Márton Dárdai (born 12 February 2002) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for 2. Bundesliga club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. Born in Germany, he plays for the Hungary national team. He's also son of the former Hungarian international Pál Dárdai.

Club career

Dárdai began his youth career with Seeburger SV and 1. FC Wilmersdorf, before joining the youth academy of

in 2012. He made his professional debut for

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

on 7 November 2020, coming on as a substitute for

Dedryck Boyata Dedryck Anga Boyata (born 28 November 1990) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back. He made his senior debut with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City in 2010, and was their Young Pla ...

in the second minute of second-half stoppage time against

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

, which finished as a 3–0 away win.

International career

As he was born in Berlin to Hungarian parents, Dárdai was eligible to represent both

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

internationally. He represented Germany at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 level, making a total of 24 appearances for the nation of his birth at youth level. On 21 November 2023, Dárdai, in an interview published by

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

said that he had not decided which nation he would represent at senior level. He met with Marco Rossi, the coach of Hungary, to discuss his intentions in December 2023. On 22 January 2024, Dárdai announced his decision to represent the Hungary national team at senior level, emulating his father

Pál Pál is a Hungarian masculine given name, the Hungarian version of Paul (given name), Paul. It may refer to: * Pál Almásy (1818–1882), Hungarian lawyer and politician * Pál Bedák (born 1985), Hungarian boxer * Pal Benko, Pál Benkő (1928– ...

and elder brother Palkó who are both full internationals for Hungary. On 12 March 2024, Dárdai received his first call-up to the Hungarian national team ahead of friendly matches against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. On 22 March, he came on as a substitute for

Botond Balogh Botond Balogh (born 6 June 2002) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Parma and the Hungary national team. Club career Parma 2020–21 season Balogh made his professional debut in the 2020–21 ...

in the 67th minute of the match against Turkey at the

Puskás Aréna Puskás Aréna () is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Zugló, 14th district (Zugló) of Budapest, Hungary. The stadium's construction started in 2017 and was finished before the end of 2019. It is an all-seater with a capacity o ...

, gaining his first senior international cap. Four days later, he made his first start for the team, playing the full 90 minutes in central defence as Hungary beat Kosovo 2–0. On 14 May 2024, Dárdai was named in Hungary's squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. In the team's opening match of the tournament, he came on as a 79th-minute substitute for Attila Szalai as the ''Magyars'' were beaten 3–1 by

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in Cologne. On 19 June, he started against his birth nation Germany in a 2–0 loss in Stuttgart. He again started in the third

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 23 June, playing 74 minutes before being replaced by Szalai.

Personal life

Dárdai is the son of Hungarian manager and former footballer Pál Dárdai, and the brother of the footballers Palkó and Bence Dárdai. Márton's grandfather was also a footballer and manager, and also named Pál Dárdai.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Profile
at the Hertha BSC website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dardai, Marton 2002 births Living people Footballers from Berlin Hungarian men's footballers 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen Hungary men's international footballers German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers German people of Hungarian descent Sportspeople of Hungarian descent Men's association football central defenders Hertha BSC II players Hertha BSC players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century German sportsmen