‘Wonderkid’ Emre Mor shines for Turkey before Euro 2016

The rising interest in him from several teams, which peaked after his appearance in a friendly against Montenegro late on May 29, added more to weight on his shoulders.

That was his debut game with the Turkish side and he could not help but tear up when the crowd in the Mediterranean city of Antalya began chanting his name. 

Bayer Leverkusen striker Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Barcelona’s Arda Turan were the first two players to congratulate him in the dressing room for a brilliant performance. 

The 19-year-old lives in a poor neighborhood in Copenhagen and is known for always taking the bus to the training pitch on time, as he is usually first to drop in and last to leave the field. 

He left school when he was 16 after being discovered by Bronshoj Boldklub in the outskirts of Copenhagen. 

His leg was broken during training in 2013, the year that he was refused by St. Etienn. This was the period Mor thought he would never make it back to the pitch but he overcame the injury thanks to heavy training. 
Unsurprisingly, Facebook and Instagram are where he spends most of his free time and he loves eating out with his manager Muzzi Özcan, who he sees as a second father. Pasta and meat are his favorites. 

Özcan stays at his house during his visits to the Danish capital and Mor usually lends him his bed in a show of respect, as he himself naps on the sofa. 

His father has one more month to spend in jail, where he’s serving a four-month sentence for causing injuries in a road accident while he was driving an uninsured car. Mor has been awaiting good news from him. 

He, indeed, chose Danish citizenship in September 2015. However, Turkey coach Terim’s aide, Abdullah Ercan, and manager Özcan repeatedly watched him play, before the head coach decided to make him a part of the bigger plan. Terim and his squad managed to talk him back to his Turkish passport and he was delivered his Turkish ID in Copenhagen following approval from his father. 

Mor loves watching Leonel Messi videos before a game but his biggest dream is to be a part of rival Galacticos. 

The prolific passer and striker carries Quran verses around his neck and kisses the amulet three times before and after each game. The quiet talent is nowadays also learning Turkish, a language that he can understand briefly but cannot speak. 

Experienced Turkish pundit İlker Yasin said he will have a great future in Turkish football with his talent and agility and might even do more if he protects his “European mentality and good character.
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“We have never seen such a thing before,” said Hakan Ünsal, a former Turkey international, adding that there was still more to come. “His sweet excitement and related hastiness was nice. But it was only a small part of his purebred talent.” 

Analyst and Hürriyet columnist Uğur Meleke said Mor has limitless self-confidence, something peculiar to his generation. 

“If he can put his talent into a team discipline, he will be a big-team player,” Meleke said.