Tamás Hajnal (; born 15 March 1981) 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Born in

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

, Hungary, Hajnal started playing football at the local Zoltek SE in his hometown Nyergesújfalu.

Ferencváros and Dunakanyar Vác FC

At the age of nine, Hajnal joined

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 ...

. He played two matches in the

Hungarian National Championship I Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

for Ferencváros. In the same year, he moved to Dunakanyar-Vác FC as part of an exchange deal. He did not play any matches in the Dunakanyar-Vác FC. Next year he headed for the German

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 ...

Schalke 04

Dunakanyar-Vác FC made a lot of money by quickly selling him to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. He found it hard to make the breakthrough with the Royal Blues, and after a mere seven Bundesliga appearances he moved to Belgium in 2004.

Sint-Truiden

He joined Sint-Truidense V.V. in 2004. In the 2004–05 Belgian First Division season he scored six goals in 29 matches. In the next season he played 20 matches and scored five goals.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In 2006, Hajnal moved to the Bundesliga to join

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

. He played 32 matches and scored seven goals in the 2006–07 2. Bundesliga season.

Karlsruher SC

In 2007, Hajnal transferred to

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

. He played 32 matches and scored eight goals in the 2007–08 Bundesliga season.

Borussia Dortmund

In July 2008, he moved to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

for a fixed transfer fee of €1.3 million. His performance in Dortmund's 4–0 win against Frankfurt on 15 November 2008—scoring once and assists for three goals—earned him a place in the Bundesliga Team of the Week and made Hajnal Man of The Match. In the next round, Hajnal was again in the Team of the Week. He played 30 matches and scored five goals during the

2008–09 Bundesliga The 2008–09 Bundesliga was the 46th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 15 August 2008 with a 2–2 draw between defending champions Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV and ended with the last matches o ...

season. In the 2009–10 Bundesliga season he played 21 matches. He was injured in 2010, therefore he could not play in the

2010–11 Bundesliga The 2010–11 Bundesliga was the 48th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 20 August 2010 and concluded on 14 May 2011. The winter break was in effect between weekends around 18 December 2010 and 15 January 20 ...

season for Borussia Dortmund.

VfB Stuttgart

On 31 January 2011, Hajnal was loaned out to

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 ...

. He scored his first goal against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

on 27 February 2011. The final result was 2–0 for Stuttgart. On 7 May 2011, Hajnal moved permanently to VfB Stuttgart because the club avoided relegation. Hajnal extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart on 7 January 2013 until June 2014 with an option for a further year.

FC Ingolstadt 04

On 1 August 2013, he moved to

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußballclub Ingolstadt 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolsta ...

. He made his debut in the 2. Bundesliga against

. In September 2014 he announced he would be leaving the club, and likely returning to his native Hungary.

Ferencváros

On 12 December 2014, Hajnal returned to his former club

after 17 years. Current manager of Ferencváros,

Thomas Doll Thomas Jens Uwe Doll (born 9 April 1966) is a German professional Association football, football manager and a former Association football, football player. As a player, he played as an attacking midfielder for F.C. Hansa Rostock, BFC Dynamo, Ha ...

had been interested in signing Hajnal previously. However, Hajnal was unaware that Ferencváros intended to sign him a couple of weeks before the offer was made. When Hajnal was a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, he was training with Ferencváros. Therefore, it was obvious that he would join the club if he would return to Hungary. On 7 March 2015, Hajnal scored his first goal in the 57th minute in the 2014–15 season of the

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

against

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

at the Groupama Arena 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 ...

International career

On 9 October 2004, Hajnal played his first match for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and on 17 October 2007, he scored his first international goal in a friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The final result was 1–0 to

. Hungary finished a disappointing sixth in their qualifying group for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

and have been out of the running for a place in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

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, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

next year since the beginning of the qualification period. The competition from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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 ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

was simply too strong for Hajnal and his team mates, who nevertheless beat

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

home and away during the campaign. Hajnal scored twice against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

in the Puskás Ferenc Stadium in a friendly match. The final result was 3–3. During the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying he scored against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. The final result was 3–0. This goal was the first goal scored in a qualifier. During the management of Sándor Egervári (2010–present), Hajnal played his first match in the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Hajnal scored a goal against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

on 9 February 2011.

defeated

2–0 in a friendly match.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Schalke 04 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

runner-up: 2001, 2002 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 ...

: 2015–16 *

Hungarian Cup 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 ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Hungarian League Cup: 2014–15 * Szuperkupa: 2015 Individual * Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2007, 2008 * Named in the 2007–08 Bundesliga all-star team (bundesliga.de) * Pro Urbe Prize: 2008

References

External links

Tamás Hajnal
profile at magyarfutball.hu * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hajnal, Tamas 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Esztergom Footballers from Komárom-Esztergom County Ferencvárosi TC footballers FC Schalke 04 players FC Schalke 04 II players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Karlsruher SC players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players VfB Stuttgart players FC Ingolstadt 04 players Vác FC players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen