Ümit Davala

During his stint at Galatasaray, he won four Süper Lig, three Turkish Cup, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup title between 1996 and 2001. He won the 2003–04 Bundesliga with Werder Bremen. Davala represented Turkey with 41 caps in international competitions, scoring 4 goals. He was part of the Turkey squad which earned a bronze medal at 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Ümit Davala

Davala with Galatasaray in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Ümit Aydın Davala
Date of birth	(1973-07-30) 30 July 1973 (age 50)
Place of birth	Mannheim, West Germany
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defender Midfielder
Youth career
1981–1990	VfR Mannheim
1990–1992	ASV Feudenheim
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1994	Türkspor Mannheim	0	(0)
1994	Afyonkarahisarspor	11	(3)
1995–1996	İstanbulspor	21	(6)
1996	→ Diyarbakırspor (loan)	15	(2)
1996–2001	Galatasaray	125	(15)
2001–2002	AC Milan	10	(0)
2002–2004	Inter Milan	0	(0)
2002–2003	→ Galatasaray (loan)	23	(1)
2003–2004	→ Werder Bremen (loan)	22	(0)
2004–2005	Werder Bremen	11	(0)
Total		223	(25)
International career
1996–2004	Turkey	41	(4)
Managerial career
2007–2008	Turkey U21
2013	Galatasaray (caretaker)
2017	Tuzlaspor
Medal record Representing Turkey FIFA World Cup 2002
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Davala played as a defender of midfielder with VfR Mannheim, ASV Feudenheim, Türkspor Mannheim, Afyonspor, Diyarbakırspor and İstanbulspor before joining Galatasaray in 1997. He won three successive Turkish championships. In 2000, he helped the club to win the Turkish Cup by scoring two goals in the final against Beşiktaş. In the same year, he helped the club win the 2000 UEFA Cup final against Arsenal and the 2000 UEFA Super Cup against Real Madrid.

In September 2001, Davala transferred to Milan in a €5 million deal.^{[citation needed]} He made the transfer because he wanted to follow his former coach at Galatasaray, Fatih Terim, who had been named head coach of Milan. However, in November, Terim was fired and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, after which Davala lost his first-team place.

In June 2002, Davala was sold to Inter Milan in exchange for Dario Šimić, but was immediately loaned to Galatasaray. In July 2003, Davala was loaned to Werder Bremen, helping the club win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double. In July 2004, he was signed permanently by Bremen, but injuries limited his appearances. A hip injury suffered in October 2005 proved too difficult, and over the winter break of the 2005–06 season, Davala was released by the club. He subsequently retired from professional football.

Davala was part of the Turkey squads for UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In the latter, he stood out for his mohawk hair style and scored a goal against PR China in the group stage, adding the winner against Japan in the second round. He also provided the cross that resulted on İlhan Mansız's golden goal against Senegal in the quarter-finals. Turkey would finish the tournament in third place.

Following retirement from professional football, Davala played futsal in international level. He was called up on Turkey national futsal team by head coach Ömer Kaner, in order to qualify to 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship. In an interview held in 2020, Ömer Kaner stated that Davala found hard to accommodate in futsal, at that time.

Davala had been the head coach of Turkey national under-21 team until June 2008. He then joined Galatasaray S.K. as an assistant manager on 11 June 2008. After a loss to Bursaspor, the Galatasaray board stated "radical changes" were on the way, and, true to its word, the board declared that assistant coaches Davala and Edwin Boekamp were sacked on 10 October 2008 after a brief chat with club president Adnan Polat. However, Davala rejoined Galatasaray as an assistant manager again in June 2011.

Davala released several rap themed songs, just after he retired from football. One was a collaboration with Kayahan.

Club