Tamas Hajnal

Tamás Hajnal (born March 15,1981 in Esztergom, Hungary) is a Hungarian Midfielder (football) currently playing for Bundesliga (football) side Borussia Dortmund.

Career

Along with a solid defence built around Swiss international Mario Eggimann which has only let in 11 goals to date, one man has been especially responsible for Karlsruhe's success thus far: 20-times-capped Hungarian international Hajnal. The diminutive (1.68 m) attacking midfielder joined the club from second division Kaiserslautern over the summer and began to make his mark on the Bundesliga right from the opening match.

He started playing football at the local Zoltek SE in his hometown Nyergesújfalu. At the age of nine the very gifted young lad was swooped by Hungary's 1 club Ferencvárosi TC. Although he has only earned two caps playing for them because of his move to Dunakanyar-Vác FC as part of an exchange deal. Then Dunakanyar-Vác FC made a lot of money by quickly selling him to FC Schalke 04. He found it hard to make the breakthrough with the Royal Blues, and after a mere seven Bundesliga appearances he moved to Belgium in 2004. He racked up six goals in 20 games for K Sint-Truidense V.V before returning to Germany in 2006, where he joined Kaiserslautern. His seven goals were not enough to get the Red Devils back up into the Bundesliga, so Hajnal made his own way into the top flight for €0.5m to Karlsruher SC.

The 26-year-old finally seems to have found a club where he can give his talent free rein. He may only weigh a mere 68 kilos, but ever since his two-goal debut for Karlsruhe away to German Cup holders Nuremberg, he has been a heavyweight in the Bundesliga scoring charts.

Since then, the Hungarian international has helped KSC to wins over champions VfB Stuttgart (1-0), Borussia Dortmund (3-1) and Schalke (2-0). His six goals and as many assists put him among the top performers in the Bundesliga and he can be considered one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga.

In July 2008 he moved to Borussia Dortmund for a fixed transfer fee of €1.3m.

Club Statistics

(Statistics correct as of 30 September, 2008)

International career

International success is now all that Hajnal is lacking. Hungary finished a disappointing sixth in their qualifying group for UEFA EURO 2008 and have been out of the running for a place in Austria and Switzerland next year since the beginig of the qualification period. The competition from Greece, Norway and Turkey was simply too strong for Hajnal and his team mates, who nevertheless beat Bosnia-Herzegovina home and away during the campaign.

International goals

Honours

- Hungarian Player of the Year: 2007
- Named in the 2007/08 Bundesliga all-star team (bundesliga.de)
- DFB-Ligapokal finalists with Schalke 04: 2001, 2002