Pál Dárdai
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Pál Dárdai (born 16 March 1976) is a Hungarian retired
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 played mainly as a
defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
. He was most recently the head coach of 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 ...
. In a 20-year professional career, he played for over a decade with the same club, Hertha BSC, in Germany. With 286
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 ...
appearances, he is the club's most capped player. Dárdai gained 61
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for the Hungary national team in 12 years, scoring five goals. He also worked as the country's manager.


Club career


Hungary

Born in
Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...
, Dárdai began his professional career with local Pécsi Mecsek FC, moving in January 1996 to
Budapesti VSC Budapesti Vasutas Sport Club-Zugló commonly known as BVSC-Zugló is a professional football club based in Zugló, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The club was founded in 1911. Its football section became closed ...
. He helped his new club finish second in both the
league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...
and
cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...
.


Hertha BSC

In January 1997, Dárdai signed with Germany's
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 ...
, appearing in ten matches for the 2. Bundesliga side before the end of the season, as the club was promoted to the top-flight
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 ...
. In 1998–99, he made 21 appearances (6 as a starter) as Hertha finished in third place, behind second-placed
Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...
by one point. On 13 November 2008, Dárdai marked his 250th Bundesliga appearance during the 1–0 win against 1899 Hoffenheim. Following the match, he thanked "the team and the fans". On 16 January 2009, Dárdai damaged his
meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...
during training. He was operated on by Gert Schleicher after returning to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
from
Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
in Spain, where Hertha spent their winter training camp. Hertha extended Dárdai's contract by one year on 28 May 2009, and he became the club's longest-serving player. He expressed his wish to further extend his link, stating, "I can imagine that I will end my career here in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, but before I return to Hungary I want to fulfil my ambition and that is to win the championship and the cup."
Dieter Hoeneß Dieter Hoeneß (born 7 January 1953) is a German former professional football player and executive. A forward during his playing career, Hoeneß was primarily associated with Bayern Munich. After retiring, he remained involved in football, work ...
responded by saying the club would also like to keep him. Dárdai helped ''Die Alte Dame'' qualify several times for the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, appearing sparingly from 2004 to 2006 (33 total matches) but featuring heavily in the following years. From 2009, his appearances became less and less frequent: after only one match in the 2010–11 campaign – with eventually returning to the top level – and being demoted to the
reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...
, the 35-year-old retired from football, having appeared in 297 league contests.


International career

Dárdai began playing for
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 ...
with the under-21s, in 1996. He made his senior debut in a friendly against
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
on 19 August 1998, and scored his first international goal on 10 October in an
UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
qualifier against
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, 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 in 2006, netting twice. On 15 November 2006, he was not included in
Péter Várhidi Péter Várhidi (born 8 May 1958) is a Hungarian football coach and former player who played as a defender. He served as the head coach of the national team. Playing career Várhidi was born in Budapest, Hungary. As a player, he spent most of h ...
's provisional 25-man squad for the Euro 2008 qualifying phase, but featured in the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
qualifying campaign as Hungary was now managed by
Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch former professional football player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Netherlands national team. As a midfielder, he played in three spells at Groningen and two at PSV Eindhoven, ...
.


Managerial career


2012–2015: Hertha BSC

In 2012, Dárdai began working as a coach at Hertha BSC, his assistants at the under-15 team being Admir Hamžagić and Jochem Ziegert.


2014–15: Hungary

On 18 September 2014, Dárdai was appointed as interim manager of the Hungary national team. He turned down an offer from the
Hungarian Football Federation The Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) (, ) is the governing body of football and futsal in Hungary. It organizes the Hungarian league and the Hungary national team. The MLSZ is responsible for the Hungarian football league system, the men's a ...
("MLSZ") to manage the side on a permanent basis, with the former's president Sándor Csányi confirming the latter would be in charge of three Euro 2016 qualifying matches for free. On 23 September 2014,
Zsolt Lőw Zsolt Lőw (born 29 April 1979) is a Hungarian professional football coach and former player who is the interim head coach of RB Leipzig. He previously served as an assistant manager at Bundesliga club Bayern Munich under Thomas Tuchel, whom h ...
, assistant coach of Red Bull Salzburg, was not permitted by his club to join Dárdai's coaching staff in the same capacity. The latter's debut took place on 11 October against
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, a 1–1 draw in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. Three days later, he managed his first win, prevailing 1–0 away against the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
; he said after the second match that "the minimum aims were to get the three points". Former international
István Sallói István Sallói (born 26 September 1966 in Oroszlány) is a former Hungarian football player. Sallói came from a footballing family with his grandfather playing in lower divisions before later becoming a referee. His father played in the Hungar ...
said in an interview with ''
Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...
'' in October 2014 that, "Dárdai is the only chance for Hungarian football." The former was appointed by the latter as the aid to map the opponents of the national team, and also said, "In the last ten days it became incredible clear what type of work I have to do." On 14 November 2014, Hungary won their first home match under Dárdai by beating
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
1–0 thanks to
Zoltán Gera Zoltán Gera (born 22 April 1979) is a Hungarian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder for Fulham F.C., Fulham, Pécsi Mecsek FC, Pécsi Mecsek and Harkány SE, as well as enjoying two spells at Ferencv ...
's 84th-minute goal in the Euro 2016 qualifier at the
Groupama Arena Groupama, an abbreviation for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles (), is a French insurance group headquartered in Paris with operations in 10 countries. It is listed in the 2007 ICA Global 300 list of mutuals and cooperatives, rank ...
in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. The following month, the MLSZ announced Dárdai would remain as manager until 30 November 2015, and he admitted that his son influenced him in making the decision by saying, "You have to return because without you they are not going to win." After returning to Hertha BSC, Dárdai was replaced as Hungary manager by his former mentor,
Bernd Storck Bernd Storck, HOM (born 25 January 1963) is a German former professional footballer and a professional football manager. He is the current manager of Cercle Brugge in the Belgian Pro League, appointed for a second time following a brief second ...
. In November 2015, Hungary under Storck qualified for the
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
after a 44-year absence, and Dárdai stated in an interview with Hertha's official website that he built the base of the team while his successor added his part to reach
the finals ''The Finals'' is a free-to-play first-person shooter, developed and published by Embark Studios. The game focuses on team-based matches on maps with a destructible environment, where players (who are divided into a number of distinct classes) ...
.


2015–2019 and 2021: Return to Hertha

On 5 February 2015, he was appointed
interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change wi ...
of the main squad. His first match in charge was a 2–0 victory over
Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...
two days later. On 29 May 2015, Dárdai signed a permanent contract with Hertha. Hertha began the season by getting eliminated from the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
in the third qualifying round by Brøndby. Hertha won the first leg 1–0 and lost the second leg 3–1. On 16 April during the
2018–19 Bundesliga The 2018–19 Bundesliga was the 56th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 24 August 2018 and concluded on 18 May 2019. It also marked the first season without Hamburger SV, previously the only team to hav ...
season, it was announced Dárdai would be leaving his role at the end of the season and would return to a youth coach role in 2020. After returning to the youth section, the senior team slumped under Bruno Labbadia, he once again took over the head coach duty on 25 January 2021 after Labbadia was sacked. He was sacked on 29 November 2021. He returned to manage Hertha in April 2023. After the 2023–24 season, the contract was not extended.


Personal life

Dárdai is married and has three sons: Palkó, Márton and Bence. On 29 July 2023 Pál Dárdai played all three of his sons together at the same time for the first time in their Bundesliga 2 opener against
Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...
. On 20 July 2002, Balázs Dárdai, his brother and a midfielder for FC Barcs, died during a tournament after an artery burst when he jumped for a ball. His father, also named Pál (1951–2017) and the club's coach, were watching the game when it happened; Balázs was only 23 years old.


Career statistics


Club


International

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


Managerial statistics


Honours

Budapesti VSC *
Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...
runner-up: 1995–96 Hertha BSC * 2. Bundesliga:
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
*
DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...
:
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
,
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
; runner-up:
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
*
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
:
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
Individual * Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2006


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dardai, Pal 1976 births Living people Footballers from Pécs Hungarian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Pécsi MFC players Budapesti VSC footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Hertha BSC players Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungary men's international footballers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Hungarian expatriate football managers Bundesliga managers Hertha BSC managers Hungary national football team managers