Hungarian record holder Zoltan Gera

Zoltan Hera is a Hungarian midfielder who can take on both a defensive and an attacking role. He performed both at home and abroad, or rather - in England. In addition, he spent almost one hundred matches for the national team of Hungary.

Carier start

Zoltan Gera was born on April 22, 1979 in Hungary, but in the football academy was only in 1993, when he was already fourteen years old. For four years he changed three different academies, until he was in the system of the club "Harkany", where he went to the club "Pecs", with which he entered into a professional contract. Speaking at the professional level, he began at the same time in 1997, but could not get into the main team, so for three years he defended the colors of the club's double. Having spent there 74 mats and scoring 14 goals, Zoltan Gera got a good chance - he was offered a contract with one of the strongest Hungarian clubs - with "Ferencvaros". It was there that the midfielder opened with the best hand, getting a ticket to the real football life.

Going to Ferencvaros

In the "Ferencvaros" Zoltan immediately got a place in the base and began to perform at the position of the central midfielder. For four years he was one of the key players in the Hungarian club, playing in 115 games and scoring 32 goals. Together with the club, he won the Hungarian Championship three times and won the Cup of Hungary four times. Moreover, he stood out as one of the strongest Hungarian football players of the time, so in 2004 he was inevitably followed by invitations from clubs from the leading European championships. The most attractive was the offer from West Brom, which paid two and a half million euros for the Hungarian.

Moving to England

It was then that everyone learned about who Hera was - in the first two seasons, when the club played in the Premier League, he played in 58 games, scoring 9 goals. But then "West Brom" flew to the Championship - and Zoltan did not leave his club in trouble. Two more years he played for West Brom, adding 97 matches and 16 goals to his account, but his level was clearly higher than the second league, so he did not renew the contract with the club. And in 2008, the 29-year-old midfielder moved to the new club, which became "Fulham", speaking in the Premier League.

The game for "Fulham"

Hera quickly merged with Fulham and played three great seasons, for which he entered the field in 120 games, scoring 17 goals. Moreover, it was in "Fulham", in his second season, he made his debut in Eurocups, having played in the European League in 18 games. But in 2011 the club faced financial problems, because of what was forced to release a number of leading players for free - among them was Gera, who decided to return to the "West Brom".

Return to West Bromwich

Returning to his old club, the Hungarian spent three more years there, but given the fact that at the time of arrival he was already 32 years old, he did not get much practice playing. For three seasons Hera played only 36 matches, scoring five goals. In 2014, the contract of the 35-year-old player came to an end, and Zoltan returned again - this time to Ferencvaros.

Return to Ferencvaros

In the "Ferencvaros" Hera spent two seasons, playing in 74 games and scoring 14 goals. In the current season of 13 matches, scoring in them two goals - he is already 37, and his current contract with the club expires in 2017.

National team appearances

Zoltan Gera is one of the record holders of the national team of Hungary - he played for her 95 matches. According to this indicator, he is second only to goalkeeper Gabor Kirali, who played in the middle of the last century Jožef Bozhik. In addition, he enters the top six scorers with 25 balls. And separately it is necessary to tell about Zoltan Hera's goal on Euro-2016. This tournament was the first in the history of modern football Hungary, to which this country was able to break through. Midfielder played in all four matches, but it was with the Portuguese that Zoltan Gera was able to excel. Portugal missed a goal from him, which was eventually recognized as the most beautiful in the whole tournament.