Melike Pekel (born 14 April 1995) is a German-born Turkish footballer who plays as a forward for the Turkey women's national team.[1][2][3][4]

Melike Pekel
Pekel with Turkey in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-04-14) 14 April 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Munich, Germany
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
FC Schrobenhausen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 TSV Schwaben Augsburg II 1 (0)
2012–2014 TSV Schwaben Augsburg 39 (20)
2014–2016 Bayern München II 43 (22)
2014–2016 Bayern München 1 (0)
2017 Metz 12 (5)
2017–2019 Paris Saint-Germain 14 (0)
2019Bordeaux (loan) 5 (0)
2019–2020 Metz 8 (0)
2020–2021 Le Havre 10 (0)
2021 Reims 5 (0)
2023–2024 Ingolstadt 13 (1)
International career
2015–2019 Turkey 26 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 January 2019

Early life

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Melike Pekel was born to Turkish immigrant parents in München, Germany on 14 April 1995.[2] After completing her vocational education in July 2015, she started to work as an optician in Schrobenhausen, Upper Bavaria, where she resides.[5]

Club career

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Melike Pekel of FC Bayern München, in the warm-up.

Pekel began her career in the youth team of FC Schrobenhausen in her hometown, and displayed her high footballer talent.[6] In the 2012–13 season, she started to play for the second team of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in the German Bezirksoberliga Schwaben. Already after one game in the same season, she was promoted to the first squad of the club, which competed in the Regionalliga Süd.[7] She scored in total 20 goals in 40 matches in two league seasons.[8] Pekel became the topscorer of the Regionalliga Süd in the 2013–14 season.[9]

For the 2014–15 season, FC Bayern München transferred her in the second team of the club to play in the 2. Bundesliga Frauen Süd.[7][9][10][11] In the 12th play day of the season on 7 December 2014, manager Thomas Wörle took her into the first squad in the Bundesliga Frauen match against 1. FFC Frankfurt. She appeared in two games for the first squad until the end of the season.[12][13] She enjoyed her team's champion title in the 2014–15 Bundesliga season.[5] In the 2015–16 season, Pekel returned to her place in the second squad of the club playing in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga Süd again.[14][15] As of 22 November 2015, she scored 15 goals in 26 games for her club.[8]

At the beginning of 2017, she left Munich and transferred to FC Metz-Algrange to play in the Division 1 Féminine.[16] She made her debut in the away game against ASPTT Albi on 5 February 2017.[17] Pekel scored her first and her team's only goal in the third minute in the home match against Olympique de Marseille on 26 February 2017.[18]

Ahead of the 2017–2018 season Pekel joined Paris Saint-Germain. With her playing time limited, Pekel went on loan to Bordeaux in 2019. In August 2019, Pekel re-signed with Metz.[19]

She later joined fellow French clubs Le Havre and Reims, in which she sustained recurring knee injuries and eventually left the latter in 2021.[20] In November 2023, following a two-year hiatus, she joined 2. Bundesliga club Ingolstadt for the 2023–24 season.[20] On 21 April 2024, she scored her first goal for Ingolstadt in a 2–1 away defeat against FSV Gütersloh 2009.[21]

International career

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Melike Pekel playing for Turkey national team.

Pekel was called up to the Turkey women's national team, and debuted in the friendly match against Albania on 19 August 2015.[5][13][22]

She took part in four of the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 5 matches for the Turkish nationals.[2][11][23] She appeared in three matches of the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 5.[2] On 1 March 2017, Pekel scored her first national goal against Romania in the 2017 Goldcity Women's Cup.[2]

She took part at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA preliminary round – Group 4 matches.[22][24] In the second match of the tournament, she scored a hat-trick in the match against Luxembourg on 8 April 2017.[25] She scored her team's only goal in the third game of the qualification tournament against Faroe Islands.[26]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 20 July 2017.[8]
Club Season League Continental National Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TSV Schwaben Augsburg 2012–13 Bezirksoberliga Schwaben 1 0 1 0
2012–13 Regionalliga Süd 19 4 19 4
2013–14 Regionalliga Süd 20 16 20 16
Total 40 20 40 20
FC Bayern München 2014–15 2. Bundesliga Frauen Süd 17 12 17 12
Frauen-Bundesliga 2 0 2 0
2015–16 2. Bundesliga Frauen Süd 16 7 9 0 25 7
2016–17 2. Bundesliga Frauen Süd 8 3 0 0 8 3
Frauen-Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 44 22 9 0 53 22
FC Metz-Algrange 2016–17 Division 1 Féminine 12 5 6 6 18 11
Total 12 5 6 6 18 11
Paris Saint-Germain FC 2017–18 Division 1 Féminine 14 0 0 0 14 0
Total 14 0 0 0 14 0
Career total 110 47 15 6 125 53

International

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International goals
(Friendly matches not included)
Date Venue Opponent Competition Result Scored
Turkey women's national team
8 April 2017 Tórshavn, Faroe Islands   Luxembourg 2019 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA preliminary round – Group 4 W 9–1 3,[25]
11 April 2017   Faroe Islands L 1–2 1,[26]

Honours

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Frauen-Bundesliga
FC Bayern München
Winners (1): 2014–15.[5]

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Spieltag/Tabelle: Staffel Süd: 2. Frauen-Bundesliga – Melike Pekel" (in German). Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Oyuncular – Futbolcular: Melike Pekel" (in Turkish). Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Fußball: Türkinnen chancenlos gegen Deutschland". Deutsch-Türkisches Journal (in German). 26 October 2015. Archived from the original on 28 October 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Melike Pekel (FC Bayern München)" (in German). Frauenfussball. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d Kaufmann, Roland (22 November 2015). "'Ohne Kicken fehlt mir einfach etwas'". Donau Kurier (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  6. ^ "'Fußball gehört ganz einfach zu meinem Leben'". Donau Kurier (in German). 18 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Melike Pekel besucht FC Paartal". Donau Kurier (in German). 19 July 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Persönliche Daten – Melike Pekel" (in German). FuPa. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b c Gerhardt, Ansgar (18 October 2014). "Herausforderung nach erstem Saisonsieg". Bietigheimer Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Pekel zu Bayern". Ausburger Allgemeine (in German). 16 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Fußballerin durch und durch". IN TV (in German). 6 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga, 2014/2015, 12. Spieltag" (in German). Deutscher Fussball-Bund. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Türkei im Porträt: Gegner der DFB-Frauen in Sandhausen" (in German). Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  14. ^ Schmidt, Luca (23 March 2015). "Frauenfußball: Wichs frühes Tor führt auf Siegesstraße". Südwest Presse (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2015.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "Melike Pekel – Einsätze 2. Bundesliga Süd" (in German). Südbadens Doppelpass. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  16. ^ Kaufmann, Roland (9 February 2017). "Neue Herausforderung in Frankreich". Donau Kurier (in German). Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Championnat de France de D1 2016–2017 – 13e journee" (in French). footofféminin. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Profitez de 100% de votre magazine" (in French). footofféminin. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Metz: Wieder am Ausgangspunkt". donaukurier.de (in German).
  20. ^ a b Kaufmann, Roland (15 November 2023). "Einst FC Bayern München und Paris St. Germain, jetzt FC Ingolstadt: Melike Pekel mit Neustart in der 2. Bundesliga" (in German). Donaukurier.
  21. ^ "FSV Gütersloh 2009 2–1 FC Ingolstadt 04" (in German). weltfussball.de. 21 April 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Friendly Match (Women's National Team) (Group Qualifying) Albania 1–0 Turkey". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  23. ^ "Das halbe Dutzend ist voll". Donau Kurier (in German). 4 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  24. ^ "Turkey 3–0 Montenegro". FIFA Women's World Cup. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  25. ^ a b "Turkey 9–1 Luxembourg". FIFA Women's World Cup. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Faroe Islands 2–1 Turkey". FIFA Women's World Cup. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
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