Cengiz Ünder
Cengiz Ünder (Turkish pronunciation: [dʒeɲˈɟiz ynˈdæɾ]; born 14 July 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Italian club Roma and the Turkey national team.
![]() Ünder playing for Roma in 2018 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cengiz Ünder | ||
Date of birth | 14 July 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Sındırgı, Turkey | ||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
Playing position(s) | Right winger | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Roma | ||
Number | 17 | ||
Youth career | |||
2007–2013 | Bucaspor | ||
2013–2015 | Altınordu | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2014–2016 | Altınordu | 51 | (11) |
2016–2017 | İstanbul Başakşehir | 32 | (7) |
2017– | Roma | 70 | (13) |
National team‡ | |||
2014–2015 | Turkey U18 | 6 | (1) |
2015–2016 | Turkey U19 | 12 | (6) |
2016 | Turkey U21 | 3 | (0) |
2016– | Turkey | 20 | (6) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:11, 1 August 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2019 |
Club career
Early career
Ünder began his professional career at Altinordu, and later transferred to Başakşehir.[1] In his breakout season with Başakşehir, Ünder established himself as one of the best players in the league, scoring 7 goals in 32 games in his debut season in the Süper Lig.[2]
Roma

On 16 July 2017, he became a Roma player for a €13.4 million fee.[3] He scored his first goal for Roma in a 1–0 win over Hellas Verona in the Serie A on 4 February 2018.[4] In the same month, he marked his Champions League debut with a goal; the opener in a 1–2 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of the first round of knockout fixtures,[5] becoming the youngest Turkish player ever to score in the Champions League.[6]
International career
Ünder has represented the U18 and U19 levels of the Turkey national youth football team. He most recently was called up to the Turkey national under-21 football team.[7]
In November 2016 Ünder received his first call-up to the senior Turkey squad for the match against Kosovo.[8] He scored his first international goal in his second cap for his country in a friendly victory against Moldova in March 2017.
Controversy
Following the Afrin offensive in Northern Syria, which as carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in January 2018, on 11 February, Ünder performed a military salute as a goal celebration after netting in Roma's 5–2 home win over Benevento in Serie A.[9][10] In October 2019, following the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Ünder posted a picture of the aforementioned celebration on Twitter;[11] his controversial post drew criticism on social media from Roma fans.[12][13]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 1 August 2020.
Club | Season | Division | League[lower-alpha 1] | Cup[lower-alpha 2] | Europe | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Altınordu | 2014–15 | TFF First League | 20 | 5 | 6 | 0 | — | 26 | 5 | |
2015–16 | 31 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 6 | |||
Total | 51 | 11 | 7 | 0 | — | 58 | 11 | |||
İstanbul Başakşehir | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 32 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 9 |
Roma | 2017–18 | Serie A | 26 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 8 |
2018–19 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 6 | ||
2019–20 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 3 | ||
Total | 70 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 88 | 17 | ||
Career total | 153 | 31 | 18 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 189 | 37 |
- Includes appearances in play-offs as well.
- Includes appearances in League Cup and Super Cup games as well.
International
As of match played 14 November 2019.[14]
Turkey | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2016 | 1 | 0 |
2017 | 6 | 3 |
2018 | 10 | 1 |
2019 | 3 | 2 |
Total | 20 | 6 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 27 March 2017 | New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir, Turkey | ![]() | 3–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
2. | 11 June 2017 | Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania | ![]() | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
3. | 13 November 2017 | New Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey | ![]() | 1–2 | 2–3 | Friendly |
4. | 27 March 2018 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
5. | 30 May 2019 | New Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–1 | |
6. | 8 June 2019 | Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
References
- "Cengiz Under". footballdatabase.eu.
- Sarigul, Emre (22 November 2017). "Roma's Cengiz Under: 'I like to prove people wrong. I've been doing it since I was 10'". the Guardian.
- "Roma complete the signing of Cengiz Under". www.asroma.com.
- "Cengiz Ünder İtalya'yı salladı! Tarihe geçti..."
- "Fantastic Fred gives Shakhtar edge over Roma". www.worldfootball.net.
- "The youngest Turkish player ever to have scored in the Champions League..." Twitter. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- "Ümit Milli Takım kadrosunda değişiklik - U-21 Milli Takım Haber Detay Sayfası TFF".
- "Küskünler barıştı! Arda Turan yeniden Milli Takım'da!". superhaber.tv. 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- Giulianelli, Emanuele (14 February 2018). "Il saluto militare di Cengiz Ünder, semplice esultanza o endorsement alla politica di Erdogan?". The Huffington Post (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- "Roma 5–2 Benevento" (in Italian). Eurosport. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- Dolci, Stefano (11 October 2019). "Demiral, Calhanoglu e Under nella bufera per i tweet a sostegno dell'offensiva turca contro i curdi" (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- Pinci, Matteo (11 October 2019). "Roma, Under: il post per l'esercito turco diventa un caso: "Non con la nostra maglia"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- Aliprandi, Jacopo (11 October 2019). "Maglia della Roma, saluto militare e bandiere turche: bufera social su Under". Il Corriere dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- "Cengiz Ünder". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
External links
- Cengiz Ünder at Soccerway
- Cengiz Ünder at the Turkish Football Federation
- AS Roma Profile
- Cengiz Ünder at Mackolik.com (in Turkish)
- Personal Website