Szabolcs Huszti

The native form of this personal name is Huszti Szabolcs. This article uses the Western name order.
Szabolcs Huszti
Personal information
Date of birth18 April 1983
Place of birthMiskolc, Hungary
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing positionLeft winger
Club information
Current team
Changchun Yatai
Number10
Youth career
–1997Tapolca Bauxit
1997–2002Ferencváros
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2002–2005Ferencváros24(3)
2003–2004→ Sopron (loan)14(6)
2005–2006Metz18(1)
2006–2009Hannover 9681(17)
2009–2012Zenit St. Petersburg58(7)
2012–2014Hannover 9651(19)
2014–Changchun Yatai19(5)
National team
2004–2010Hungary51(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 April 2015.
† Appearances (Goals).

Szabolcs Huszti (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsɒbolt͡ʃ ˈhusti]; born 18 April 1983 in Miskolc) is a Hungarian footballer who plays for Changchun Yatai. He is well known for his dribbling, pace, passing and goal scoring ability from midfield.

Career

Ferencváros

Huszti (his surname meaning "from Huszt" now in Ukraine) began his professional career at the Hungarian club Ferencváros. Following a solitary first team appearance, he was loaned out to fellow top-flight team FC Sopron in December 2003. During this six-month stint, he scored goals in his 14 appearances. He was then called back to his parent club for the 2004–05 season, and began brightly, scoring on his return against Gyor and establishing himself as a regular starter.

Huszti's time in his native country wasn't to last beyond that one season. Despite interest from Rangers and West Bromwich Albion,[1] he was eventually sold to FC Metz of France's Ligue 1 in summer 2005. His new club was to endure a difficult season though, as they ended up suffering relegation. This was the catalyst for another move, as he transferred to German Bundesliga club Hannover 96 for just £210,000 in July 2006.

Hannover

He made his Bundesliga debut on 13 August 2006, against then-champions Werder Bremen. His versatility – being adept in both wide positions (despite his preferred left foot), amid the midfield or even as an advanced attacker – saw him become a permanent fixture in the team. He also managed six goals in his first season, the most memorable perhaps coming in a shock 1–0 victory at Bayern Munich.[2] Huszti returned a nemesis for Bayern Munich again when he scored from a wonderfully curved free kick in Hannover's 1–0 win at the start of the 2008–09 season. Hannover had not beaten Bayern at home for 20 years and thus Huszti had ended that drought.

In the 2007–08 season, he established himself as a key player at Hannover, who were having quite a successful season, always being placed in the upper half of the table. Huszti was certainly one of the most prominent midfielders in the German top division, having played all but one match for his team and scoring ten goals.

Zenit St. Petersburg

On 1 February 2009, he moved to FC Zenit St. Petersburg to replace Arsenal-bound Andrei Arshavin. He was also one of the main targets of Glasgow Celtic in the transfer period, but the Scottish club was outbid by Zenit's ₤2.5million offer.[3][4] He joined the team on the training camp in Turkey in early February 2009. He scored in his first official game on 18 February 2009 for FC Zenit St. Petersburg a goal against VfB Stuttgart, after 1.53 minutes in the UEFA Cup. He made his league debut two months later against FC Lokomotiv Moscow as a substitute of Viktor Fayzulin.

Hannover

On 23 July 2012, he returned to Hannover 96 signing a three-year contract until June 2015.[5] He gave 4 assists in his first match against VfL Wolfsburg.[6]

Changchun Yatai

On 16 July 2014, Hannover 96 announced Huszti's transfer to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai.[7] He scored his first goal in China on 3 August, which ensured Changchun beat the defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1.[8]

Club statistics

(Statistics correct as of 16 July 2014.)
Club Performance
Club Season Bundesliga DFB-Pokal DFB-Ligapokal Europe Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
Hannover 96 2013–14 301021——003211
2012–13 21920——1153414
Subtotal 51 19 4 1 — — 11 5 66 25
Club Season Russian Premier League Russian Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
FC Zenit St. Petersburg 2011–12 26430——10304
2010 13110——11152
2009 19220——21233
Subtotal 58 7 6 0 — — 4 2 68 9
Club Season Bundesliga DFB-Pokal DFB-Ligapokal — Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
Hannover 96 2008–09 17310————173
2007–08 331020————3510
2006–07 31431————345
Subtotal 81 17 6 1 — — — — 87 18
Club Season Ligue 1 French Cup League Cup — Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
FC Metz 2005–06 181——————181
Subtotal 18 1 — — — — — — 18 1
Club Season NB I Hungarian Cup — — Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
FC Sopron (loan) 2003–04 146——————146
Subtotal 14 6 — — — — — — 14 6
Club Season NB I Hungarian Cup — — Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
Ferencváros 2004–05 233——————233
2003–04 10——————10
2002–03 00——————00
Subtotal 24 3 — — — — — — 24 3
Grand total 217 44 15 2 — — 15 7 247 53

International career

He had also established himself as a regular member of the Hungary national team. He was first chosen during his time in Sopron, by then-manager Lothar Matthäus. His debut came on 25 April 2004 in a friendly with Japan, which he marked with a goal. Huszti scored his two goals for the national team in August 2004, in a Man of the Match display away to Scotland.

However, his international career suffered a setback when current manager Péter Várhidi suspended him from the national team until the end of the year in June 2007. Hungary took this disciplinary action after Huszti walked out of their training camp ahead of two European Championship qualifying games. The player claimed this was because he was unsure whether he would be named as a starter.[9]

In 2008, Huszti made a comeback for his country on 6 February, in a 1–1 draw against Slovakia.

On 9 September 2010, Huszti announced his retirement from the national team. He published an open letter following the Euro 2012 qualification match against Moldova in which he cited various reasons for his decision, including that he wants to focus on his club career and that he does not like the current atmosphere around the national team.[10]

On 27 September 2012, former Hungarian international and Hertha BSC midfielder, Pál Dárdai suggested discussing the controversies between Huszti and Hungarian national football team manager Sándor Egervári claiming that Huszti is now one of the best Hungarian players and could be very useful for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifications.[11]

On the social network Facebook a profile was even created by the Hungarian supporters to convince Huszti and Egervári to reconcile and convince Huszti return to the national side.

International statistics

As of 3 September 2010
National team Club Season Apps Goals
Hungary Sopron 2003–04 4 1
Ferencváros
2004–05 8 3
Metz
2005–06 7 1
Hannover
2006–07 9 1
2007–08 4 0
2008–09 6 0
Zenit
2009 8 1
2010 4 0
Total 51 7

Honours

Club

Ferencváros
Zenit

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Rangers target Hungary defender". The Sunday Herald. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Szabolcs Huszti vs Bayern München". 24 November 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Celtic target Szabolcs Huszti signs for Zenit". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Jacek Krzynowek zu 96" (in German). kicker.de. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Huszti zurück in Hannover" (in German). bundesliga.de. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "VfL Wolfsburg vs Hannover 96 Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "匈牙利国脚胡斯蒂将签约亚泰 具体待遇仍需商谈" (in Chinese). sohu. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "德拉甘解密为何总能赢恒大 就告诉队员不要怕要去拼" (in Chinese). sina. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Hungary suspend Huszti". theworldgame.sbs.com. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
  10. ↑ "Huszti: Ami most zajlik, annak köze sincs a realitáshoz. Az hülyítés. Az nevetséges." (in Hungarian). nso.hu. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "A sértettség nem állhat a válogatott érdekei elé". nb1.hu. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Huszti Szabolcs lett az év labdarúgója" (in Hungarian). origo.hu. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2006.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Szabolcs Huszti.