League second leg qualifying match on 28 August 2002 against Celtic in St. Jakob-Park as the "match of his life". Basel won the game 2:0, Yakin scored the second goal in the 22 Minute, as they qualified (3:3 on away goals) for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Although his spells abroad were not wholly successful, he was widely regarded as one of Swiss football's finest products, frequently being linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe. In 2003, he played in the FIFA 'Match against Poverty' as part of a star-studded ensemble showcasing the world's best players.

Coaching career

Early career

Murat was appointed coach of FC Thun in 2009 after a time as a youth coach at Grasshopper Club Zürich. In May 2011 he joined FC Luzern for a reported 200,000 Swiss francs. He took over from Christian Brand who was made caretaker after the sacking of Rolf Fringer.

FC Basel

On 15 October 2012 he was appointed as the new manager of FC Basel.

Under his management, Basel won twice, home and away, against Chelsea in the Champions league 2013 group stages. Murat praised the supporters in the stadium, saying that they pushed the team to win through the ninety minutes. He was also delighted to have received praise from Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. On 17 May 2014, FC Basel announced Yakin was no longer with the club.

FC Spartak Moscow

On 16 June 2014 he was appointed as the new manager of FC Spartak Moscow. On 30 May 2015, his contract with the club was terminated after a mutual agreement.

Coaching record

As of 8 December 2014

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Ref.
FC Frauenfeld	24 February 2008	30 June 2008	—
Grasshopper Club Zürich II	1 July 2008	30 June 2009	—
FC Thun	1 July 2009	30 June 2011	74	35	23	16	138	85	+53	47.30
FC Luzern	1 July 2011	20 August 2012	46	19	16	11	96	47	+49	41.30
FC Basel	15 October 2012	17 May 2014	71	40	20	11	136	71	+65	56.34
FC Spartak Moskva	16 June 2014		19	9	5	5	27	22	+5	47.37
Total			210	103	64	43	397	225	+172	49.05	—

Personal life

Murat is the older brother of Hakan Yakin, also a footballer

External links

• Murat Yakın at TFF
• Murat Yakin on the website of the Swiss Football League
• Murat Yakin on the website of FC Basel
• Official site of the Yakin brothers
• Article detailing Murat's connection with two of his passions: kebabs and Turkish rap (French)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Oliver Kreuzer	FC Basel captain 2001–2004	Succeeded by Pascal Zuberbühler