Miroslav König (born 1 June 1972) is a retired Slovak

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent, who played during the 1990s and 2000s. He played for a number of clubs in Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece.

Career

König began his career with

FC Nitra FC Nitra is a Slovak association football club, playing in the town of Nitra. Established in 1909, FC Nitra is one of the oldest football clubs in Slovakia. History Czechoslovak era Nitra were promoted and relegated 4 times from the Czechoslov ...

in 1991 but never played any games at the club and moved to

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Football in Slovakia#System, Slovak league system, hav ...

in 1993. He impressed during his two seasons with Spartak and was noticed by

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slavs") is a professional association football, football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak First Football League. Founded as I. ČSŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name ...

for whom he signed in 1995. He went on to play over 100 matches for Slovan over five seasons and earned his place in the Slovak national team. In January 2000, he was signed by Swiss giants

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

under head coach

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

as back-up goalie for

Stefan Huber Stefan Huber (born 14 June 1966) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Club career Huber played his youth football by local club FC Unterstrass. He then moved to Grasshoppe ...

. König signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. However, just six months later GC's new coach

Hans-Peter Zaugg Hans-Peter Zaugg, (born 2 December 1952), is a Swiss football manager and former player. He is often referred to by his nickname, "Bidu." Career A midfielder, Zaugg played for FC Rot-Weiss Bümpliz, Neuchâtel Xamax and FC Bern. After taking up ...

then opted for Huber and König had to look for a new club. In July 2000

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

had to find a new goalkeeper in a hurry, as their first-choice keeper

Pascal Zuberbühler Pascal Zuberbühler (born 8 January 1971) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played in the Swiss Super League for Grasshoppers, Basel and Neuchâtel Xamax. He also had a season on loan to Bayer Leverkusen of ...

transferred on a one-year loan to

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 ...

, and so they signed König. He joined Basel's first team during their 2000–01 season under head coach

Christian Gross Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss football manager and former player. He played as a sweeper and central midfielder. Gross was manager of Basel from 1999 to 2009, winning four Swiss Super Leagues and four Swiss Cups. As ...

becoming new first choice keeper. After playing in one test game König played his domestic league debut for his new club in the home game on 29 July 2000 as Basel won 1–0 against his former club Grasshoppers. Basel joined the

2000–01 UEFA Cup The 2000–01 UEFA Cup was the 30th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. Liverpool won the final with a golden goal in extra-time against Alavés for their third title in the competition. It completed a cup treble for the club, as they also won ...

in the qualifying round, advancing with a 12–1 aggregate win over Folgore from San Marino and then a 7–6 aggregate victory over Norwegian Brann to the second round. However, here they lost their goal scoring qualities and were knocked out 3–1 on aggregate by

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

. König played in all six matches. The away game in the

Espenmoos Espenmoos Stadium, is a football stadium in St. Gallen, 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, German ...

against the reigning Swiss champions St. Gallen on 22 April 2001 became notable during König’s period with the club. St. Gallen led 1–0 at half time and as the second half began,

Jerren Nixon Jerren Kendall Nixon (born 25 June 1973) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After beginning his career with Trinidadian clubs Airport Authority and ECM Motown, Nixon signed for Dundee United in 1993, where ...

miss-hit a cross in front of the Basel goal, FCB goalie König plucked the ball down, but the linesman indicated goal. The home team gladly accepted the gift and celebrated the second goal. Meanwhile, the Basel players stormed both referee and linesman and captain

Mario Cantaluppi Mario "Lupo" Cantaluppi (born 11 April 1974) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. Club career Born in Schlieren, Switzerland, Mario Cantaluppi started his professional career with Grasshopper Club Z� ...

immediately lodged a protest. The goal counted. But despite this, Basel drew level and this although that they had lost two players due to red cards. Referee Schoch indicated four minutes of overtime, but it became six and in this sixth

Marc Zellweger Marc Zellweger (born 17 October 1973) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his playing career at FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professio ...

scored the winning goal for the home team. The league Disciplinary Committee rejected the protest. St. Gallen ended the season in third position to qualify for the

2001–02 UEFA Cup The 2001–02 UEFA Cup was won by Feyenoord at their home ground in the final against Borussia Dortmund. It was the second time they won the competition. Liverpool could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2001–02 ...

, Basel fourth and did not qualify. As

returned to FCB after his loan in Germany, König was demoted to the reserves and on 5 September 2001 he was loaned out to local lower tier club

FC Concordia Basel FC Concordia Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. The club was founded in 1907. They play in the 2. Liga Interregional (fifth level), and their home stadium was Rankhof Stadium until the 2008–09 season. Concordia is ranking as the ...

to gain playing experience. He immediately became first-choice keeper, but on 15 October after just six games, he was recalled to the FCB team as back-up goalie. Basel won the last game of the season, on 8 May 2002 4–3 against

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, and became champions ten points clear at the top of the table. Just four days later they played in the cup final against Grasshopper Club winning 2–1 in extra time and thus they won the double, but König never came to any appearances. König moved on to

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

for the 2002–03 season and he played in 28 of the seasons 36 league matches, as Zürich the season in fifth position. He then left Switzerland and signed for Turkish

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 ...

club

Elazığspor Elazığspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazığ and currently competes in the TFF Second League. They play their home games at Elazığ Atatürk Stadium in Elazığ, which has a maximum capacity of 18,423. The club was ...

in 2003. The Czech Republic was König's next destination as he signed for

Gambrinus liga 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 ...

club

FC Baník Ostrava FC Baník Ostrava is a professional association football, football club from Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The club competes in the Czech First League, the top tier of Czech football. Founded in 1922 as SK Slezská Ostrava, Baník has won the ...

in 2004 before returning to

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 ...

with

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 ...

in 2005. Greek side

Panionios F.C. Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

signed him in 2006 and he retired in the Summer of 2008 after making 31 appearances for the club, at the age of 36. König was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

43 times by the Slovak national team between 1997 and 2004.

Honours

Slovan Bratislava * Slovak League : 1995, 1996, 1999 *

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 ...

: 1997, 1999 *

Slovak Super Cup The Slovak Super Cup (''Slovenský Superpohár'' in Slovak), in the past named as or , was a match between the champion of the Slovak First Football League and winner of the Slovak Cup. The match was played annually besides years when a club cl ...

: 1995, 1996 * Ciudad de Cartagena Trophy : 1996 MŠK Žilina * Slovak League runner-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

Sources

* Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Miroslav 1972 births Living people Slovak men's footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland FC Nitra players FC Spartak Trnava players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players MŠK Žilina players FC Zürich players FC Basel players Grasshopper Club Zurich players FC Concordia Basel players Slovakia men's international footballers Czech First League players FC Baník Ostrava players Panionios F.C. players Elazığspor footballers Slovak people of German descent Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Slovak First Football League players Süper Lig players Super League Greece players Swiss Super League players Footballers from Nitra Men's association football goalkeepers