Róbert Vittek

Slovan Bratislava

Vittek began his career in the youth team of hometown club Slovan Bratislava in 1999. He was then promoted to the first team for the 1999–2000 campaign. While still a youth player, he signed a preliminary agreement with Real Madrid, but the move to Spain fell through due to injury. He was 19 at the time and scored 19 goals for Slovan. The next season, he played only three games, scoring twice. Before moving to Germany, Vittek had a trial at Birmingham City and impressed the club enough that they made a move for him. However, the move never materialized.

1. FC Nürnberg

Vittek came to Nürnberg in 2003 when the club was still in the 2. Bundesliga, helping the team earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2004–05 campaign. During the first half of the 2004–05 season, he signed a long-term contract. Vittek scored only five goals in the 2004–05 campaign, and the following year he failed to score in the first 17 matches before the winter break. However, with the arrival of new coach Hans Meyer, he scored 16 goals in the final 16 games of the 2005–06 season. He made league history in Spieltag 24 and 25, becoming the first Bundesliga player to score a combined six goals in two consecutive games. In all, Vittek had five multi-goal games on the season, and his 16 goals were good for fifth place on the Bundesliga scoring charts. Vittek's rise was mirrored by his team as 1. FC Nürnberg rose from near-relegation to eighth place. He established a new…

Vittek became part of Slovak national team in 2001. His tally of 81 caps makes him their third most-capped player after Miroslav Karhan and Marek Hamšík. Vittek scored Slovakia's first ever goal at a World Cup, netting in the 1–1 draw with New Zealand on 15 June 2010. Vittek also scored two goals against defending World Cup holders Italy on 24 June 2010 to knock them out of the competition, leading Slovakia to progress to the 2010 FIFA World Cup knockout stage. On 28 June 2010, Slovakia lost 2–1 to the Netherlands in their first knockout stage match, in which Vittek converted a last-minute penalty to become Slovakia's top international scorer. With four goals in the competition, he also became the joint top scorer at the stage that Slovakia were knocked out. He scored only one goal fewer than Germany's Thomas Müller, who won the Golden Boot. Following the 2010 World Cup, Vittek was not a regular on the team in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, playing in only three matches as Slovakia failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2012 by ending fourth in their group. Vittek also did not feature in Slovakia's 2014 World Cup qualifiers. After a period of national wilderness of almost two years, Vittek was chosen in the squad for Slovakia's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Spain and Ukraine. He was an unused substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Spain but started in the 0–0 draw against Ukraine.

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

Vittek is married to Slovak businesswoman Patrícia Vittek, whom he met during his playing career for Hamburger SV.