Peter Pekarík (; born 30 October 1986) 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

right-back 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 ...

for

Dynamo České Budějovice "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores ...

and the Slovakia national team.

Club career

MŠK Žilina

Born in Žilina, Pekarík played football at the youth section of his local club. His Corgoň Liga debut came for ZŤS Dubnica. In his first season, he played 27 matches and came back to MŠK Žilina in summer 2005. Pekarík won the Corgoň Liga in the 2006–07 season, playing 35 matches.

Germany and loan to Kayserispor

Following great performances in the

2008–09 Slovak Superliga The 2008–09 Slovak Superliga (known as the Slovak Corgoň Liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th season of first-tier football league in Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It ...

, Pekarík and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for Bundesliga side

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

in January 2009. On 31 January 2009, he made his Bundesliga debut during a 1–1 draw against

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

, only to be replaced by

Cristian Zaccardo Cristian Zaccardo (; born 21 December 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield. He began his club career with Ita ...

at half-time. Except for one game, Pekarík played in all matches of the second half as Wolfsburg won its first Bundesliga title. In August 2011, Pekarík joined 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

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

for the 2011–12 season on loan. After a loan in Turkey, Pekarík returned to Germany, signing for Hertha BSC. On 31 March 2017, in his eighth season in Germany, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3–1 loss against 1899 Hoffenheim which was his 151st Bundesliga match.

Return to MŠK Žilina

On 26 September 2024, Pekarík returned to his hometown club MŠK Žilina after 15 years of playing abroad, signing a contract until 30 January 2025.

Dynamo České Budějovice

On 10 February 2025, Pekarík signed a contract with Dynamo České Budějovice until the end of the season as a free agent.

International career

Early international career

On 10 December 2006, Pekarík debuted for the Slovak senior squad in a

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

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. He scored his first international goal in a 7–0 home victory over

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. Pekarík was included the Slovakia 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. ...

. After being an unused substitute in the opening match against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, he started the second and third

Group F Group F may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant dif ...

matches, assisting

Kamil Kopúnek Kamil Kopúnek (born 18 May 1984) is a Slovak former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Spartak Trnava Kopúnek started his career with his local club, Spartak Trnava. He became a first-team player in January 2002 at t ...

's decisive third goal in the 3–2 win over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

that qualified Slovakia for the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. He went on to start in the team's round of 16 match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where they lost 2–1. Pekarík played in all four of Slovakia's matches at

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 ...

, where the team reached the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, losing to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and all three of their matches at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

2020s

On 1 June 2021, Pekarík played his 100th match for Slovakia in a friendly 1–1 draw against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He was named in Slovakia's squad for

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 ...

and played in all four of the team's matches at the tournament. This made him one of two players, along with the

Juraj Kucka Juraj Kucka (; born 26 February 1987), also known by his nickname Kuco (), is a former Slovak professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Slovak club Slovan Bratislava. Club career Early career Kucka made his Corgoň Liga debut ...

, to play in all eleven of Slovakia's matches in

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 ...

s as an independent nation.

Style of play

British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' praised Pekarík for his important leadership qualities as a centre-back.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

MŠK Žilina * Fortuna Liga: 2006–07 *

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 ...

: 2007 VfL Wolfsburg *

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 ...

: 2008–09 Hertha BSC * 2. Bundesliga:

2012–13 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 ...

Slovakia *

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Hertha BSC website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pekarik, Peter Living people 1986 births Footballers from Žilina Slovak men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Slovakia men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players Slovak First Football League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Süper Lig players MŠK Žilina players FK Spartak Dubnica nad Váhom players VfL Wolfsburg players Kayserispor footballers Hertha BSC players SK Dynamo České Budějovice players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic FIFA Men's Century Club 21st-century Slovak sportsmen Czech First League players