Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Former Owl Deniz Bozkurt Signs Pro Contract
8/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
After spending the summer training and playing with the Puerto Rico National Team, former Florida Atlantic men's soccer player Deniz Bozkurt has signed a professional contract with Regionalliga's Rot Weiss Ahlen.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Bozkurt. "I am so happy. Words won't do any justice to explain exactly how great I feel."
The Regionalliga is the fourth division in the German football league. Rot Weiss Ahlen is currently ranked 11th out of 19 teams in the league with a 1-2-1 record. Bozkurt has yet to play in a match with the team but is looking forward to showing them what he can bring to the team.
"This is only the beginning for me, and I must start working a lot harder now and show them what they got by signing me," said Bozkurt.
Prior to signing his contract, Bozkurt was training with the Puerto Rico National Team. He made his official international debut in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Grenada on June 12 in which he scored his first and the team's only goal to secure a 1-0 win.
"Scoring the goal for Puerto Rico had to be one of the greatest moments of my soccer career, especially since it helped us beat Grenada," said Bozkurt.
In January 2015, Bozkurt left FAU to train with VFL Wolfsburg, a member of the professional German football league Bundesliga. During his last season as an Owl, Bozkurt started eight of 11 games in which he appeared. The South Florida native scored two goals in the Owls' 4-3 overtime loss to conference opponent South Carolina. He also had three assists on the year with a shot on goal percentage of .357.
Men's soccer will begin the regular season at UCF on Friday, August 28 at 7 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.
