Krisztián Lisztes (footballer, born 1976)

For his son, the footballer born 2005, see Krisztián Lisztes (footballer, born 2005).

Krisztián Lisztes (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkristiaːn ˈlistɛʃ]; born 2 July 1976) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is most commonly known for his stints at VfB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, and for Ferencváros (three separate spells) in his home country.

Krisztián Lisztes

Personal information
Date of birth	(1976-07-02) 2 July 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Budapest, Hungary
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Youth career
1985–1993	Ferencváros
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1996	Ferencváros	80	(19)
1996–2001	VfB Stuttgart	109	(12)
2001–2005	Werder Bremen	92	(8)
2005–2006	Borussia Mönchengladbach	5	(0)
2007	Hajduk Split	0	(0)
2008	Ferencváros	11	(0)
2008	Rákospalota	14	(4)
2009	Hansa Rostock	13	(1)
2009–2011	Paks	29	(2)
2011	Vasas	14	(1)
2011–2012	Ferencváros	23	(1)
2012	Szeged 2011	13	(5)
2013–2015	Soroksár	56	(15)
Total		459	(68)
International career
1996–1997	Hungary U-21	2	(0)
1994–2004	Hungary	49	(9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Budapest, Lisztes began his professional career as a midfielder, playing for the Hungarian team Ferencváros, where he was brought up through the youth academy. He was considered by many as one of the biggest talents of Hungarian football. He became a member of the first team in 1993 at the age of 17, when he had to replace Hungary's then probably biggest star Lajos Détári on a quick note when Détári was transferred to Italy.

He led Ferencváros to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in 1995, making them the first Hungarian team to get there. Scoring the first goal against Grasshoppers in a 3–0 victory, he also became the first ever Hungarian player to score in the Champions League group stages.

His performances at the European level caught the attention of several big clubs and he would go on to join VfB Stuttgart in 1996. Many considered this move as premature as Stuttgart's then playmaker Bulgarian Krasimir Balakov had a solid place in the team, and Lisztes indeed had to spend some time on the reserves bench, but later he became a regular in the team, and played there till 2001 before moving to Werder Bremen. His successes include DFB-Pokal triumphs with Stuttgart in 1997 and Werder in 2004, as well as the 2004 league title with Werder.

In 2004, he sustained an injury and never fully regained his fitness at Werder. In 2005, following trials with Wigan Athletic of the Premier League and ChievoVerona of the Serie A, he joined Borussia Mönchengladbach, but failed to make a serious impact as a result of his continued injury problems. After a brief spell in Croatia with Hajduk Split he rejoined his childhood team Ferencváros in February 2008, but moved on to REAC only after a few months. On 3 August 2008, he scored his first goal in the Hungarian league after 12 years.

On 12 January 2009, he left REAC and joined Hansa Rostock on a free transfer and signed a contract till 30 June 2009.^[1] He left Rostock after his contract ended, and on 24 June 2009 signed for Paksi SE.

International career

In 1994, Lisztes debuted in the Hungary national team where to this day he gained 49 caps and scored 9 goals. He was last capped in 2004.

During the 1995–96 season, he was a member of the Hungary Olympic Football team, which won qualification to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Hungary lost all of their three group matches on the Olympics, their opponent including future gold medal winners Nigeria, and Brazil with the likes of Dida, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and Juninho Paulista in their squad. This was the last occasion to this day, when the Hungary football team managed to qualify for the Olympics.

Personal life

He is married and has a daughter and a son. His son, Krisztián Lisztes Jr is also a professional footballer.^[2]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ferencváros	1994–95	Nemzeti Bajnokság I					4	1	–		4	1	[3]
	1995–96						8	2	–		8	2	[3]
	1996–97						3	2	–		3	2	[3]
	Total						15	5			15	5	–
VfB Stuttgart	1996–97	Bundesliga	12	1	0	0	0	0	–		12	1	[3]
	1997–98		14	2	2	0	4	0	1[a]	0	21	2	[3]
	1998–99		31	2	4	2	3	0	3[b]	0	41	4	[3]
	1999–2000		29	4	3	1	0	0	–		32	5	[3]
	2000–01		23	3	4	0	8	0	–		35	3	[3]
	Total		109	12	13	3	15	0	4	0	141	15	–
Werder Bremen	2001–02	Bundesliga	29	5	2	0	1	0	–		32	5	[3]
	2002–03		31	0	4	0	4	1	1[c]	0	40	1	[3]
	2003–04		30	3	5	0	4	0	–		39	3	[3]
	2004–05		2	0	1	0	0	0	–		3	0	[3]
	Total		92	8	12	0	9	1	1	0	114	9	–
Borussia Mönchengladbach	2005–06	Bundesliga	5	0	1	0					6	0	[3]
Ferencváros	2007–08	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	11	0							11	0	[4]
Rákospalotai EAC	2008–09	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	14	4							14	4	[3]
Hansa Rostock	2008–09	2. Bundesliga	13	1	1	0					14	1	[3]
Paks	2009–10	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	23	2							23	2	[3]
	2010–11		6	0							6	0	[3]
	Total		29	2							29	2	–
Vasas	2010–11	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	14	1							14	1	[3]
Ferencváros	2011–12	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	23	1							23	1	[3]
Szeged 2011	2012–13	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	13	5							13	5	[4]
Soroksár SC	2012–13	Nemzeti Bajnokság III	13	1							13	1	[4]
	2013–14		28	14							28	14	[4]
	2014–15	Nemzeti Bajnokság II	15	0							15	0	[4]
	Total		56	15							56	15	–
Career total			379	49	27	3	39	6	5	0	450	58	–

1. One appearance in DFL-Ligapokal
2. Three appearances in DFL-Ligapokal
3. One appearance in DFL-Ligapokal

International

Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lisztes goal.^[4]

List of international goals scored by Krisztián Lisztes

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 October 2000	Kaunas, Lithuania	Lithuania	6–1 (p)	6–1	FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualification
2	14 November 2001	Budapest, Hungary	North Macedonia	1–0	5–0	Friendly
3				5–0
4	2 April 2003	Budapest, Hungary	Sweden	1–1	1–2	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualification
5	30 April 2003	Budapest, Hungary	Luxembourg	3–1	5–1	Friendly
6	11 June 2003	Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	2–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualification
7				5–0
8	10 September 2003	Riga, Latvia	Latvia	1–3	1–3	UEFA Euro 2004 Qualification
9	18 February 2004	Paphos, Cyprus	Armenia	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Honours

Ferencváros

• Nemzeti Bajnokság I: 1994–95, 1995–96
• Magyar Kupa: 1993–94, 1994–95
• Szuperkupa: 1993, 1994, 1995

VfB Stuttgart

• DFB-Pokal: 1996–97
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: runners-up 1997–98
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000

Werder Bremen

• Bundesliga: 2003–04
• DFB-Pokal: 2003–04

Paksi SE

• Ligakupa: runners-up 2009–10

Individual

• Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2002

References

1. "Krisztian Lisztes erhält beim F.C. Hansa Vertrag bis 30 June 2009" (in German). fc-hansa.de. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
2. "Lisztes Krisztián fia a Fradi focistája lett: „Nyeltem a könnyeimet, majdnem elsírtam magam örömömben"". Sportal.hu. 15 May 2022.
3. "Krisztián Lisztes » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
4. "Krisztián Lisztes". National Football Teams. Retrieved 26 August 2018.