| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 April 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Bratislava, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Trabzonspor | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2003 | Slovan Bratislava | 101 | (47) |
| 2003–2008 | 1. FC Nuremberg[1] | 124 | (36) |
| 2008–2010 | Lille | 38 | (7) |
| 2010 | → Ankaragücü (loan) | 12 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Ankaragücü | 12 | (1) |
| 2011– | Trabzonspor | 1 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001– | Slovakia | 79 | (23) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Róbert Vittek (born 1 April 1982 in Bratislava) is a Slovak football player who currently plays for Trabzonspor in Turkey.
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Vittek began his career with hometown club Slovan Bratislava in 1999. He came to Nuremberg in 2003, while the club was still in the 2. Bundesliga, helping the team earn a promotion for the 2004–05 campaign.
Vittek scored five goals in the 2004–05 campaign and seemed to be slumping toward mediocrity in the first half of the 2005–06 season, as he failed to score in the first 17 matches before the winter break. Then without warning, he became one of the most thrilling players in the Bundesliga in the second half of the season, scoring 16 goals in the final 16 games. He made league history in Spieltag 24 and 25, becoming the first Bundesliga player to score a combined six goals in two consecutive games. In all, Vittek had five multi-goal games on the season, and his 16 goals were good for fifth place on the Bundesliga scoring charts. Vittek's rise was mirrored by his team as 1. FC Nuremberg rose from near-relegation to eighth place.
His sparkling 2005–06 performance has made Vittek a sought after commodity in European football. Hamburger SV was the main Bundesliga club rumored to be courting Vittek. Dynamo Kiev offered a €10 million transfer fee for Vittek in June 2006, but Nuremberg rejected the offer. Lokomotiv Moscow was also reported to have interest in Vittek's services. Struggling to get to previous form, he went to play to French club Lille for a reported €5.5 million in 2008.
On 1 February 2010 Vittek left the French club and signed a half year loan deal with MKE Ankaragücü.[2] Finally, Ankaragücü bought his transfer fee from Lille.[3][4]
On 1 September 2011, Vittek signed a two-year contract for Turkish club Trabzonspor. The transfer fee was 600,000 €.[5]
Vittek has also been part of the Slovak national team since 2001. With 75 national team caps under his belt, only Miroslav Karhan has seen more national team action than Vittek on the current roster. Vittek scored Slovakia's first ever goal at a World Cup, netting in the 1–1 draw with New Zealand on 15 June 2010.[6] Vittek also scored two goals against defending World Cup holders Italy on 24 June 2010 to knock them out of the competition and subsequently ensure Slovakia progress to the 2010 FIFA World Cup knockout stage.[7] On 28 June 2010, Slovakia lost 2–1 to the Netherlands in their first knockout stage match, in which Vittek converted a last-minute penalty to become Slovakia's top international scorer. With 4 goals in the competition, he also became the joint top scorer at the stage that Slovakia were knocked out.[8] He scored only one goal less than the winner of the golden boot, Thomas Müller, who scored five. That placed him sixth in the records.
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