Krisztián Lisztes (; born 2 July 1976) 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is most commonly known for his stints at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

and

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

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 ...

, and for

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

(three separate spells) in his home country.

Club career

Born 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 ...

, Lisztes began his professional career as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, playing for the Hungarian team

, where he was brought up through the youth academy. He was considered by many as one of the biggest talents of Hungarian football. He became a member of the first team in 1993 at the age of 17, when he had to replace Hungary's then probably biggest star

Lajos Détári Lajos László Détári (born 24 April 1963) is a Hungarian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. At the height of his career (1984–1994), he was a well-respected player throughout Europe, winning "Player of the Year" ...

on a quick note when Détári was transferred to Italy. He led Ferencváros to the group stages of the

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 ...

in 1995, making them the first Hungarian team to get there. Scoring the first goal against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

in a 3–0 victory, he also became the first ever Hungarian player to score in the Champions League group stages. His performances at the European level caught the attention of several big clubs and he would go on to join

in 1996. Many considered this move as premature as Stuttgart's then playmaker Bulgarian

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

had a solid place in the team, and Lisztes indeed had to spend some time on the reserves bench, but later he became a regular in the team, and played there till 2001 before moving to

. His successes include

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

triumphs with Stuttgart in 1997 and Werder in 2004, as well as the 2004 league title with Werder. In 2004, he sustained an injury and never fully regained his fitness at Werder. In 2005, following trials with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and

ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo (, ), is an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

of the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, he joined

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

, but failed to make a serious impact as a result of his continued injury problems. After a brief spell in Croatia with

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

he rejoined his childhood team Ferencváros in February 2008, but moved on to REAC only after a few months. On 3 August 2008, he scored his first goal in the Hungarian league after 12 years. On 12 January 2009, he left REAC and joined

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from ...

on a free transfer and signed a contract till 30 June 2009. He left Rostock after his contract ended, and on 24 June 2009 signed for

Paksi SE Paksi FC (''Paks''; ) is a Hungarian professional football club based in Paks. Since its founding in 1952, it has played at either a county or national level. In 2006, it ascended to '' Borsodi Liga'', or NB I, the top division in Hungarian foot ...

International career

In 1994, Lisztes debuted in the Hungary national team where to this day he gained 49 caps and scored 9 goals. He was last capped in 2004. During the 1995–96 season, he was a member of the Hungary Olympic Football team, which won qualification to the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Hungary lost all of their three group matches on the Olympics, their opponent including future gold medal winners Nigeria, and Brazil with the likes of

Dida In England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) was an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14–16) ...

, Ronaldo,

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (; born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as ...

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

and

Juninho Paulista Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior (born 22 February 1973), known as Juninho or Juninho Paulista, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and is now the national team co-ordinator of the Brazil national football team. During ...

in their squad. This was the last occasion to this day, when the Hungary football team managed to qualify for the Olympics.

Personal life

He is married and has a daughter and a son. His son, Krisztián Lisztes Jr is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Ferencváros *

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

: 1994–95, 1995–96 *

Magyar Kupa 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 ...

: 1993–94, 1994–95 *

Szuperkupa 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 between ...

: 1993, 1994, 1995 VfB Stuttgart *

: 1996–97 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: runners-up 1997–98 *

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 ...

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 ...

Werder Bremen *

: 2003–04 * DFB-Pokal: 2003–04 Paksi SE *

Ligakupa The Hungarian League Cup () 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 ahead of the 2015–16 season. Ligakupa finals The pe ...

: runners-up 2009–10 Individual * Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisztes, Krisztian 1976 births Living people Footballers from Budapest Hungarian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hungary men's international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers for Hungary Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Nemzeti Bajnokság II players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players VfB Stuttgart players SV Werder Bremen players Borussia Mönchengladbach players HNK Hajduk Split players FC Hansa Rostock players Rákospalotai EAC footballers Paksi FC players Vasas SC players Szeged-Csanád Grosics Akadémia footballers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia