Colin Kazim-Richards has vowed to continue proving the doubters wrong after his Euro 2008 displays.
Turkey forward eager to build on Euro 2008 displays
Colin Kazim-Richards has vowed to continue proving the doubters wrong after his spectacular rise to prominence with Turkey.
Three years ago, Kazim-Richards was plying his trade in League Two with Bury before moving on for unremarkable stints with Brighton and Sheffield United.
Now the forward has a European Championship semi-final appearance under his belt, to go with the UEFA Champions League quarter-final outing for Fenerbahce against Chelsea earlier this year.
And while Turkey suffered heartbreak against Germany, going down 3-2 to Philipp Lahm's last-gasp strike despite dominating for long periods, Kazim-Richards is delighted to be displaying his talents on the international stage.
Motivate
He told the
Daily Star: "I pray to God that my career can keep going the way it's going.
"I think I've proved a lot of people wrong and I just hope that the people who doubt me, keep doubting me, because it motivates you.
"Some people said to me two years ago that I will never be anything, but look at me now.
"I think I had a good game even though we lost in the semi-final against Germany."
Impossible
One man who clearly still needs convincing is Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, who signed Kazim-Richards when he was in charge at Brighton.
The relationship between the duo quickly turned sour and the forward was shipped out of the Withdean Stadium after just one season.
McGhee told
The Argus: "Colin Kazim-Richards made it impossible for us to keep him.
"We brought him to Brighton because he had potential but he was impossible to work with.
"I can't say anything positive about the boy apart from he had potential and he has still got potential. How he is in the Turkey team I don't know but their manager has taken them to the last four so he knows what he's doing."
