Dutch professional football players can be found all over the world; from the illustrious Premier League or LaLiga to the smallest competitions. As a result, at least one Dutchman is active in each of the 24 countries that participate in the European Championship and with them we zoom in on the atmosphere, the European Championship selections, their own experiences and much more. In episode 1 Dogan Gölpek, who grew up in Limburg, talks about his experiences in Turkey. He was written off at Fortuna Sittard when he was eighteen and now, to his own surprise, he plays in the Süper Lig.
By Thijs Verhaar
“Of course in Turkey they are wary of players like Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt and the like, but it is not bad that Virgil van Dijk cannot be there,” analyzes the 26-year-old winger of Konyaspor. A guilty grin forms around his mouth when he is told that this is not a popular position in the Netherlands. “Of course I would not have allowed him an injury and I also hope that the the Dutch will go very far, but I say it mainly as a fan of the Turkish team,” said Gölpek. “I just cheer for both countries. But if they have to compete against each other, it makes a huge difference that a fantastic football player like Van Dijk is missing. So I mean it as a very big compliment. I really think that fans from 23 countries think that way at the moment, haha.”
Gölpek was born in Bergen op Zoom, Brabant, but moved to Maastricht at a very young age. He grew up at MVV and Fortuna Sittard, where he developed a clearly audible Limburg accent. With his performances on the field, he also made it to Fortuna’s A1, but the step to professional football turned out to be just a bridge too far. An early end to his career seemed to Gölpek to be a foregone conclusion, but his father decided otherwise. “He registered me at the amateur club SV Meerssen when I was eighteen and told me to go there. ‘Go back to playing football. Then you see how far you can get when you are happy on the field again’”, said Gölpek senior at the time.
It turned out to be golden advice. He set his son on a track that would lead to the Turkish Süper Lig, although neither of them could have guessed it at the time. The winger scored his goals in the premier league, dribbled past more and more opponents and even crowned himself champion in his fourth season, which attracted the interest of his old club MVV. “It was a childhood dream of mine to make it to the pros there and with a detour I succeeded at 23. In the end I played almost fifty matches in the Kitchen Champion Division, albeit often as a substitute. It wasn’t really great what I showed then, but I am proud that I made it to Dutch professional football. And it has also turned out to be a stepping stone to much more, because now I play nicely in a top competition.”
The 26-year-old Gölpek now plays at the highest level in Turkey, but started his professional career four years ago at MVV Maastricht in the Kitchen Champion Division.
Once again it was his father who gave him a push in the right direction. On his advice, Gölpek contacted the Turkish-Dutch manager Hakan Ardic, who saw him as a valuable asset to 1922 Konya. That team plays football at the third level of Turkey and is seen as the smaller brother of Konyaspor, which is active in the same city. “I am very grateful that Hakan was able to arrange that for me and that he is always supportive of me. That’s very important to me. There are many young talents from the region who are all hoping to get on Konyaspor’s radar. For me, that was not an issue at all with my age and background, but due to my strong second season, I managed to do it nicely,” it sounds proud. Midway through the season, the then coach of Konyaspor informed the Konya 1922 board that he wanted Gölpek and he persisted even when the attacker first contracted corona in November and then a tear in the inner tube of his knee. “That gave me a lot of confidence.”
In all honesty, Gölpek frankly admits that he is primarily seen as a broadside reinforcement, but that doesn’t stop him from fighting hard for his chance. “If you contract corona in Turkey, you have to quarantine for at least fourteen days. That is why the clubs in the Süper Lig would like a somewhat larger selection and I came into the picture as an extra winger. Unfortunately for me, the coach was fired a month after my arrival, which made it even more difficult to enforce playing time, but his successor also shows a lot of confidence in me. He sees how hard I work in training and promised me that I would get a chance as soon as we moved a little further from the relegation zone. In the end I was allowed to come in in the last three matches, so I am now a really Süper Lig player.”
There are no truly spectacular action photos of Gölpek in the Konyaspor shirt after three substitutions, but as far as he is concerned, that will change next season.
His voice skips a bit when he says that his father has not been able to experience that anymore, because his biggest fan passed away last year. “He has seen me play football in Turkey, but not in the Süper Lig. I just hope he gets it from somewhere. I would really like that,” he says softly. “If he hadn’t sent me to Meerssen, I would never have experienced any of this. I am eternally grateful to him for that,” said the 26-year-old. Gölpek regularly receives family from his father in Konya, who support him passionately in his place. “They all live two hours away. That sounds far for Dutch standards, but in a large country like Turkey it is very different. “We have a lot of contact with each other and like all Turks, they are also super fanatic.”
Turkey is in Group A with Italy, Switzerland and Wales during the European Championship. Gölpek believes that the next round should be feasible. “As number two behind Italy it could be and after that you depend on the draw,” he says. “Turkey has a good defense with young talents like Ozan Kabak, Caglan Söyüncü and Merih Demiral and Burak Yilmaz is doing great up front. I think it’s really nice to see how much it takes him to play for his country,” praises Gölpek, who also has high expectations of AC Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. “If he has the right form, he can make a difference. He is a very nice player and of course I also like to watch Cengiz Ünder from AS Roma. He has not had a great season at Leicester City, but remains a special footballer and plays in the same position as me.”
Burak Yilmaz was good for a hat-trick against the Dutch national team in March.
Gölpek will temporarily stay with his family in the Netherlands during the group stage and then report back to his club for preparation for the new season. “So now I walk around Maastricht and I can tell people who have lost sight of me that I play football in the Süper Lig. Those are nice conversations, haha. Of course I have been congratulated by many old acquaintances during the season, but they were actually a week late. They saw on LiveScore and Transfermarkt and so that I came in against Trabzonspor, but I also played for a minute against Göztepe three days earlier,” the attacker smiles. The counter for him is therefore already at three official appearances, although it is unclear whether it will stop there or not. “The club will have a new chairman and then a lot will always change, but at least I have another year of contract that I am very proud of.”
The winger also draws strength from the fact that he was allowed to make more minutes per substitution. He went from 1 to 6 and 26. “Of course that also says something about the confidence of the trainer. And I’ve surfaced more often when others didn’t believe in it. I’m going to do my best again later, but first enjoy the European Championship. I watch the group stage in the Netherlands with friends and the knockout stage in Konya. That will really be a madhouse if Turkey is still in it”, Gölpek knows from experience. He used to be there as a child during a final tournament and still remembers how many flags were hanging everywhere. “In any case, there have always been Turkish flags on the street because people are very proud of their country, but especially. People now finally have a little more freedom because the corona measures are now a little less strict, so the timing is perfect. If that’s why you give someone a final, it’s Turkey. And preferably against the Netherlands of course.”
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