Aziz Behich

Aziz Eraltay Behich (born 16 December 1990) is an Australian footballer who plays as a left back and left winger for Turkish club Bursaspor in Süper Lig.

Club career

Youth career

Behich played in the junior divisions of Green Gully SC.^[2][3] He participated in the junior league's of Melbourne's North-West. He had played for the club's Reserve team in 2007.^[4] In February 2007 Behich had returned to Australia after having been training at the David Beckham Academy. In 2008 Behich was signed to the club's first-team, surprisingly because the coach; Ian Dobson, had preferred experienced players within his squad, where he made his debut on 22 February 2008 in a 2–0 loss against Richmond. He had been substituted onto the field in the 57th minute. He had been promoted to the club's first-team with team mate Diogo Ferreira, who also went on to sign for Melbourne during Behich's second youth season. In 2008, Behich scored 2 goals in 11 appearances while playing for Green Gully in Australia's Second Division.^[5] He had scored his two goals in a 6–1 win against Fawkner Blues on 17 May 2008, he had been substituted onto the field in the 76th minute and scored in both the 84th and 86th minutes.^[5]

Prior to the start of the 2008–2009 A-league's National Youth League, Behich was selected for Melbourne Victory's 7 man squad.^[6][7][8] On 3 January 2009, Aziz scored in a 3–0 win against Queensland Roar.^[9] One week later, he scored again in a 2–0 win against Perth Glory on 10 January 2009.^[10] Melbourne went on to finish in 6th position out of 7th.

During the National Youth League's off-season, Behich would return to play for Green Gully in the 2009 season.^[11][12] Aziz had appeared 22 times for Green Gully, once in the final's play-off's, and had scored 2 goals over all. His second goal came in a play-off match against Altona Magic where which Aziz was substituted onto the field in the 80th minute when Green Gully were trailing 3–2, Aziz had scored an equaliser in the 94th minute to take the game to extra-time, however, Green Gully eventually lost 4–3 on penalties^[13][14]

The following season, Behich was the only youth player to re-sign with Melbourne's youth team and was handed the captain's arm band.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Melbourne Victory

Behich made his debut for Melbourne's first-team on 16 January 2010, in the 2009–10 A-League season, where he was substituted onto to the field in the 83rd minute for Carlos Hernández in a 6–2 win against Perth Glory.^[19] His second appearance was on 23 January 2010, where he was substituted onto the field in the 91st minute, again for Carlos Hernández, in a 2–0 win against Adelaide United.^[20] Despite Matthew Theodore being the only player to sign from Melbourne's youth-team to its first-team in 2009, as of 2010 Behich was the only youth player to gain a first-team appearance and consecutive first-team appearances. It was then announced, in January 2010, that Behich was named in Melbourne's 2010 AFC Champions League squad.^[21] He was substituted on during the second half of the 2009–2010 A-League Grand Final when Melbourne lost on penalties to Sydney, and is notable for the narrowest miss of the match, which could have been the winner. Behich then signed to Hume City in the Victorian Premier League during the A-League off-season.

Hume City

Behich debuted for Hume City in a 2–2 draw against Northcote City on 16 May 2010. Scoring on debut, he netted Hume city's second goal on 81 minutes. He appeared 5 more times for the side, departing from the club in June, as they finished in second spot of the Victorian Premier League table.^[22][23]

Melbourne Heart

By July 2010 he trialled with the Melbourne Heart squad where he took part in a round of warm up matches that the club played, including a 2–0 defeat against Everton. Behich, shortly after trialling with Melbourne Heart, signed a 7-week deal with the club as an injury replacement player for Kristian Sarkies until October 2010. After Dean Heffernan received a red card, Behich slotted into the starting lineup to cover his position, and started most games afterwards. On 25 October 2010, he signed a full-time contract with the Melbourne Heart, becoming the first player to play for both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart.^[24] At Heart, he was developed into more of a defensive player, a left back or left winger, as opposed to the striker position he played at Victory. He was the first player to be sent off in a Melbourne derby, given his second yellow in the very first encounter between the clubs, which Heart won 2–1. In January Behich was awarded the A-League Young Footballer of the month.^[25] It was reported on 28 January 2012 by the Dutch media that Behich had attracted the interest of Eredivisie club Excelsior and Bundesliga 2 sides VFL Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt. Excelsior manager John Lammers spoke of his interest in the exciting youngster to Rotterdam newspapers Algemeen Dagblad and NRC Handelsblad.^[26][27] "We are looking to bring Aziz to the club, he's an exceptional talent who we've been watching." ^[28]

Bursaspor

On 29 January 2013, Behich signed to Turkish Süper Lig club Bursaspor.^[29] On 11 March 2013, Aziz Behich made his Turkish Süper Lig debut for Bursaspor against Fenerbahçe as a 69th-minute substitute for Tuncay Şanlı.^[30] On 4 March 2016, Behich signed three-year extension to his contract with Bursaspor, which was due to expire in May.^[31]

International career

Behich was called up to the Australia Under-23 side by coach Aurelio Vidmar for a friendly match against Japan's Under-23 side at the Tohoku Denryoku Bigswan Stadium, Niigata on Wednesday 1 June 2011.^[32] Behich was selected to play against Yemen's under-23 side for the Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers Preliminary Round 2. On 14 June 2011, in preparation for the 2012 AFC Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament, Behich featured in a 6–0 win against Singapore under-23 where he scored Australia's sixth goal in the 90th minute. On 19 June 2011 Behich played in Australia's first-leg 3–0 win against Yemen.^{[33][34][35][36]} Four days later he played in the second leg which resulted in a 4–0 win to Australia on 23 June.^[37]

Behich was called up to the Australian national team by Holger Osieck for a friendly match against South Korea on 14 November 2012.^[38]

Personal life

Behich is of Turkish Cypriot origin, son of Turkish Cypriots immigrants to Australia.^[39] For this reason he was eligible to represent Turkey and Australia, eventually choosing the latter.

Career statistics

As of match played 21 May 2016

¹ - includes A-League final series statistics

Honours

Club

Green Gully

• 2008 Victorian Premier League – Premiership^[40]

International

Australia

• AFC Asian Cup: 2015

Individual

• PFA A-League Team of the Season 2011-12

References

External links

• Aziz Eraltay at TFF
• Aziz Eraltay – UEFA competition record
• Aziz Behich – UEFA competition record
• FFA Olyroos Profile
• Aziz Behich Official Website

Australia squad – 2015 AFC Asian Cup Winners (1st Title)
1 Ryan 2 Franjic 3 Davidson 4 Cahill 5 Milligan 6 Spiranovic 7 Leckie 8 Herd 9 Juric 10 Kruse 11 Oar 12 Langerak 13 Behich 14 Troisi 15 Jedinak (c) 16 Burns 17 McKay 18 Galekovic 19 Antonis 20 Sainsbury 21 Luongo 22 Wilkinson 23 Bresciano Coach: Postecoglou