Ádám Szalai

Ádám Szalai

Szalai in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Ádám Csaba Szalai
Date of birth	(1987-12-09) 9 December 1987
Place of birth	Budapest, Hungary
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Schalke 04
Number	28
Youth career
1994–2000	Honvéd
2000–2004	Újpest
2004–2006	VfB Stuttgart
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2007	VfB Stuttgart II	33	(5)
2007–2010	Real Madrid B	79	(23)
2010	→ 1. FSV Mainz 05 (loan)	15	(1)
2010–2013	1. FSV Mainz 05	64	(20)
2013–	Schalke 04	18	(5)
National team‡
2007	Hungary U20	11	(6)
2007–2008	Hungary U21	6	(5)
2009–	Hungary	19	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 January 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2013

Ádám Csaba Szalai (born 9 December 1987) is an Hungarian footballer who plays as a striker for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.

Club career

Early years / Stuttgart

Szalai started his career in his hometown of Budapest, playing for Budapest Honvéd FC and Újpest FC. In 2004 he moved to Germany to complete his formation, spending two years in the youth ranks of VfB Stuttgart.

In the 2006–07 season Szalai made his senior debuts, playing with the B-team in Regionalliga Süd.

Real Madrid Castilla

In August 2007 Szalai was transferred to Real Madrid Castilla, the reserve team of Real Madrid, for approximately €500.000.^[1]

In his second season in Segunda División B – the only division in which he competed during his spell in Spain – he scored 16 goals in 37 games, but the team could only rank sixth, thus missing out on the playoffs.

Mainz

On 9 January 2010 Real Madrid loaned Szalai to 1. FSV Mainz 05, until June.^[2] He made his Bundesliga debut seven days later, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 2–4 away loss against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.^[3]

Szalai scored his first goal for Mainz in a 1–0 home win over Borussia Dortmund on 10 April 2010.^[4] He netted his second against FC Bayern Munich on 25 September in a 2–1 away win, with a powerful shot into the top corner in what was the Rhineland-Palatinate outfit's sixth consecutive win of the campaign (in an eventual run of seven);^[5] on 14 January 2011, in a game against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the player sustained a knee injury – cruciate ligament – which sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign, in which he scored four goals in 20 games.

On 22 January 2012 Szalai returned to action with Mainz after his injury, playing the second half of a 2–3 loss at Leverkusen.^[6] On 1 August he signed a contract extension with the club running until June 2015^[7][8] and, on 27 October, scored his first hat-trick for the team in a 3–0 home victory against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.^[9]

On 10 February 2013 Szalai scored his 12th goal of the season against FC Augsburg, thereby becoming the most productive Hungarian goalscorer in a single German top division season, surpassing both Lajos Détári and Vasile Miriuta, whom netted 11 for Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1987–88 campaign and FC Energie Cottbus in 2000–01 respectively.^[10] On 15 April, Sky Sports published an article on the player where Horst Heldt, general manager of FC Schalke 04, reportedly showed interest in signing him, pending the club's qualification to the UEFA Champions League in order to fund the transfer.^[11]

Schalke 04

On 27 June 2013, Szalai signed a four-year contract with Schalke.^[12][13] After making his official debut against amateurs FC Nöttingen, for the season's DFB-Pokal, he played his first league match against Hamburger SV, scoring the hosts' last goal in a 3–3 draw after a shot from Christian Clemens was poorly handled by René Adler.^[14]

Szalai was instrumental in helping his team reach the group stage of the Champions League: after a 1–1 draw in the first leg against PAOK F.C.^[15] he grabbed a brace in the second match in Thessaloniki (3–2 win), and played the full 90 minutes on both occasions.^[16]

International career

Szalai featured regularly with the Hungarian under-21s. On 11 February 2009 he made his debut with the full side, replacing Zoltán Szélesi in the 84th minute of a 0–1 friendly loss to Israel. On 8 October of the following year, during a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against San Marino at the Puskás Ferenc Stadium, he scored three in a 8–0 win;^[17] four days later, in the same competition, he contributed with another to a 2–1 dramatic win in Finland.^[18]

On 29 February 2012, Szalai returned to the national team setup after his one-year injury with a goal against Bulgaria, in a friendly draw in Győr.^[19] On 7 September, in the nation's first 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier, he netted the third for the visitors in an eventual 5–0 triumph in Andorra.^[20]

On 16 October 2012 Szalai helped hosts Hungary battle back to beat Turkey 3–1, scoring the second after an assist from Tamás Kádár.^[21][22]

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	8 October 2010	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	San Marino	2–0	8–0	Euro 2012 qualifying
2.	8 October 2010	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	San Marino	4–0	8–0	Euro 2012 qualifying
3.	8 October 2010	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	San Marino	5–0	8–0	Euro 2012 qualifying
4.	12 October 2010	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	0–1	1–2	Euro 2012 qualifying
5.	29 February 2012	ETO Park, Győr, Hungary	Bulgaria	1–0	1–1	Friendly
6.	7 September 2012	Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	3–0	5–0	2014 World Cup qualification
7.	16 October 2012	Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest, Hungary	Turkey	2–1	3–1	2014 World Cup qualification

Honours

Individual

• Young Hungarian Player of The Year: 2008

Club statistics

Accurate as of 26 January 2014.^[23]

References

External links

• Ádám Szalai profile at magyarfutball.hu
• Ádám Szalai at fussballdaten.de (German)
• BDFutbol profile
• Ádám Szalai at National-Football-Teams.com
• Transfermarkt profile