- Pál Dárdai
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The native form of this personal name is Dárdai Pál. This article uses the Western name order.
Pál Dárdai 
Personal information Date of birth 16 March 1976 Place of birth Pécs, Hungary Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) Playing position Midfielder Youth career Pécsi Munkás Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1991–1995 Pécsi Munkás 68 (11) 1996 BVSC 22 (3) 1997–2011 Hertha BSC 297 (17) National team 1998–2010 Hungary 61 (5) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Pál Dárdai (born 16 March 1976) is a retired Hungarian footballer who played mainly a defensive midfielder.
In a 20-year professional career, he played for over a decade in the same team, Hertha BSC in Germany. With 286 Bundesliga appearances, he is the club's most capped player.
Contents
Club career
Born in Pécs, Dárdai started his professional career with local Pécsi Mecsek FC, moving in January 1996 to BVSC Budapest. He helped his new club finish second in both the league and cup.
In the same month of the following year, he signed with German second division side Hertha BSC, appearing in 10 games before the end of the season, with the club being promoted. In 1998–99, he contributed with 21 games (only six starts however) as the team finished in third position, only trailing vice-champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen by one point.
From then onwards, Dárdai became an essential first-team member for Hertha, as it qualified several times for the UEFA Cup. After appearing sparingly from 2004–06 (33 matches combined), he again featured heavily in the following years. From 2009, his appearances became less and less frequent: after only one game in the 2010–11 season - with The Old Lady eventually returning to the top level - and also being demoted to the reserve team, the 35-year old retired from football, having appeared in 286 first division games, more than any other player in the club's history.
Club statistics
Season Club Country Competition Matches Goals 1991–92 Pécsi Munkás 
HungaryNBI 4 0 1992–93 Pécsi Munkás HungaryNBI 10 1 1993–94 Pécsi Munkás HungaryNBI 10 1 1994–95 Pécsi Munkás HungaryNBI 30 4 1995–96 Pécsi Munkás HungaryNBI 14 5 1995–96 BVSC Budapest HungaryNBI 7 0 1996–97 BVSC Budapest HungaryNBI 15 3 1996–97 Hertha BSC 
Germany2. Bundesliga 10 0 1997–98 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 14 0 1998–99 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 21 1 1999–00 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 15 1 2000–01 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 24 2 2001–02 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 27 3 2002–03 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 29 4 2003–04 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 29 0 2004–05 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 17 0 2005–06 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 16 2 2006–07 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 28 3 2007–08 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 23 0 2008–09 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 26 1 2009–10 Hertha BSC GermanyBundesliga 17 0 2010–11 Hertha BSC Germany2. Bundesliga 1 0 International career
Dárdai began playing for Hungary with the U21s, in 1996. He made his senior debut in a friendly against Slovenia on 19 August 1998, and scored his first international goal on 10 October, in an UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Azerbaijan, in the 58th minute of a 4–0 triumph.
Often cast as starting central midfielder alongside Krisztián Lisztes, under managers Bertalan Bicskei and Imre Gellei, Dárdai captained the national side seven times during 2006, netting twice. On 15 November 2006, he was not included in Péter Várhidi's provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2008 qualifiers, but featured in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying stages, as Hungary was now managed by Erwin Koeman.[1]
Pál Dárdai: International goals Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 10 October 1998 Baku 
Azerbaijan1–0 4–0 Euro 2000 qualifying 2 7 September 2002 Reykjavík 
Iceland2–0 2–0 Friendly 3 20 November 2002 Budapest 
Moldova1–1 1–1 Friendly 4 30 May 2006 Manchester 
England1–2 1–3 Friendly 5 24 May 2006 Zenica 
Bosnia and Herzegovina3–0 3–1 Euro 2008 qualifying Honours
Team
- BVSC:
- Hungarian Cup: Runner-up 1995–96
- Hertha:
- 2. Bundesliga: 2010–11
- German League Cup: 2001, 2002; Runner-up 2000
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006
Individual
- Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2006[2]
- Hertha BSC most capped player (366 times)
Personal life
Dárdai is married and has three sons: Pál, Márton and Bence. His brother, Balázs, also a footballer, died during a friendly match in 20 July 2002. He was only 23 years old.
Dárdai's father, also named Pál Dardái, was also a footballer.[3]
References
- ^ "Dardai: Anything is possible". FIFA.com. 1 September 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=867118.html#dardai+anything+possible. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
- ^ "Dárdai Pálé a Magyar Aranylabda" (in Hungarian). Sport Geza. 14 November 2006. http://sportgeza.hu/futball/aranyl1114/. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
- ^ "Pál Dárdai Sr.". Player History. http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=player_details&playerID=178677. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
External links
- Pál Dárdai at fussballdaten.de (German)
- Pál Dárdai at National-Football-Teams.com
Categories:- 1976 births
- Living people
- People from Pécs
- Hungarian footballers
- Association football midfielders
- Pécsi Mecsek FC players
- BVSC Budapest footballers
- Fußball-Bundesliga players
- Hertha BSC players
- Hungary international footballers
- Hungarian expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Germany
- Hungarian expatriates in Germany
- BVSC:
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