At 33 years of age, Hakan Yakin is one of the most experienced members of the Swiss national team. After spending most of his youth career with Concordia Basel, the attack-minded midfielder moved to FC Basel at 18 years of age.<\/P>
Two seasons with FCB preceded a move to Grasshoppers Zurich, though the 1.80m sharp-shooter was loaned out to St. Gallen after just six months at the Letzigrund Stadium. His eventual return to the club resulted in a positive one-and-a-half year stay before his 2001 transfer back to Basel. Yakin's most successful period to date followed, as he celebrated consecutive Super League titles in 2001 and 2002.<\/P>
A number of transfers around Europe, including spells at Paris St. Germain and VfB Stuttgart, ended with the 1.81m midfielder returning back to his homeland with Young Boys in 2005. Yakin enjoyed three successful years at the club, topping the domestic goalscoring charts for the 2007\/08 season.<\/P>
After almost a year in Qatar with Al-Gharafa, the Swiss star signed a deal with current club FC Lucerne in July 2009.<\/P>
Yakin made his international debut over ten years ago, making the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ the attacking midfielder's fourth major international tournament. After appearing at UEFA EURO 2004 and 2008, as well as Germany 2006, the 80-time international's experience on the big stage once again proved a factor in Ottmar Hitzfeld's squad selection for this year's spectacle.<\/P>
In qualifying for South Africa 2010, Yakin appeared in seven of Switzerland's ten matches, contributing considerably to his nation's table-topping campaign.<\/P>","8DC362CCE065919BCF40467C0DE6A7E8":"","18E9F76C307DDD99":"1245","2B5572269355781B0007104B7181FA88":"1977-2-22","FA149E2002A43ED77C24C62CDFF094A5":"4","5E8F53D0A504BF86":"Hakan Yakin","9EBD0BFF9766B31DEF99430639A2F292":"FC Schaffhausen","30A86FC0880FF75E":"180cm","4678B5349347B7EB":"78kg","A16D5E6475634BB1C2248B183B7E41495B218039EB2EF0A3":"1","0FCC2F07B9D0EBFD":"Istanbulspor","0A9B0394F31973591937C38F2F471911":"FC Schaffhausen,FC St.Gallen U-21","F27CBDD6332F20A59321B0F4E9CF2AB8":"999","09702F2B27619389F07D77F05427B135":"2023-10-16","e_index":1};