László Bénes (born 9 September 1997) is a Slovak 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

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 ...

for

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 ...

club

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

and the Slovakia national team.

Early life

Bénes was 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 ...

(a predominantly ethnic Hungarian town) in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

to an ethnic Hungarian family. He has a younger brother named Krisztián, who plays football on an amateur level in Slovak lower divisions.

Club career

Bénes first began with GBS Šamorín in 2007, before moving to

DAC Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

. He left

in 2011 to play for Hungarian team ETO Győr. He made one senior appearance for the club, a 2-0 win over

Budapest Honvéd 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 ...

on 6 December 2014. He was offered a new contract by ETO Győr in 2015, but rejected it as his release clause was too high, so on 6 February 2015, Bénes signed a three-year deal with Fortuna Liga side

MŠK Žilina MŠK Žilina () is a Slovak football club based in the town of Žilina, that is playing in the Slovak First Football League. Since the league inception in 1993, the club has won 7 titles and comes second in All-time table that makes them one o ...

. On 1 July 2016, he joined

club

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 ...

. On 28 January 2019, Bénes moved to 2. Bundesliga side

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

for the second half of the season. He debuted in an away match against 1. FC Heidenheim, coming on as a substitute for

Jonas Meffert Jonas Meffert (born 4 September 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. Career On 6 May 2014, he signed a three-year contract with Karlsruher SC. On 31 May 2016, he sig ...

in the 68th minute of the match. SVK vs

On 1 February 2021, Bénes moved to Bundesliga club

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 ...

, on a loan deal until the end of the season. On 21 June 2022, Bénes signed a four-year contract with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. Whilst representing Slovakia at

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 ...

, it was announced that Bénes had signed with

. The transfer took place after a series of equivalent rumours, with the media-estimated transfer fee at about €5 million.

International career

Bénes made his international debut as a substitute to

Ondrej Duda Ondrej Duda (; born 5 December 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Hellas Verona and the Slovakia national team. Club career Duda began his football career at his hometown club MFK Snina. He later mov ...

in the 89th minute of the 2–1 victory against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Due to number of prolonged injuries and low playing time in Mönchengladbach, Bénes made no further appearances in the national team under Kozák, who resigned in October 2018. On 28 May 2019, coach

Pavel Hapal Pavel Hapal (born 27 July 1969) is a Czech former footballer and coach of Baník Ostrava. Playing career As a footballer, Hapal played for Dukla Prague, CD Tenerife, Sparta Prague, and SK Dynamo České Budějovice. At international level, he ...

called him up for a double fixture in June - a home

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Subsequently, the core of the U21 squad became known as ''Hapal's children'', including Bénes.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

* * *
Bénes László
at

at {{DEFAULTSORT:Benes, Laszlo 1997 births Living people Footballers from Dunajská Streda Hungarians in Slovakia Slovak people of Hungarian descent Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Győri ETO FC players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players MŠK Žilina players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Borussia Mönchengladbach II players Holstein Kiel players FC Augsburg players Hamburger SV players 1. FC Union Berlin players Slovak First Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Slovak sportsmen