Marek Mintál

Marek Mintál

Personal information
Date of birth	2 September 1977 (1977-09-02)
Place of birth	Žilina, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder Striker
Club information
Current club	F.C. Hansa Rostock
Number	11
Youth career
	Žilina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–2003	Žilina	188	(77)
2003–2011	1. FC Nuremberg	180	(66)
2011–	F.C. Hansa Rostock	9	(2)
National team
2002–2009	Slovakia	45	(14)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

Marek Mintál (born 2 September 1977) is a Slovak international football player who currently plays for Hansa Rostock.

Career

Mintál start to play football in Slovak club MŠK Žilina, with whom he won back-to-back Slovak championships in 2001–02 and 2002–03. This was also due to his scoring 20 (2001–02) and 21 (2002–03) goals respectively. With this number of goals he also became the Slovak top scorer in both seasons. Therefore he was capped for the Slovak national team for the first time on 6 February 2002. He has won 33 caps and scored 11 goals for the Slovak national team.

After the 2002–03 season, he was transferred to 1. FC Nuremberg for an alleged transfer fee of 100,000€ and an agreement that should Mintál be transferred again, MŠK Žilina would receive a portion of the transfer fee. His new club was playing in the Second Bundesliga at this time. He continued his scoring run by scoring 18 goals and becoming the German second division's leading scorer and was a crucial part of Nuremberg's immediate promotion. During that season, Mintál, an offensive midfielder, became widely regarded for his inconspicuous style of play, which has led to him being called "stealth bomber", "Sniper" or "Phantom". In the following year, Mintál led the Bundesliga in scoring with 24 goals, and helped Nuremberg stave off relegation.

His continuous success in scoring goals sparked rumours that he might move to a bigger club during the 2005 summer break. He had been linked in transfer speculation with Liverpool, Beşiktaş, Villarreal and VfB Stuttgart. These rumours did not lead to a transfer and Mintal decided to stay at Nuremberg. However the following season turned out to be disastrous for the Slovak striker who broke his foot twice in the span of five months. Thus, the offensive midfielder only played in four games and scored just a single goal.

He celebrated his competitive comeback against Borussia Mönchengladbach when coming on as a substitute after 60 minutes. Two weeks later he also played for his country again, scoring two goals against Cyprus. Later the same year he was troubled again by his broken foot and had to undergo surgery for a second time.

Marek Mintál won the German Cup (DFB-Pokal) with 1. FC Nuremberg in the year 2007. In this game, he also scored a goal, during this match, he was injured by Fernando Meira, a Portuguese defender from VfB Stuttgart. 1. FC Nuremberg won the game 3–2 after extra time. He scored a brace in a UEFA Cup Match against AZ Alkmaar to keep their European dreams alive.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 March 2004	Bratislava, Slovakia	Austria	1–1	Draw	Friendly
2	8 September 2004	Bratislava, Slovakia	Liechtenstein	7–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
3	9 February 2005	Larnaca, Cyprus	Romania	2–2	Draw	Friendly
4	26 March 2005	Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	2–1	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
5	8 June 2005	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	4–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
6	2 September 2006	Bratislava, Slovakia	Cyprus	6–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
7	2 September 2006	Bratislava, Slovakia	Cyprus	6–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
8	7 October 2006	Cardiff, Wales	Wales	5–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
9	7 October 2006	Cardiff, Wales	Wales	5–1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
10	15 November 2006	Žilina, Slovakia	Bulgaria	3–1	Win	Friendly
11	12 September 2007	Trnava, Slovakia	Wales	2–5	Loss	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
12	12 September 2007	Trnava, Slovakia	Wales	2–5	Loss	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
13	26 March 2008	Zlaté Moravce, Slovakia	Iceland	1–2	Loss	Friendly

Honours

As of 15 January 2011

Club

• Slovak League: 2002, 2003
• 2. Fußball-Bundesliga: 2004
• Slovak Super Cup: 2003
• DFB-Pokal: 2007

Individual

• Slovak League Top Scorer: 2002, 2003
• German 2. Bundesliga Top Scorer: 2004, 2009
• Slovak Footballer of the Year: 2004, 2005
• Slovak Footballer of the Decade (2000–2009)
• German Bundesliga Top Scorer: 2005

External links

• Marek Mintál at fussballdaten.de (German)