Zoltán Stieber

Football player infobox
playername = Zoltán Stieber


fullname = Zoltán Stieber
height =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1988|10|16
cityofbirth = Budapest
countryofbirth = Hungary
currentclub = Aston Villa
clubnumber = 56
position = Left Winger
youthyears = 2004–2005
2005–2007
youthclubs = Újpest
Aston Villa
years = 2007–
2007–2008
clubs = Aston Villa
→ Yeovil Town (loan)
caps(goals) = 00 (0)
15 (1)
nationalyears = 2006–2008
2008
nationalteam = Hungary U19
Hungary U20
nationalcaps(goals) = 05 (0)
01 (0)
pcupdate = 03:35, 6 October
ntupdate =

Zoltán Stieber (born October 16, 1988 in Budapest) is a Hungarian professional footballer who currently plays for Premier League side Aston Villa as either a winger or a striker.

Stieber is widely seen to possess a lot of potential, from sources at both club and country level. He initially played for Budapest-based Goldball '94 alongside younger brother Andriás, before moving to Hungarian giants Újpest. After impressing for the capital side, 'Zoli' was offered a trial with 3 top-flight English clubs. This subsequently lead to Arsenal signing Stieber as a 17 year-old, although the deal eventually fell through. He also had an unsuccessful trial with Manchester United prior to signing for Aston Villa. He signed his first professional contract with the club on January 4 2007 and also plays for Hungary U19.

2005/06 Season

Stieber signed a two-year contract with Aston Villa in May 2005 and quickly impressed Tony McAndrew with his performances for the Academy. In total, he made 30 appearances for the Academy, scoring 4 goals in his debut season. He was part of the squad that got to the Play-offs Final of the FA Premier Academy League in May 2006, which Villa lost 3-2 against Southampton. He also made 6 substitute appearances for the Reserves in the 2005/06 season.

2006/07 Season

Stieber appeared 13 times for Aston Villa Reserves in the 2006/07 season, scoring 2 goals, against Fulham and Chelsea. He was also involved in producing a memorable hat-trick of assists, to help gain victory over Reading in a 3-0 win.

In late May 2007, Stieber guided Aston Villa to success in the 2007 HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens, scoring a spectacular winner against City Academy Hong Kong to book a place in the knock-out stages. Stieber then went onto lead the Midlands club to victory against Urawa Red Diamonds, PSV and finally Central Coast Mariners FC to secure the trophy, in a competition which has brought notable success to Aston Villa in the past. Stieber's efforts in the competition were also rewarded with the Player of the Tournament trophy - succeeding last years winner - Gabriel Agbonlahor. After this success, Stieber was rewarded with a 3-year contract at Aston Villa - the longest given to any of the 7 contractee's - thus showing the promise and potential shown in the young Hungarian.

2007/08 Season

In July 2007, Stieber was given his first taste of first-team action, when he was called up to the senior squad for the tour of the U.S. and Canada. He made his debut against Toronto FC and heavily impressed against the Major League Soccer team, the Hungarian also appeared in a further pre-season match against Walsall, in which he assisted the first goal of the game.

Despite not making a competitive breakthrough to the senior team, 'Zoli' has so far made an extremely positive impression for Aston Villa Reserves this season, scoring against Fulham and Portsmouth and chalking up 6 assists in the opening 6 matches. This led the young midfielder to be awarded the first ever BBC Radio WM Young Player of the Month, on 20 September 2007.

On 22 November 2007, Stieber joined Coca Cola League One side Yeovil Town on loan until 1 January 2008 and scored his first goal days before his loan spell ran out, in the 2-1 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion. He made a massive impact for the Glovers and his loan deal was extended until the end of January. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Yeovil extend Stieber loan deal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/yeovil/7168066.stm |work= |publisher="BBC Sport" |date=2008-01-02 |accessdate=2008-01-02 ]

2008/09 Season

Like the previous season, Stieber was again involved with the first-team prior to the beginning of the new campaign. In early July 2008, Stieber was called upto a 21-man squad for the tour of Switzerland, but only played 20 minutes - all in the 6-0 victory over FC Wil 1900. Further appearances against Lincoln City, Walsall and Reading followed, the majority of which were played in an unaccustomed left-back role.

Honours

Aston Villa

* HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens
** Winner: 2007
** Player of the Tournament: 2007
* FA Premier Academy League
** Runners-Up: 2005/06
* BBC Radio WM Young Player of the Month
** Winner: September 2007

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=48098
* [http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=199520 Zoltán Stieber page on xtratime.org] en icon