Pál Dárdai

The native form of this personal name is Dárdai Pál. This article uses the Western name order.

Pál Dárdai

Personal information
Date of birth	16 March 1976 (1976-03-16)
Place of birth	Pécs, Hungary
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Pécsi Munkás
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1995	Pécsi Munkás	68	(11)
1996	BVSC	22	(3)
1997–2011	Hertha BSC	297	(17)
National team
1998–2010	Hungary	61	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Pál Dárdai (born 16 March 1976) is a retired Hungarian footballer who played mainly a defensive midfielder.

In a 20-year professional career, he played for over a decade in the same team, Hertha BSC in Germany. With 286 Bundesliga appearances, he is the club's most capped player.

Club career

Born in Pécs, Dárdai started his professional career with local Pécsi Mecsek FC, moving in January 1996 to BVSC Budapest. He helped his new club finish second in both the league and cup.

In the same month of the following year, he signed with German second division side Hertha BSC, appearing in 10 games before the end of the season, with the club being promoted. In 1998–99, he contributed with 21 games (only six starts however) as the team finished in third position, only trailing vice-champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen by one point.

From then onwards, Dárdai became an essential first-team member for Hertha, as it qualified several times for the UEFA Cup. After appearing sparingly from 2004–06 (33 matches combined), he again featured heavily in the following years. From 2009, his appearances became less and less frequent: after only one game in the 2010–11 season – with The Old Lady eventually returning to the top level – and also being demoted to the reserve team, the 35-year old retired from football, having appeared in 297 league games, more than any other player in the club's history.

International career

Dárdai began playing for Hungary with the U21s, in 1996. He made his senior debut in a friendly against Slovenia on 19 August 1998, and scored his first international goal on 10 October, in an UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Azerbaijan, in the 58th minute of a 4–0 triumph.

Often cast as starting central midfielder alongside Krisztián Lisztes, under managers Bertalan Bicskei and Imre Gellei, Dárdai captained the national side seven times during 2006, netting twice. On 15 November 2006, he was not included in Péter Várhidi's provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2008 qualifiers, but featured in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying stages, as Hungary was now managed by Erwin Koeman.

Pál Dárdai: International goals

	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 October 1998	Baku	Azerbaijan	1–0	4–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
2	7 September 2002	Reykjavík	Iceland	2–0	2–0	Friendly
3	20 November 2002	Budapest	Moldova	1–1	1–1	Friendly
4	30 May 2006	Manchester	England	1–2	1–3	Friendly
5	24 May 2007	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–0	3–1	Euro 2008 qualifying

Club statistics

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Matches	Goals
1991–92	Pécsi Munkás	Hungary	NBI	4	0
1992–93	Pécsi Munkás	Hungary	NBI	10	1
1993–94	Pécsi Munkás	Hungary	NBI	10	1
1994–95	Pécsi Munkás	Hungary	NBI	30	4
1995–96	Pécsi Munkás	Hungary	NBI	14	5
1995–96	BVSC Budapest	Hungary	NBI	7	0
1996–97	BVSC Budapest	Hungary	NBI	15	3
1996–97	Hertha BSC	Germany	2. Bundesliga	10	0
1997–98	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	14	0
1998–99	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	21	1
1999–00	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	15	1
2000–01	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	24	2
2001–02	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	27	3
2002–03	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	29	4
2003–04	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	29	0
2004–05	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	17	0
2005–06	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	16	2
2006–07	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	28	3
2007–08	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	23	0
2008–09	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	26	1
2009–10	Hertha BSC	Germany	Bundesliga	17	0
2010–11	Hertha BSC	Germany	2. Bundesliga	1	0

Honours

Team

• BVSC:
  • Hungarian Cup: Runner-up 1995–96

• Hertha:
  • 2. Bundesliga: 2010–11
  • German League Cup: 2001, 2002; Runner-up 2000
  • UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006

Individual

• Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2006
• Hertha BSC most capped player (366 times)

Personal life

Dárdai is married and has three sons: Pál, Márton and Bence. His brother, Balázs, also a footballer, died during a friendly match in 20 July 2002. He was only 23 years old.

Dárdai's father, also named Pál Dardái, was also a footballer.

External links

• Pál Dárdai at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Pál Dárdai at National-Football-Teams.com