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The native form of this personal name is Gera Zoltán. This article uses the Western name order.

Zoltán Gera ( IPA: [ˈzoltaːn 'ɡɛrɒ]; born 22 April 1979 in Pécs) is a Hungarian footballer who plays for English club Fulham after signing from West Bromwich Albion on 1 July 2008. He usually plays as an attacking midfielder.

Zoltán Gera is considered to be the best, the most valuable active Hungarian football player both by professionals and fans. He started his career in Pécs, Hungary and grow out to be the most popular player in his country. Because of his rough and pretty much problematic childhood, nobody would have given him a go to be even in the Hungarian first division. Gerzson - as his fans call him nowadays - not only the highest ranked Hungarian football player and captain of the national team but he plays at Fulham FC in the Premier League. His father supported him when he took the first steps in his football career and it was obvious already at that time that he is a football genius not to be wasted. Despite of this it almost happened.

In 2005, he featured in a television advertisement for Pepsi, representing the 2006 FIFA World Cup alongside Thierry Henry, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho and Raúl.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Early life

Gerzson grew up in a very problematic family, he spent more time on the streets and in the gaming-room than in his home or school. He became an alcohol and drug addict in his teenage years. His trainers, especially József Garami supported him as much as they could but it was not enough to draw him out of the deep trouble he was in. It seemed Gera would go down the sink. Then he turned to religion and it changed his life. His father and his friends helped him as well to return to the football field. First he started to play indoor football. His previous life used up his body's resources, he couldn't take more. He became stronger and stronger, and first his playmates, then his trainers and also the fans recognized his talent.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Career in Hungary

He started to play in a national league team, Pécs, where he had a very good and supporting trainer, Antal Róth. He got some attention from the media and other football teams started to be interested as well. He signed a contract with Ferencváros and moved to Budapest - the capital of Hungary.

At the beginning he amazed everybody with his skills and he scored a lot. After his first goals he invented his well-known trademark: the handspring followed by a somersault. No question he became the favourite. He played 115 league games and scored 32 goals. He won twice both the league title and the Hungarian Cup, and not only made his way into the national team but became a key figure in the Hungarian football life.

[edit] West Bromwich Albion

Gera joined West Bromwich Albion in July 2004 from Hungarian club Ferencvárosi TC for £1.5 million.^[2] He signed a three-year deal with Albion, with a further one year option at the club's option.

He made his Premiership début on 14 August 2004, replacing Andy Johnson in the 87th minute. That match ended in a 1–1 draw with Blackburn Rovers. His first time in the starting eleven came on 25 August 2004, against Tottenham Hotspur. He also scored his first league goal early in the third minute. That match ended, also, in a 1–1 draw.

He managed to score 6 league goals in his first season and was the only player of his team to appear in all 38 league matches. He helped West Brom stay in the Premiership. He was nominated as member of the football dream team by many media, like soccernet.com and he was on the top of the podium in almost every nomination.

Following the success of West Brom remaining in the Premiership, Gera was noticed by many clubs. Aston Villa claimed interest in him but he remained at West Bromwich. He was named Hungarian Player of the Year in 2002, 2004 and again in 2005.

Since the start of the 2005–06 season he used to struggle constantly with niggling injuries and finally underwent hernia operation in November 2005. Without Gera, West Brom were relegated, but he committed himself to the club in a bid for them to get back into the top flight.

His performance in Albion's 4–2 win against Charlton Athletic on 15 December 2007—scoring twice and setting up a third—earned him a place in the Championship Team of the Week.^[3][4]

[edit] Fulham

On 9 June 2008 Gera turned down a new contract at West Brom, having decided instead to join Fulham on a free transfer.^[5] The three-year contract was completed on 11 June 2008.^[6] He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Hull City on the opening day of the 2008–09 Premier League season.

[edit] Career Statistics

(Statistics correct as of 30 August 2008)

[edit] International career

Gera earned his first international cap on 13 February 2002 in a 2–1 defeat to Switzerland. His first international goal was the first of a hat trick on 16 October 2002 in a match against San Marino. Gera was named captain of the Hungarian national team in 2004 and his first match as skipper ended in a 3–1 victory over Latvia.

International Goals

	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 October 2002	Budapest	San Marino	3-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
2	16 October 2002	Budapest	San Marino	3-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
3	16 October 2002	Budapest	San Marino	3-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
4	30 April 2003	Budapest	Luxembourg	5-1	Win	Friendly
5	7 June 2003	Budapest	Latvia	3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
6	8 September 2004	Budapest	Iceland	3-2	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
7	17 November 2004	Ta' Qali	Malta	2-0	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
8	4 June 2005	Reykjavík	Iceland	3-2 (p)	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
9	4 June 2005	Reykjavík	Iceland	3-2 (p)	Win	FIFA World Cup 2006 Qual.
10	16 August 2006	Graz	Austria	2-1	Win	Friendly
11	2 September 2006	Budapest	Norway	1-4 (p)	Loss	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
12	6 September 2006	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3-1	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
13	28 March 2007	Budapest	Moldova	2-0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
14	22 August 2007	Budapest	Italy	3-1 (p)	Win	Friendly
15	8 September 2007	Székesfehérvár	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1-0 (p)	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
16	6 February 2008	Limassol	Slovakia	1-1	Draw	Friendly
17	19 November 2008	Belfast	Northern Ireland	2-0	Win	Friendly

[edit] Personal life

Gera is married and became the father of a baby girl named Hanna in March 2008; following the birth he was given leave by his national team manager Péter Várhidi to miss Hungary's friendly against Slovenia in order to spend time with his family.^[10][11]

[edit] Quotes

• "He's taken a lot of stuff on board but it doesn't surprise me because of the character he is. He's a great lad to have about the place. He always has a smile on his face and he'll do anything you ask of him in training. Those are the sort of players you want around you. Nearly every manager or coach I talk to at games speaks about Zoltán." — Bryan Robson, WBA
• "The Hungarian was probably West Brom's best player last season with a string of energetic and effective performances down the right. He has an eye for goal too." — Manchester Online
• "I especially like Zoltán Gera on the right, who is a skilful and productive player. If the Baggies do go down, he's the type of player you'd look to pinch." — Mark Lawrenson
• "The 26-year-old has already achieve cult hero status at the Hawthorns after a season where his contribution has played no small part in the Baggies miraculously avoiding the drop." — soccernet.com
• "The Hungarian international has been dubbed by many as the best player outside of the Premier League." - FansFc.com
• "The captain of Hungary and one of the most complete attacking midfielders in the Football League - he's intelligent and unselfish, he scores goals and he sets goals up. On his day, of which there have been many so far this season, he is too good for the Championship." - Oliver Irish (The Guardian)

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

Ferencvárosi TC

• Hungarian League: 2001, 2004
  • Runners-up: 2002, 2003
• Hungarian Cup: 2003, 2004
• Hungarian Super Cup: 2004

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

• Football League Championship: 2008

[edit] Individual

• Player of the Year in Hungary: 2002
• Hungarian Footballer of the Year: 2004, 2005
• Supporters voted and Gera received the 'Tibor Simon Prize': 2003
• Best goalscorer and best player of the Hungarian Inside Football Championship with Ferencvaros: 2003
• Hungarian weekly 100% Fradi named him in the Ferencvaros Team of the Century: 2004
• Named in the 2004/05 Premiership all-star team (soccernet.com)
• Third on the Best Rookie Player of the Season vote of magazin Match: 2004/05
• Fifth on ITV television's Best Foreign Rookie of the Season vote: 2004/05
• According to English site squarefootball.net he was the best player of West Brom in 2005
• The Championship Footballer of the Year : 2007/08 (The Guardian)
• Named in the 2007/08 The Championship all-star team (The Guardian)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Zoltán Gera career stats at Soccerbase
• (English) Zoltán's official site
• (Hungarian) Zoltán's official site