Gergely Rudolf (; born 9 March 1985) is a Hungarian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Rudolf was born in

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, sk, Níreďháza) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in t ...

Debrecen

Rudolf signed a contract with the Hungarian champion

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

in 2007. His first trophy was won against

Budapest Honvéd Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

by 4–1 on aggregate. The first leg finished 1–1 in the Bozsik Stadion. In the UEFA Champions League 2007–08 season Debrecen entered in the second qualifying round. Debrecen faced the Swedish champion

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

. Debrecen were eliminated from the Champions League 1–0 on aggregate. In the Hungarian League 2007–08 season Rudolf's team finished second while MTK became first. Debrecen won the Hungarian Cup in the 2007–08 season by beating Budapest Honvéd in the final 9–1 on aggregate. Debrecen played in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. In the first round of the Central-East region they drew in Kazakhstan against Shakhter Karagandy 1–1, while in the second leg they beat the Kazakh team by 1–0. Debrecen qualified for the second round by 2–1 on aggregate. In the second round Debrecen faced the Swiss

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

. Debrecen were eliminated from the UEFA Cup by 3–7 on aggregate. Rudolf won the 2008–09 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season after beating their provincial rivals

Diósgyőri VTK Diósgyőr-Vasgyári Testgyakorlók Köre, more commonly Diósgyőri VTK () is a Hungarian sports club from Diósgyőr district of Miskolc best known for its football team. Founded in 1910 by the local working class youth, the team plays in the ...

3–2 away. In the 2009–10 season, Debrecen played in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. After beating

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the cl ...

Levadia Tallinn Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home grou ...

, and

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

Debrecen reached the group stages of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League season. Rudolf scored a goal against Levski in the Puskás Ferenc Stadium. He was also successful against Fiorentina in the Champions League, a goal in Budapest and another in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. In 2010, it was obvious that Rudolf was going to leave Debrecen.

Genoa

In the summer of 2010 Rudolf signed a contract with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

In the 2010–11 Serie A season Rudolf played 17 matches for Genoa. On 16 October 2010, he scored his first Serie A goal against

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its ...

at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

, while Genoa lost 2–1. On 11 December Rudolf played his last match for Genoa against Napoli. In the second half of the season Rudolf was loaned by Genoa to fellow Serie A club AS Bari. In summer 2011 it was announced that Rudolf had been loaned to

Panathinaikos F.C. Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

for the 2011–12 season. In summer 2012 Rudolf terminated his contract with the Italian club.

Bari

Rudolf scored his first goal for Bari in

against

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnell ...

in his debut match which Bari lost 2–1. He scored his second goal against

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

in the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in front of the 48,000 spectators on 13 March 2011. The final result of the match was 1–1.

Panathinaikos

Rudolf signed a one-year loan contract with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

on 31 August 2011, the last day of the 2011–12 summer transfer window. He was officially presented to the fans on 14 September 2011. On 1 April 2012, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Aris F.C.

Diósgyőr

On 12 September 2012, Rudolf signed a three-year contract with

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignm ...

club

. He became the most valuable player of the 2012–13 Nemzeti Bajnokság season. On 13 August 2013, he terminated his contract with Diósgyőr claiming that he was not happy playing for them after Tomislav Sivić became the head coach of the Borsod county team. Rudolf was unable to be regain his position at the national team in his spell in Miskolc. He was able to score only once wearing Diósgyőr's shirt, a big disappointment for the club.

Győr

On 2 September 2013, Rudolf joined league rivals

Győri ETO FC ETO FC Győr (''Egyetértés Torna Osztály Futball Club Győr''; ''Concordance Gymnastics Department Football Club of Győr'') or just ETO, is a football club from the city of Győr in Hungary. They are best known for reaching the semi-finals of ...

signing a three-year contract with the 2012–13 Hungarian League winners. He scored his first goal wearing Győr's shirt against MTK Budapest in a 2–1 victory at the Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium on 15 September 2013.

Videoton

On 23 July 2015, Rudolf signed for

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

club

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: * Videoton (company), Hungarian electronics company *Fehérvár FC, formerly known as Videoton FC, Hungarian football club See also *Vidéotron Vidéotron is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable ...

. On 16 March 2016, he was banned from attending training at Videoton due to his low performance. Five days later, Videoton agreed to the termination of his contract. Zoltán Kovács, sports director for Videoton, said that Rudolf was unable to perform at that level the club had expected from him. Therefore, the termination of the contract was the best choice for both parties.

Nyíregyháza Spartacus

After almost four months of being a free agent, he signed for

Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC Nyíregyháza Spartacus is a football club from Nyíregyháza, Hungary. Formed in 1928, they've had brief stints in the Nemzeti Bajnokság III, they currently play in the second division. The team is locally referred to by their nickname, ''Szpa ...

. He stayed at the club until JAnuary 2018.

Balmazújvárosi FC

On 12 January 2018, he signed for

Balmazújvárosi FC Balmazújvárosi FC, also known by the sponsor name Balmaz Kamilla Gyógyfürdő or the company name Balmazújváros Sport, is a Hungarian football club located in Balmazújváros, Hungary. It currently plays in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. The team's ...

International career

Rudolf's path to the national team began in the under-17 team in 2001 to 2002. The following two years, he played for the under-19 team. Rudolf was a regular member of the Hungary national team squad in qualification for

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, and scored one of the goals in the 2–1 away defeat of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 10 September 2008. He also provided the assist for

Ákos Buzsáky Ákos Buzsáky (born 7 May 1982) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played in the Nemzeti Bajnokság for MTK Budapest and Ferencváros, the Primeira Liga for Porto, the Premier League for Queens Par ...

's goal in a

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

against Denmark on 14 October 2009. He scored his second international goal against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

in the Szusza Ferenc Stadium while Hungary beat Moldova 2–1 in the Euro 2012 qualifier. He netted twice against the

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

in the

Puskás Ferenc Stadium Puskás is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ferenc Puskás (1927–2006), Hungarian football player and manager **FIFA Puskás Award, the player judged to have scored the most aesthetically significant and "most beaut ...

in the Euro 2012 qualifier as Hungary beat San Marino 8–0 on home turf. Rudolf scored his sixth goal, the equaliser for 1–1 in 5–3 defeat to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Rudolf scored a goal in a 4–0 friendly win against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in August On 2 September 2011, Rudolf scored against

in the 90th minute helping his country to beat Sweden 2–1 in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. On 6 September, Rudolf scored the second goal in the Euro 2012 qualifier against

, securing a 2–0 away victory 2–0. Rudolf was called up to play for the national squad since, until early 2014, in which he scored a goal against Finland in his first match back with the team, in an eventual 2–1 loss.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rudolf goal''.

Honours

Nancy *

French League Cup The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Debrecen *

Hungarian National Championship I Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup ( hu, Magyar Kupa) is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association, the ''Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség,'' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of the Hungarian ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10 *

Hungarian Super Cup The Hungarian Super Cup is an annual association football match between the League ( Nemzeti Bajnokság I) champions and the Cup (Magyar Kupa) winners. Winners (*) due to violent incidents during the recent 1997–98 Magyar Kupa Final betwee ...

: 2009 *

Hungarian League Cup The Hungarian League Cup ( hu, Magyar Ligakupa) was an annual football tournament contested by clubs in the Hungarian League. It was created in 2007 and the competition only lasted for 8 seasons, being cancelled in 2015/2016. Ligakupa Finals The ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Panathinaikos *

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: runners-up 2011–12 Individual *Named in the

all-star team (nemzetisport.hu): 2008–09 *

József Bozsik József Bozsik (; 28 November 1925 – 31 May 1978) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent his entire club career at his hometown club, Budapest Honvéd. Bozsik was a key member of the legendary Golden Team as ...

Prize: 2009 * Zilahi Prize: 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf, Gergely 1985 births Living people People from Nyíregyháza Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian footballers Association football forwards Hungary international footballers Hungary youth international footballers AS Nancy Lorraine players Genoa C.F.C. players S.S.C. Bari players Panathinaikos F.C. players Debreceni VSC players Diósgyőri VTK players Fehérvár FC players Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC players Győri ETO FC players Balmazújvárosi FC players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Super League Greece players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Hungarian expatriate footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece Sportspeople from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County