Gökmen Özdenak (born 22 June 1947) is a Turkish former footballer who played as a striker. He is best known for his stint with Galatasaray, and is known by his nickname Ayı Gökmen (English, "Gökmen the Bear"). He represented the Turkey national football team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gökmen Özdenak | ||
| Date of birth | (1947-06-22) 22 June 1947 (age 75) | ||
| Place of birth | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1965–1967 | İstanbulspor | 15 | (5) |
| 1967–1980 | Galatasaray | 297 | (99) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1966 | Turkey U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 1970 | Turkey U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 1972–1977 | Turkey | 9 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 April 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 April 2018 | |||
Özdenak begun his footballing career with İstanbulspor in the Turkish Süper Lig. Two years later, he transferred to Galatasaray and helped them win 4 Süper Lig titles as he played there for 13 years.[1]
After his footballing career, Özdenak begun commentating football with former footballer Ziya Şengül.[2]
Özdenak was born into a sporting family, as his brothers Yasin and Doğan were also professional footballers.[3][4]