Erik Jendrišek

Erik Jendrišek

Personal information
Full name	Erik Jendrišek
Date of birth	(1986-10-26) 26 October 1986
Place of birth	Trstená, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club	Energie Cottbus
Number	26
Youth career
	Ružomberok
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2006	Ružomberok	56	(30)
2006–2007	Hannover 96	9	(0)
2007–2010	1. FC Kaiserslautern	90	(34)
2010	Schalke 04	3	(0)
2011–2013	SC Freiburg	36	(2)
2013–	Energie Cottbus	0	(0)
National team‡
2008–	Slovakia	35	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 April 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2013

Erik Jendrišek (born 26 October 1986) is a Slovak football striker who plays for Energie Cottbus.^[1]

Club career

Ružomberok

Jendrišek was the best youth player in Slovakia during the 2002–03 season. Playing as a professional with Ružomberok between 2003 and 2006, he scored 30 goals in 56 league games. In 2006, he won the Slovak league and cup double with the club, also being the country's top goalscorer for the 2005–06 season with 21 goals, alongside Róbert Rák.

Hannover

In the summer of 2006, Jendrišek was signed by Hannover 96 on a season-long loan deal with the option of a permanent deal at the end of the season.^[2] He made his competitive debut for the club on 9 September 2006 in the first round of the 2006–07 DFB-Pokal, coming on as a substitute in their 3–2 away win at Dynamo Dresden. He went on to make his Bundesliga debut on 23 September 2006 in a 1–1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen, once again coming on as a substitute. However, he never managed to find his place as a first-team regular with Hannover, finishing the season with only nine Bundesliga appearances on his tally, all of them as a substitute.

Kaiserslautern

On 30 May 2007, Jendrišek moved to Kaiserslautern on a three-year contract.^[3] He made his Kaiserslautern debut on 4 August 2007 in their 4–0 away win against SV Wilhelmshaven in the first round of the 2007–08 DFB-Pokal. His league debut for Kaiserslautern came on 13 August 2007 in the club's opening match of the season, a 1–1 draw at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach. He quickly established himself as a regular with the club, scoring five goals in 16 league appearances during the first half of the season. He also recorded three assists during that period of the season.

However, the second half of the season was not very successful for him as he failed to score any goals in ten league appearances, only recording one assist. Additionally, he was temporary suspended from the club's first team by coach Milan Šašić over lack of discipline. Instead of accepting a fine and return to first-team action, he chose to be relegated to the club's reserve team, where he played four fourth-division games during March and April 2008.^[4] He later apologised and accepted the fine.^[5] In his last match for the reserves, he scored a hat-trick in the team's 5–2 away win at TuS Mechtersheim. Shortly thereafter, he permanently returned to first-team action.

In Kaiserslautern's opening match of the 2008–09 season, a 3–3 away draw at Mainz 05, Jendrišek came on as a half-time substitute after the team went 3–0 down in the first half and went on to score two goals in two minutes midway through the second half to level the score. He scored another brace on 17 November 2008 in Kaiserslautern's 6–0 win over Hansa Rostock and went on to finish the 2008–09 season as the club's top goalscorer, scoring 14 goals in 33 league appearances.

In the 2009–10 season, he was again Kaiserslautern's top goalscorer in the league, netting 15 goals in 31 appearances as the club finished top of the Second Bundesliga to return to the top flight after four years.

Schalke 04

On 29 April 2010, it was announced that Jendrišek will leave Kaiserslautern at the end of the 2009–10 season, moving to Schalke 04 on a three-year contract.^[6] Jendrišek spent most of his time in Schalke 04 warming the bench. In 2010, Schalke 04 brought two new top strikers into the club, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl, and Jendrišek didn't get an opportunity to play for Schalke 04 on regular basis. On 19 January 2011, it was announced that he will leave the club and move to another German Bundesliga club, SC Freiburg for €900000.^[7]

SC Freiburg

Jendrišek scored his first goal with SC Freiburg during a 3–0 victory against Vfl Wolfsburg on 27 August.

International career

Jendrišek has been capped for the Slovak national under-21 team before making his debut for the country's senior national team on 11 October 2008 in their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against San Marino. On 11 February 2009, he scored his first senior international goal in a friendly match against Cyprus, netting the second goal in his team's 3–2 defeat.^[8]

On 1 April 2009, Jendrišek scored his first competitive international goal at senior level, netting the decisive second goal in Slovakia's 2–1 away victory against the Czech Republic in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.^[9]

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Jendrišek featured in all three of Slovakia's group stage matches.^[10]

References

External links

• Erik Jendrišek at worldfootball.net
• Erik Jendrišek at transfermarkt.de (German)
• Erik Jendrišek at fussballdaten.de (German)

v t e Slovakia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Mucha 2 Pekarík 3 Škrtel 4 Čech 5 Zabavník 6 Štrba 7 Weiss 8 Kozák 9 Šesták 10 Sapara 11 Vittek 12 Perniš 13 Hološko 14 Jakubko 15 Stoch 16 Ďurica 17 Hamšík (c) 18 Jendrišek 19 Kucka 20 Kopúnek 21 Saláta 22 Petráš 23 Kuciak Coach: Weiss