Szilárd Németh

Early career

Németh started his career with Slovan Bratislava before moving to eastern Slovakia to join 1. FC Košice. After making an impact at both clubs, in 1998 Németh moved to giants of the region, Czech team Sparta Prague for record fee of 35 million CZK (€1.3 million). He subsequently returned to Slovakia, signing for Inter Bratislava. He won consecutive Slovak First Football League titles in 1999–2000 and 2000–01, finishing as the league's top scorer on both occasions.

Middlesbrough

Amid rumoured interest from Inter Milan, he eventually signed for English side Middlesbrough on 12 April 2001 for £2.1 million on a five-year contract. Earlier that season, he had a trial at their local rivals Sunderland. Németh scored 23 goals in 117 Premier League appearances for the club. He became known as the Lizard King of Teesside and Slovakian Express for scoring regularly off the bench. Németh was part of Middlesbrough's 2004 League Cup-winning team, despite not making the squad for the final. He also featured as they contested the UEFA Cup in the next two seasons. During his time in the Premier League, he scored in wins over Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. The 2005–06 season saw Németh turn down numerous transfer offers, including UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow. He faced competition up-front that season from Yakubu, Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Massimo Maccarone, leading to his exit in January.

Later career

On 25…

Németh scored 22 times in 58 matches for Slovakia between 1997 and 2006. His debut was a 4–0 friendly win against Belarus at the Štadión pod Zoborom in Nitra on 2 February 1997, replacing Róbert Semeník for the final 26 minutes. He scored his first goal on his third cap on 5 February 1997, in a 2–2 draw away against Costa Rica. Németh's last goal came in his 55th international on 1 March 2006, in an away friendly win over France. His last game was on 6 September 2006, in qualification for Euro 2008, a 3–0 home defeat to the Czech Republic. He was the country's highest-scorer until Róbert Vittek broke the record, and is their seventh most-capped player.

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

Németh belongs to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.