'I know what it's like' - Turkish striker chooses not to score after last defender pulls hamstring

The attacker has been lauded for his sportsmanship after electing not to convert a clear chance with his marker stricken

A lower-league Turkish striker performed an extraordinary act of sportsmanship in opting not to score a goal when a pursuing defender suffered injury.

During the match in the Turkish Regional Amateur League on Sunday, Kestelspor striker Mehmet Kucukdurmus found himself through on goal with one Yataganspor opponent in pursuit.

As Kucukdurmus approached the penalty area at speed, the chasing defender suffered a leg muscle injury and cut in front of the Kestelspor forward.

When seeing his marker had gone down, Kucukdurmus immediately stopped and instead of going on to have a shot on goal, he passed the ball in to touch.

Striker races through on goal 🏃‍♂️



Defender pulls up 🤕



Striker kicks the ball out 🙌



Fair play at its finest 👏 pic.twitter.com/8Xb47z2Kbc — Goal (@goal) February 4, 2020

In an interview with Goal, Kucukdurmus revealed his opponent's injury reminded him of his own issues with fitness and he just felt it wasn't fair if he scored.

“I went through a similar kind of injury and wasn’t able to play for 6-7 months," Kucukdurmus said.

"When i saw him stepping like that, i had a flashback of those bad days. I could’ve scored there but my conscience wouldn’t have let me. And it didn’t."

The video of Kucukdurmus' act of sportsmanship has been viewed millions of times on social media, with praise lavished upon the 25 year old.

But the player himself doesn't feel he deserves an award and believes the adulation of people is more important.

"I have no expectation of winning a fair-play award or something," Kucukdurmus said.

"Winning people’s heart is far more important for me."

Kucukdurmus is currently playing at the fifth level of Turkish domestic football with Kestelspor.

But he hasn't given up hope of playing in the top-flight Super Lig in the future.

"I would like to play for my hometown team Trabzonspor one day," he said.

"Anything can happen in football."

Kucukdurmus' Kestelspor are currently top of their league with 36 points in the first 16 weeks of the season.

The striker is also third-top scorer in the league with nine goals, but took home the golden boot award in the previous campaign.

"We are the leader in our group," Kucukdurmus said. "Of course, our only goal is championship.

"Even if I'm not the top scorer - I have already experienced this last season. I can say that my career goal is to be in higher leagues."