About Tuncay Şanlı
Tuncay Şanlı (Turkish pronunciation: [tunˈdʒaj ˈʃanɫɯ]; born 16 January 1982), often known mononymously as Tuncay, is a Turkish former footballer. He naturally played as a striker, but was also positioned as an attacking midfielder and on either wing. He was in the Turkey team that finished in third place in both the 2003 Confederations Cup and the 2008 European Championships. With 22 international goals in 80 caps, he is Turkey's third-highest scorer of all time, and tenth-most capped player. Tuncay began his career with his local club, Sakaryaspor before joining one of the largest clubs in Turkey, Fenerbahçe in 2002. He became a popular player at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium and he made international headlines after he scored a hat-trick against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League in December 2004. After winning three Süper Lig titles with Fenerbahçe he left for English club Middlesbrough on a free transfer. Tuncay spent two seasons with Middlesbrough and won the player of the year award in 2009, but he was unable to help them avoid relegation. Following their relegation Tuncay joined Stoke City in August 2009 for a fee of £5 million. He was unable to earn a regular place under manager Tony Pulis and joined German side VfL Wolfsburg in January 2010. He failed to settle in Germany and returned to England in 2011–12 with Bolton Wanderers. Tuncay then went on to play for Bursaspor and Qatar side Umm Salal. On 8 December 2004, Tuncay became only the second person to ever score a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester United, and the first Turkish person to score a hat-trick in the Champions League. He signed a five-year contract with Fenerbahçe, and during this time, he won the Turkish league title on three occasions.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.