Ján Ďurica (born 10 December 1981) is a Slovak 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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender 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 ...

. He worked as assistant manager of

FC Petržalka FC Petržalka is a Slovakia, Slovak association football, football club based in Bratislava. The club was founded in 1898 and it was promoted twice to the top flight Czechoslovak First League, 1. liga in the Czechoslovakia during the 1980s (for ...

Club career

Ďurica moved to FC Saturn Moscow Oblast after a highly successful

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

campaign with

FC Artmedia Bratislava FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

. On 31 January 2009, Ďurica signed a three-year contract with

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, who have paid around €3.5 million to overtake

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Panathinaikos in the auction for the Slovakia national team. On 13 January 2010, it was confirmed that he would join

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

on loan until the end of the season. In January 2016, Ďurica signs a two-year contract with

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

. He was released on 18 May 2018 after his contract expired. On 5 September 2018, Ďurica signed for

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...

until the end of the 2018–19 season. He announced his retirement from professional football after the club was relegated from

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

, having scored 2 goals in 17 appearances for Dukla.

International career

On 9 July 2004, Ďurica made his Slovakia senior team debut against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

at the 2004 Kirin Cup. He was selected for the Slovak squad for 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. ...

, their first major tournament as an independent nation, playing all four matches at the

. Upon contributing to Slovakia's first appearance at a

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

, Ďurica was one of the players who completed all of Slovakia's four matches of the tournament. Once the tournament ended, Ďurica hinted his desire to retire from international football after

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. However, as Slovakia failed to qualify, Ďurica retired on 14 November 2017, after a home friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

(1–0 win), with a final statistic of 91 caps and 4 goals.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Personal life

Born in

Dunajská Streda Dunajská Streda (; ; ) is a town located in southern Slovakia ( Trnavský kraj). Dunajská Streda is the most culturally significant town in the Žitný ostrov area. The town has a population of 22,730, with ethnic Hungarians forming the 72% maj ...

, Ďurica belongs to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia through his mother. He also starred in

Markíza Markíza (also known as Televízia Markíza) is a Slovak television channel launched on August 31, 1996. The channel was founded by a later politician Pavol Rusko, and is now part of the Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It also opera ...

show '' Let's Dance''. On 4 November 2020, Ďurica found his football academy Mladé levy for children age six until eleven years old, expected to start January the following year. Ďurica was in relationship with Magdalena Šebestová until 2019. In 2022, he proposed to his girlfriend,

Miss Universe 2013 Miss Universe 2013 was the 62nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Moscow, Russia, on 9 November 2013. At the end of the event, Olivia Culpo of the United States crowned Gabriela Isl ...

finalist Diana Kačurová. On 1 January 2024, it was announced that Ďurica and Kačurová were expecting a child. Also, in 2024, Ďurica became a

teetotaller Teetotalism is the practice of voluntarily abstaining from the consumption of alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler (US) or teetotaller (UK), or said to be ...

Honours

Artmedia Petržalka *

Slovak Cup The Slovak Cup (), currently named Slovnaft Cup due to sponsorship agreement with Slovnaft, is the only nationwide Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in Football in Slovakia, Slovak football. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Euro ...

: 2003–04 *

Slovak Superliga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Slovak football league system. It was formed in 1993 following th ...

: 2004–05 Lokomotiv Moscow * Russian Cup: 2014–15 Individual * List of 33 top players of the Russian league: #1 (2007), #2 (2013–14)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Durica, Jan Living people 1981 births Footballers from Dunajská Streda Slovak men's footballers Slovak people of Hungarian descent Men's association football central defenders Slovakia men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players FC Petržalka players FC Saturn Ramenskoye players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Hannover 96 players Trabzonspor footballers FK Dukla Prague players Slovak First Football League players Russian Premier League players Bundesliga players Süper Lig players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic 21st-century Slovak sportsmen