György Garics

The native form of this personal name is Garics György. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

György Garics (German pronunciation: [ˈɡaʁɪtʃ]; born 8 March 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a full-back. Born in Hungary, he made 41 appearances for the Austria national team scoring twice.

György Garics

Garics with Austria in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth	(1984-03-08) 8 March 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Szombathely, Hungary
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Full-back
Youth career
1990–1998	Haladás
1998–2001	Rapid Vienna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2002	Rapid Vienna II	18	(2)
2002–2006	Rapid Vienna	81	(1)
2006–2008	Napoli	37	(1)
2008–2010	Atalanta	65	(1)
2010–2015	Bologna	102	(2)
2015–2016	Darmstadt 98	21	(0)
2017–2018	Imolese	13	(0)
Total		337	(7)
International career
2005	Austria U21	25	(2)
2006–2016	Austria	41	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

Born in Szombathely, Hungary, of Croatian descent, Garics moved to Vienna when he was 14 years old and started his football career in Austria with prominent side Rapid Vienna in 2002; during his first season as a teenager he made two appearances.

By the 2004–05 season the young attacking wingback has become more of a prominent member in the first team and Rapid Vienna won the Austrian Bundesliga. Around this time he also became captain of the Austria under-21 national team.

Having made 81 appearances for Rapid Vienna and scored one goal, he was bought by Italian side Napoli for €500,000,^[1] making his debut against Triestina on 23 September 2006. Soon after, he achieved a call up on 6 October 2006 for the Austria national team against Liechtenstein and scored on his international debut.

He was also called up to the Euro 2008 squad and started Austria's third match against Germany in Vienna.

The case of Garics divided Hungarian public sentiment, as it is the first high-profile case of a player choosing a national team other than Hungary, and is also considered a failure on the part of the Hungarian Football Federation to consider to select him in time for the national team.

Garics signed for Atalanta from Napoli in a co-ownership deal in early July 2008, for €1.5 million.^[2] Atalanta bought full ownership of the player for €1 million^[2] on 26 June 2009.^[3]

After Atalanta were relegated from Serie A, Garics was sold outright to Bologna on 9 August 2010,^[4] for €3 million.^[5] Garics was seriously injured in 2011, and had to miss most of the spring season at Bologna.

On 14 August 2015, Garics joined newly promoted Bundesliga club SV Darmstadt 98 on a two-year deal.^[6] He left the club on 30 August 2016.^[7]

Honours

Rapid Vienna

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2004–05

References

1. S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
2. S.S.C. Napoli S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2009 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
3. "Napoli, le comproprietà risolte" (in Italian). SSC Napoli. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
4. "RAIMONDI ALL'ATALANTA, GARICS AL BOLOGNA" (in Italian). Atalanta BC. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Bilancio intermedio al 31 dicembre 2010: Nota integrativa: parte 1" (PDF). Bologna FC 1909 (in Italian). 4 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
6. "Österreichs Nationalspieler Garics wechselt zu den Lilien" (in German). SV Darmstadt 98. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
7. György Garics verlässt den SV Darmstadt, diepresse.com, 30 August 2016

External links

• György Garics at National-Football-Teams.com
• Rapid stats – Rapid archiv (in German)
• Player profile – Euro 2008
• György Garics at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)