Szilárd Németh (; ; born 8 August 1977), also known mononymously as Szilárd, is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a striker.
After playing for clubs in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, he spent four and a half seasons at Middlesbrough of the Premier League from 2001 to 2006. After a brief stint at France's RC Strasbourg, he played for Alemannia Aachen in Germany until his retirement in 2010.
Németh was at that time the highest scorer in the history of the Slovakia national team, with 22 goals in 58 matches from 1997 to 2006.
Club career Early career Németh started his career with Slovan Bratislava before moving to eastern Slovakia to join 1. FC Košice. After making an impact at both clubs, in 1998 Németh moved to giants of the region, Czech team Sparta Prague for record fee of 35 million CZK (€1.3 million). He subsequently returned to Slovakia, signing for Inter Bratislava. He won consecutive Slovak First Football League titles in 1999–2000 and 2000–01, finishing as the league's top scorer on both occasions.
Middlesbrough Amid rumoured interest from Inter Milan, he eventually signed for English side Middlesbrough on 12 April 2001 for £2.1 million on a five-year contract. Earlier that season, he had a trial at their local rivals Sunderland.
Németh scored 23 goals in 117 Premier League appearances for the club. He became known as the Lizard King of Teesside and Slovakian Express for scoring regularly off the bench. Németh was part of Middlesbrough's 2004 League Cup-winning team, despite not making the squad for the final. He also featured as they contested the UEFA Cup in the next two seasons. During his time in the Premier League, he scored in wins over Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
The 2005–06 season saw Németh turn down numerous transfer offers, including UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow. He faced competition up-front that season from Yakubu, Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Massimo Maccarone, leading to his exit in January.
Later career On 25 January 2006, Németh was sold to French club RC Strasbourg for a 'nominal fee'. Their season ended with relegation from Ligue 1, and he was released.
On 28 August 2006, he agreed to join the German Bundesliga club Alemannia Aachen in a two-year deal. Németh spent most of his first season on the sidelines because of a pulmonary embolism. In May 2008, he signed a contract extension with Aachen until the end of the 2009–10 season. In the winter of 2010–11, he opted to retire from football due to health problems.
International career Németh scored 22 times in 58 matches for Slovakia between 1997 and 2006. His debut was a 4–0 friendly win against Belarus at the Štadión pod Zoborom in Nitra on 2 February 1997, replacing Róbert Semeník for the final 26 minutes. He scored his first goal on his third cap on 5 February 1997, in a 2–2 draw away against Costa Rica. Németh's last goal came in his 55th international on 1 March 2006, in an away friendly win over France. His last game was on 6 September 2006, in qualification for Euro 2008, a 3–0 home defeat to the Czech Republic. He was the country's highest-scorer until Róbert Vittek broke the record, and is their seventh most-capped player.
Personal life Németh belongs to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.
Career statistics Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Németh goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Szilárd NémethNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 5 February 1997 Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica 1–1 2–2 Friendly2 7 February 1998 Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus 1–0 2–1 1998 Cyprus International Football Tournament3 8 September 1999 Mestský štadión, Dubnica, Slovakia 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying4 16 August 2000 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia 1–1 1–1 Friendly5 7 October 2000 Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova 1–0 1–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification6 15 November 2000 Diagoras Stadium, Rhodes, Greece 1–0 2–0 Friendly7 27 February 2001 Stade 5 Juillet 1962, Algiers, Algeria 1–1 1–1 Friendly8 28 March 2001 Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia 1–0 3–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification9 2–110 5 September 2001 Štadión na Sihoti, Trenčín, Slovakia 2–1 4–2 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification11 21 August 2002 Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic 1–0 1–4 Friendly12 12 October 2002 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia 1–0 1–2 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying13 2 April 2003 Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia 2–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying14 3–015 30 April 2003 Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia 1–1 2–2 Friendly16 2–217 10 September 2003 Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying18 8 September 2004 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia 5–0 7–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification19 9 October 2004 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia 1–1 4–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification20 8 June 2005 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg 1–0 4–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification21 12 November 2005 Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, Spain 1–2 1–5 2006 FIFA World Cup European Qualification Playoffs22 1 March 2006 Stade de France, Paris, France 1–0 2–1 Friendly
Honours Slovan Bratislava Slovak First Football League: 1994–95, 1995–96 Slovak Cup: 1996–97
Inter Bratislava Slovak First Football Leaguea: 1999–2000, 2000–01 Slovak Cup: 1999–2000, 2000–01
Middlesbrough Football League Cup: 2003–04
Individual Slovak Footballer of the Year: 2000 Slovak First Football League top scorer: 1999–2000, 2000–01
References
External links