Nihat tap the ball into the net. He scored his second goal one minute later; a brilliant, curling strike from outside the box, helping Turkey win the match 3–2. Nihat was ruled out of Turkey's semi-final with Germany due to a thigh injury, which ultimately required surgery and prevented him from playing for Villarreal in the early part of the 2008–09 season. Coaching career On 6 July 2012, it was reported that Nihat has joined the coaching staff at his former club Villarreal as an assistant-manager of the youth team. Career statistics Club career International goals Scores and results list Turkey goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nihat goal. Honours Beşiktaş Turkish Cup: 1997–98, 2010–11 Turkish Super Cup: 1998 Turkey FIFA World Cup: third place: 2002 FIFA Confederations Cup: third place 2003 UEFA European Championship: semi-finals 2008 Individual Milliyet Sports Awards Footballer Of The Year: 2002 La Liga Best Foreign Player: 2002–03 Beşiktaş J.K. Squads of Century (Silver Team) References External links An editorial piece on the Nihat – Kovacevic partnership by sports writer Phil Ball 1979 births Living people Turkish footballers Association football forwards Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Real Sociedad footballers Villarreal CF players La Liga players Expatriate footballers in Spain Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Spain 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Turkey international footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkish expatriate footballers Süper Lig players Footballers from Istanbul Turkey youth international footballers People named in the Panama Papers