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The coach has celebrated his birthday, but what has he achieved in his career before he arrived in Kenya?
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat celebrated his 53rd birthday on Sunday as Kenya prepare to feature in a Four-Nation tournament.
As the Turkish coach turns a year older, Pulse Sports takes you through the coach’s life and surprising achievements that have not been much highlighted before.
The coach graduated from Sports University in Germany before he started his professional career as an assistant coach for German manager Horst Hrubesch at Samsunspor in 1997.
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He was 27 then, and this meant he became the youngest professional football coach in Europe. He and Hrubesch helped Samsunspor finish the season in fifth place in Super Lig.
Between the years 2000 and 2002, he worked as the technical staffer for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
Thereafter, he moved to Turkish heavyweights Fenerbahce and worked as an assistant coach for German manager Werner Lorant in 2002. In that season, they finished second, but a 6-0 win over arch-rivals Galatasaray was the highlight of the season.
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Together with Lorant, he returned to Germany and took over LR Ahlen, and when Lorant resigned, Firat became the head coach and only oversaw three games.
This made him only the second Turkish head coach in German Bundesliga history, after Mustafa Denizli.
He was appointed coach of the Moldova national team in October 2019 and managed to establish a recognizable playing style.
While in charge, he produced memorable results that included a 2-1 win over then World Cup champions France in Paris.
He also led his team to a goalless draw against Russia and was chosen as the 2019 head coach of the year in Moldova.
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In 2014, Firat had an opportunity to work with the Turkish giants Galatasaray as an assistant manager, but he ended up turning down the offer because he did not want to work with Cesare Prandelli.
At the time, numerous reports indicated that he was close to being appointed head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. This did not happen in the end.
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