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Murat Yakin (Turkish: Murat Yakın [mʊ'ɾɑt jɑˈkɯn]; born 15 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Switzerland national football team.

In 2021, following stints as manager at Swiss clubs including Basel, Grasshoppers and Sion, he was appointed as coach of the Swiss national team, guiding them to qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024.

Playing career

Yakin spent the longest spell of his career playing for his hometown club Basel, where he was the defensive linchpin, captain and libero of a team which enjoyed domestic and relative European success. He won the Swiss Super League on five occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005), and the Swiss Cup three times (1994, 2002, 2003). He recalls the 2002–Champions League second leg qualifying match on 28 August 2002 against Celtic in St. Jakob-Park as the "match of his life". Basel won the game 2–0, with Yakin scoring the second goal in the 22nd minute as Basel qualified 3–3 on the away goals rule for the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League group stage.[2]

In 2003, he played in the FIFA "Match against Poverty" in Basel, on Ronaldo's team which won 4–3 against Zinedine Zidane's.[3]

Yakin was capped 49 times for the Switzerland national team, representing his country at UEFA Euro 2004.[4]

International goals

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 6 October 1996 Helsinki, Finland  Finland 3–1 3–2 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 11 October 1997 Zurich, Switzerland  Azerbaijan 3–0 5–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3. 21 August 2001 Basel, Switzerland  Austria 3–1 3–2 Friendly
4. 12 October 2002 Tirana, Albania  Albania 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualification

Coaching career

Early career

Yakin was appointed coach of Thun in 2009, after a time as a youth coach at Grasshoppers and head coach of Frauenfeld.[5] Yakin led Thun to promotion in his first year as manager there, winning the Swiss Challenge League in 2010.[6] In his second season with the club, Thun managed to finish fifth in the Swiss Super League and earned a spot in the second qualifying round of the following season's UEFA Europa League.[6]

In May 2011, he joined Luzern for a reported 200,000 Swiss francs.[citation needed] He took over from Christian Brand, who was made caretaker after the sacking of Rolf Fringer.[7]

Basel

On 15 October 2012, Yakin was appointed as the new manager of Basel.[8] Under his management, Basel won twice, home and away, against Chelsea in the 2013–14 Champions League group stage. He praised the supporters in the stadium, saying that they pushed the team to win through the 90 minutes. He was also delighted to have received praise from then Chelsea manager José Mourinho.[9][10] On 17 May 2014, Basel announced Yakin was no longer with the club after he guided them to two domestic titles in as many years.[11][12]

Spartak Moscow

On 16 June 2014, Yakin was appointed as manager of Russian Premier League side Spartak Moscow.[13] According to Russian media, the deal was a long-term contract with Yakin earning an annual salary of 1.6 million euros ($2.18 million).[12]

On 30 May 2015, after only one season with the club, his contract with the club was terminated after a mutual agreement.[14]

Return to Schaffhausen

On 17 June 2019, it was confirmed, that Yakin had returned to Schaffhausen, as their new manager having left Sion previously that year.[15]

Switzerland national team

On 9 August 2021, Yakin was appointed as the manager of the Switzerland national team.[16] In the 2022 World Cup qualification, Northern Ireland held reigning European champions Italy to a goalless draw, thereby ensuring that Switzerland qualified for the tournament and Italy had to play in the playoffs. In gratitude, he sent 9.3 kg of Swiss chocolate to the Irish Football Association.[17][18] In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he led Switzerland to finish second in their group, to qualify to the round of 16, where they lost 6–1 to Portugal.[19] At the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, Yakin guided Switzerland through to the Round of 16 knockout stage where they recorded a famous 2-0 victory against defending champions Italy. They were subsequently knocked out of the Quarter Finals in a penalty shootout loss to England, after a 1-1 draw.

Personal life

Yakin is the elder brother of Hakan Yakin, who was also a professional footballer with successful stints at Grasshoppers, Basel, and Young Boys and represented Switzerland at international level also.[20] Yakin is of Turkish descent.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 6 July 2024[21]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Thun 1 July 2009 1 July 2011 74 35 23 16 138 85 +53 047.30
Luzern 1 July 2011 19 August 2012 46 19 16 11 64 46 +18 041.30
Basel 15 October 2012 19 May 2014 99 56 28 15 172 91 +81 056.57
Spartak Moscow 16 June 2014 30 May 2015 32 13 8 11 43 44 −1 040.63
Schaffhausen 21 December 2016 28 August 2017 25 19 2 4 66 24 +42 076.00
Grasshoppers 28 August 2017 10 April 2018 26 9 7 10 34 29 +5 034.62
Sion 17 September 2018 7 May 2019 28 9 7 12 38 45 −7 032.14
Schaffhausen 17 June 2019 9 August 2021 77 22 26 29 97 117 −20 028.57
Switzerland 9 August 2021 Present 39 17 14 8 62 41 +21 043.59
Total 446 199 131 116 712 522 +190 044.62

Honours

As a player

Basel[22]

Individual[22]

As a manager

Thun[22]

Basel[12][22]

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Swiss Football Association". FIFA. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  2. ^ Widmer, Benedikt; Mugglin, David (2011). Das Spiel meines Lebens (in German). rotweiss Verlag GmbH, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-1785-6.
  3. ^ [1] Archived 26 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Switzerland » Squad EURO 2004 Portugal". World Football. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. ^ Murat Yakin at WorldFootball.net
  6. ^ a b "FC Thun". Libero Guide. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  7. ^ "justcantbeatthat.com". Archived from the original on 27 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Vogel fliegt – Yakin übernimmt" (in German). Kicker. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Yakin delighted with Mourinho praise". Sports Mole.
  10. ^ "Basel 1-0 Chelsea | Champions League Group E match report". the Guardian. 26 November 2013.
  11. ^ "fcb.ch". Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "Spartak Moscow appoint Yakin as new coach". Reuters. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  13. ^ МУРАТ ЯКИН – НОВЫЙ ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР «СПАРТАКА» (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 16 June 2014.
  14. ^ «СПАРТАК» И ЯКИН РАСТОРГАЮТ ОТНОШЕНИЯ ПО ОБОЮДНОМУ СОГЛАСИЮ (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 30 May 2015.
  15. ^ Murat Yakin ist wieder Trainer beim FC Schaffhausen, nzz.ch, 17 June 2019
  16. ^ swissinfo.ch/ug. "New manager for Swiss national football team appointed". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  17. ^ "We kept our word, @NorthernIreland 😉 A sweet Thank You is on its way! #sweetcaroline #sweetchocolate". Twitter. 24 November 2022.
  18. ^ Fullerton, Gareth (25 November 2021). "Switzerland boss Murat Yakin sends thank-you chocolates to Northern Ireland". Belfast Live. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Portugal 6–1 Switzerland". BBC Sport. 6 December 2022.
  20. ^ "A family affair in need of high maintenance". The Irish Times. 8 October 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  21. ^ Murat Yakin coach profile at Soccerway
  22. ^ a b c d "Murat Yakin". Football Database. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Super League – Salah zum SL-"Spieler des Jahres" gewählt". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 27 January 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  24. ^ "SAFP GOLDEN 11 2017 - Die Gewinner". Golden11. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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