Ömer Toprak (born 21 July 1989) is a former professional footballer. Born in Germany, he played for the Turkey national team.[2]

Ömer Toprak
Toprak with Bayer Leverkusen in 2014
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-07-21) 21 July 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Ravensburg, West Germany
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1994–2001 TSB Ravensburg
2001–2005 FV Ravensburg
2005–2008 SC Freiburg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 SC Freiburg 68 (4)
2011–2017 Bayer Leverkusen 154 (5)
2017–2020 Borussia Dortmund 35 (0)
2019–2020Werder Bremen (loan) 10 (0)
2020–2022 Werder Bremen 47 (3)
2022–2024 Antalyaspor 45 (1)
Total 359 (13)
International career
2008 Germany U19 3 (1)
2011–2017 Turkey 27 (2)
Medal record
Representing  Germany
Men's football
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner 2008 Czech Republic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Toprak began his career with TSB Ravensburg in 1994. In 2001, he moved to FV Ravensburg.

SC Freiburg

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Toprak signed for SC Freiburg in 2005. Three years later, He signed his first professional contract in the 2007–08 season.[3] During that period, he played for Freiburg U19 and the reserve team and won 22 games with the latter.

In his first professional season, he featured in 26 league games and scored 4 goals as Freiburg won the 2. Bundesliga and promoted after a defeat of VfL Osnabrück. On 9 June 2009, Toprak suffered from a karting accident, causing him to miss the first half of the 2009–10 season but he recovered, scoring a goal against Hamburger SV on the 65th minute. Toprak played 24 league games during the 2010–11 season.

Bayer Leverkusen

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Bayer 04 Leverkusen signed Toprak as a replacement for newly retired Sami Hyypiä for a reported transfer fee of €2 to 3 million.[4] He appeared in the match versus Dynamo Dresden in the 2011–12 DFB-Pokal but they were eliminated 4–3. In Bayer's first match against Mainz 05, he scored an own goal, causing his team to lose 2–0. He scored another own goal against Hertha BSC. Bayer managed to qualify to the Champions League round of 16, where they were eliminated by FC Barcelona.

In January 2014, Toprak agreed a contract extension until 2018.[5]

Werder Bremen

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In August 2019, Toprak joined Werder Bremen on a year-long loan from Borussia Dortmund. Werder Bremen announced the deal includes an purchase obligation to permanently sign Toprak that would come into effect with a "high likelihood"; the reported transfer fee agreed for that case was reported as €5 to 6 million.[6] The permanent signing took effect in July 2020.[7]

Antalyaspor

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On 30 June 2022, Toprak signed a two-year contract with Antalyaspor.[8]

He retired from playing in November 2024.[9]

International career

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Toprak with Turkey in 2013

He was included in the Germany U19 that won the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He appeared in three matches during the tournament, scoring one goal.

On 30 September 2011, Toprak was named to the Turkey national team by coach Guus Hiddink for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Germany and Azerbaijan.[10] He made his Turkish debut on 15 November against Croatia in the second leg of UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs, playing the full 90 minutes of a goalless draw at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb which ensured that Croatia advanced to the finals 3–0 on aggregate.[11]

Personal life

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Toprak is the son of Turkish immigrants from Sivas. He was born and raised in Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. He has one older sister and two older brothers one of whom, Harun, is also a professional football player for FV Ravensburg. His cousin, Rahman Soyudoğru, has also played professional football, including in Germany and Turkey.[12]

On 9 June 2009, Toprak was involved in a karting accident, in which he suffered severe burns and had to be treated in a special clinic.[13] He was able to resume training after only four months.[14]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[15][16]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SC Freiburg 2008–09 2. Bundesliga 30 4 1 0 31 4
2009–10 Bundesliga 14 0 0 0 14 0
2010–11 24 0 1 0 25 0
Total 68 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 70 4
Bayer Leverkusen 2011–12 Bundesliga 27 0 1 0 6 0 34 0
2012–13 26 1 2 0 4 0 32 1
2013–14 28 1 3 0 8 2 39 3
2014–15 29 1 3 0 9 0 41 1
2015–16 19 1 2 0 4 0 25 1
2016–17 25 1 1 0 6 0 32 1
Total 154 5 12 0 37 2 0 0 203 7
Borussia Dortmund 2017–18 Bundesliga 26 0 1 0 9 0 0 0 36 0
2018–19 9 0 2 0 3 0 14 0
2019–20 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 35 0 3 0 12 0 1 0 51 0
Werder Bremen (loan) 2019–20 Bundesliga 10 0 2 0 12 0
Werder Bremen 2020–21 Bundesliga 26 2 1 0 27 2
2021–22 2. Bundesliga 21 1 1 0 22 1
Total 47 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 49 3
Antalyaspor 2022–23 Süper Lig 23 1 1 0 25 1
2023–24 22 0 0 0 22 0
Total 45 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 47 1
Career total 359 13 22 0 49 2 1 0 432 15

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[17]
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2011 1 0
2012 10 2
2013 8 0
2014 4 0
2015 0 0
2016 2 0
2017 2 0
Total 27 2

Honours

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SC Freiburg

Borussia Dortmund

Germany U19

References

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  1. ^ "Profis: Ömer Toprak" (in German). Borussia Dortmund.
  2. ^ "Toprak, Ömer" (in German). kicker.de. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Ömer Toprak spielt wieder für den SC Freiburg" (in German). badische-zeitung.de. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Hyypiä macht zum Saisonende Schluss". kicker Online (in German). 2 May 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Leverkusen tie down Toprak on long-term contract". UEFA.com. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Perfekt: Werder angelt sich tatsächlich Toprak". Buten und Binnen (in German). Radio Bremen. 11 August 2019. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Auslaufende Verträge, Kaufpflicht von Toprak, Bittencourt und Selke: So geht es mit dem Werder-Kader weiter". Sportbuzzer (in German). 7 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Ömer Toprak İmzayı Attı" (in Turkish). Antalyaspor. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Toprak beendet Karriere - mit 35 statt mit 19 Jahren" [Toprak ends career - at 35 instead of 19]. Kicker (in German). 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Turkey squad announced for Germany and Azerbaijan qualifiers". tff.org. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Croatia finish the job against Turkey". UEFA. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Ömer Toprak: Toprağında futbolculuk var!" (in Turkish). TFF.org. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Freiburgs Toprak nach Unfall im Krankenhaus" (in German). focus.de. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  14. ^ "Freiburg: Toprak hofft "Ob es reicht, muss man abwarten."" (in German). reviersport.de. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  15. ^ Ömer Toprak at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Toprak stats". Whoscored. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  17. ^ Ömer Toprak at National-Football-Teams.com
  18. ^ "European U-19 Championship 2008".
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