Ümit Aydın Davala (born 30 July 1973) is a Turkish football coach and former player. 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.
Club career 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 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.
International career 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.
Futsal career 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.
Coaching career 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.
Musical career Davala released several rap themed songs, just after he retired from football. One was a collaboration with Kayahan.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsTürkspor Mannheim1992–93—0000——001993–94—0000——00Total0000——00Afyonspor1994–95TFF Second League11310——123İstanbulspor1994–95TFF Second League16500——1651995–96TFF First League5110——61Total21610——226Diyarbakırspor (loan)1995–96TFF Second League15200——152Galatasaray1996–971. Lig2832040413841997–981533060212641998–992528361—3961999–200028052133204852000–0126543152—45102001–02Süper Lig320051—83Total125152284978220432Milan2001–02Serie A1000000—100Inter2002–03Serie A000000—002003–04000000—00Total000000—00Galatasaray (loan)2002–03Süper Lig2313050—311Werder Bremen (loan)2003–04Bundesliga2200000—220Werder Bremen2004–05Bundesliga1000010001102005–061000100020Total110002000130Career total223252785178230942
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsTurkey1996201997—1998—1999402000502001912002153200350200410Total414
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Davala goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Ümit DavalaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 28 March 2001 City Park Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia 2–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification2 13 June 2002 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea 3–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup3 18 June 2002 Miyagi Stadium, Rifu, Japan 1–0 1–0 2002 FIFA World Cup4 16 October 2002 Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 2–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
Honours Turkey FIFA World Cup third place: 2002
Galatasaray UEFA Super Cup: 2000 UEFA Cup: 1999–2000 Süper Lig: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 Turkish Cup: 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000
Werder Bremen Bundesliga: 2003–04 DFB-Pokal: 2003–04
Order Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service
References Notes
Citations
External links
Ümit Davala at TFF.org