Imre Szabics

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The native form of this personal name is Szabics Imre. This article uses the Western name order.
Imre Szabics
Personal information
Full nameImre Szabics
Date of birth (1981-03-22) 22 March 1981
Place of birthSzeged, Hungary
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionStriker
Youth career
1990–1995Szeged LC
1995–1999Ferencváros
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998–1999Ferencváros24(12)
1999–2003Sturm Graz89(23)
2003–2005VfB Stuttgart49(14)
2005–20061. FC Köln11(1)
2006–2007Mainz 0520(2)
2007–2010FC Augsburg54(8)
2010–2013Sturm Graz38(11)
National team‡
1996–1997Hungary U-152(0)
1999–2000Hungary U-181(0)
1998–2000Hungary U-2111(3)
2003–2013Hungary36(13)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 May 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 March 2013

Imre Szabics (born 22 March 1981) is a former Hungarian footballer who played at last as a striker for Austrian club SK Sturm Graz.

Club career

Ferencváros

Imre Szabics was born in Szeged and started to play football at local club Szeged LC in 1990, spending five years with the club before leaving it for Ferencvárosi TC in 1995. Szabics immediately became the favourite player of the fans of the club since he scored 12 goals in 24 matches.

Sturm Graz

Szabics was signed by the Austrian SK Sturm Graz. He played for the Austrian club from 1999 to 2003. He played in the UEFA Champions League 1999-00 season where Sturm qualified for the second group stages. His last season at Sturm was especially successful for him as he became the club's top goalscorer by scoring 11 goals in 27 Bundesliga appearances that season. In May 2003 Szabics was sacked from Sturm because of his "non-compliance with work regulations".[1]

Stuttgart

Szabics subsequently went on to move to Germany by signing with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2003,[2] spending two seasons with the club. He appeared in a total of 49 Bundesliga matches and scored 14 goals for VfB Stuttgart in the league (and played in seven matches in the Champions League season of 2003/04, scoring twice, a.o. against Manchester United). After a less successful season 2004/05, in which he was mostly only used as a substitute, the striker moved to another Bundesliga side, 1. FC Köln, in the summer of 2005.

Köln

In June 2005 Szabics was signed by the German 1. FC Köln.[3] However, Szabics did not have much success at this club, collecting only 11 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal in the league before they were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga with a 17th-place finish. He went on to sign a two-year contract with Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 in early August 2006. After initially being a first-team striker, he got unlucky again later, being relegated to the bench in the second half of the season.

Augsburg

After having played in 20 games for Mainz, scoring twice, Imre was transferred to 2nd Bundesliga newcomers FC Augsburg in the summer of 2007. There, he played in eight games at the start of the season, scoring twice, before he was sidelined by an injury at the end of September. The 26-year old has yet to make his comeback for the Swabian side.

Sturm Graz

On 1 May 2010, it was announced that Szabics will return to his former club SK Sturm Graz for the 2010/2011 season. Szabics won the Austrian Football Bundesliga in 2011. Szabics's team faced with Hungarian League winner Videoton in the qualifiers of the UEFA Champions League 2010–11 season. It was a special tie for Szabics because he has not played against a Hungarian club since he left his home country.[4] He scored the first goal of his team and beating Videoton by 2-0 at home. In the away match Sturm lost to 3-2 but qualified for the next round. In September 2013 Szabics announced his retirement from football.

International career

Szabics made his debut for Hungary in their friendly match against Luxembourg on 30 April 2003[5] and went on to score two goals in a 5-1 victory for the Hungarians.[6] He subsequently went on to make four appearances and score four goals for Hungary in the Euro 2004 qualifying, including a brace in his competitive debut and the team's 3-1 home victory over Latvia on 7 June 2003. He also played for Hungary in five matches of the 2006 World Cup qualifying and scored one goal, the 3-2 winner against Iceland at home in the team's second match of the qualifying. Hungary failed to qualify for any of the two tournaments by finishing fourth in their groups in both of the two qualifying campaigns. After the injuries of Rudolf, Priskin, and Szalai, he was called up for Hungary again after 4 years in 3 June 2011. Going in as a substitute for the second half, Szabics scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute. On 2 September 2011, Szabics scored against Sweden at the Puskás Ferenc Stadium in the last minutes of the first half. However, Sweden equalized in the second half. A late goal by Szabics's fellow striker Gergely Rudolf resulted the celebration of 25,000 spectators after beating Sweden in the Euro 2012 qualifying by 2-1.[7]

Career statistics

Imre Szabics: International Goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 30 April 2003 Budapest  Luxembourg 2-1 5–1 Friendly
2 30 April 2003 Budapest  Luxembourg 5-1 5–1 Friendly
3 7 June 2003 Budapest  Latvia 1-1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
4 7 June 2003 Budapest  Latvia 2-1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
5 11 June 2003 Serravalle  San Marino 4-0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
6 11 October 2003 Budapest  Poland 1-1 1–2 UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
7 18 February 2004 Paphos, Cyprus  Armenia 1-0 2–0 Friendly
8 8 September 2004 Budapest  Iceland 3-2 3–2 FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
9 24 May 2006 Budapest  New Zealand 2-0 2–0 Friendly
10 3 June 2011 Luxembourg  Luxembourg 1-0 1–0 Friendly
11 7 June 2011 Serravalle  San Marino 2-0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2012 Qual.
12 2 September 2011 Budapest  Sweden 1-0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2012 Qual.
13 6 February 2013 Belek, Turkey  Belarus 1-0 1–1 Friendly

Honours

Club

Sturm Graz

VfB Stuttgart

FC Augsburg

  • 2. Bundesliga
    • Third place 2009–10

Individual

  • Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2003

References

  1. ↑ "Sturm sack Szabics". UEFA.com. 7 May 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  2. ↑ "Szabics leaves Sturm for Stuttgart". UEFA.com. 12 June 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  3. ↑ "Köln land Szabics coup". UEFA.com. 9 June 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  4. ↑ "Sturm strike late to leave Videoton facing uphill task". UEFA.com. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  5. ↑ "Szabics gets Hungary call". UEFA.com. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  6. ↑ "Szabics shines on debut". UEFA.com. 30 April 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Rudolf strikes gold as Hungary beat Sweden". UEFA. 2 September 2011. 

External links

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