Hamit Altıntop (born 8 December 1982 in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany) is a German-born Turkish national footballer. He is a versatile midfielder and can play either in a defending or attacking role. He is well known for his flair of long-shot ability, as shown when he played for Schalke 04 and so far with Bayern Munich. He is the identical twin brother of footballer Halil Altıntop, who was born 10 minutes after Hamit. Halil plays for Schalke 04.[1] Schalke Altıntop started his professional career in local German club Wattenscheid in 2000 along with his brother. As successful performances grabbed the attention of bigger clubs, he was transferred to Schalke 04 in 2003, where he played in a primarily defensive midfield role. In the 2006–07 summer transfer window, Schalke signed his brother Halil from Kaiserslautern. Schalke came second in the Bundesliga, only pipped by VfB Stuttgart by two points. Bayern Munich Hamit joined Bayern Munich for the 2007–2008 season on a free transfer from Schalke 04. He scored his first goal in his first game for Bayern when they faced the Brazilian champions São Paulo. Munich went on winning the game 2-1 after his spectacular free-kick. Remaining as one of Munich's starters, he scored another left-foot goal out of 30 meters distance against Werder Bremen in the Liga-Pokal. Munich completed the match with a 4-1 victory. Altıntop also scored against Aberdeen in the first leg of their tie in the UEFA Cup competition on 14 February 2008. The initial penalty kick was saved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield, however Altıntop was quick to score the rebound. The match finished 2-2.[2]