Nihat Kahveci

Nihat Kahveci (born November 23 1979 in Istanbul) is a Turkish football player for Spain side Villarreal CF. He made his debut for the Turkey national football team in 2000 against Sweden national football team. Nihat plays predominantly as a forward but can also play as an attacking midfielder.

Nihat is a product of Beşiktaş J.K]'s youth system and was discovered by Hurser Tekinoktay when Nihat played in Dikilitaş in 1996-1997 season. He joined the first team at Beşiktaş in the 1997-1998 season. In January 2002 he was transferred to Real Sociedad in Spain by former Beşiktaş coach John Toschack. While at Real Sociedad, Nihat scored 57 goals in 115 appearances. In the 2002/2003 season Nihat scored 23 goals making him the league's joint-second highest scorer for the season behind Roy Makaay (29 goals) and tied with Ronaldo. He had a very fruitful strike partnership with Yugoslav forward Darko Kovacevic, such that sports journalist Phil Ball nicknamed the pair "Little and large," in reference to the height difference between them [eight is 175 cm and Kovacevic's is 187 cm).

He has also played in the UEFA Champions League with Real Sociedad and represented Turkey in the 2002 World Cup.

On May 16th 2006 Nihat agreed to join Villarreal CF for five years on a Bosman transfer.

Trivia

- Nihat's family name (Kahveci) means 'one who sells coffee.' Several people in Turkey adopted the name of their profession as their family name in the early 20th century, suggesting that Nihat's ancestors were involved in the coffee business.

- Like most Turkish players, his shirt carries his first name (Nihat) rather than his family name (Kahveci).