Tayfur made his debut against Macedonia in Skopje five years ago as a second-half substitute but was overlooked for the following 28 matches.

His first full cap finally came in June 1997, against Croatia.

He began his career as a defender with Fenerbahce before moving to Kocaelispor.

There he moved into midfield and helped the club to their only major honour, the Turkish Cup in 1997.

The defensive midfielder picked up another Cup winner's medal the following season, but by then he had moved on to Besiktas.

He has been at the Turkish giants ever since and played in the Champions League as well as helping Turkey through their World Cup qualifying campaign.