Kevin Kurányi

Kevin Dennis Kurányi (German pronunciation: [ˈkɛvɪn kuˈʁaːniː], Hungarian: [ˈkɛvin ˈkuraːɲi]; born 2 March 1982) is a German-Brazilian former professional footballer of Hungarian and Panamanian descent. He played as a striker and possessed great aerial ability and finishing skills. From 2003 to 2008, Kurányi was part of the German national team, for which he scored 19 goals in 52 games. He participated in two UEFA Euro and one Confederations Cup.

Kevin Kurányi
Kurányi in 2016
Personal information
Full name Kevin Dennis Kurányi
Date of birth (1982-03-02) 2 March 1982
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1988–1993 Serrano
1993–1994 Las Promesas Panama
1994–1996 Serrano
1996–1997 Las Promesas Panama
1997–2001 VfB Stuttgart
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 VfB Stuttgart II 33 (10)
2001–2005 VfB Stuttgart 99 (40)
2005–2010 Schalke 04 162 (71)
2010–2015 Dynamo Moscow 123 (50)
2015–2016 1899 Hoffenheim 14 (0)
Total 431 (171)
National team
2001 Germany U20 5 (2)
2002–2003 Germany U21 6 (2)
2002 Germany Team 2006 1 (1)
2003–2008 Germany 52 (19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Kurányi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to a German[1] father of Hungarian descent and a Panamanian mother. He eventually opted to play for the German national football team after being also qualified to play for Brazil, Panama or Hungary.[2]

Club career

Early career

Kurányi began playing football in 1988 for Petrópolis-based Serrano FC in Brazil, when he was six years old. In 1993, he transferred to Panamanian club Las Promesas, where he played for one year before going back to Serrano FC. Kurányi returned to Las Promesas in 1996 for a further year.

VfB Stuttgart

In 1997, Kurányi moved to Germany, enlisting at VfB Stuttgart's B youth team. After playing a few games in the Germany national under-21 football team, he signed his first professional contract for VfB in 2001.

Following on from his 33 matches and 10 goals for the amateur team, Kurányi played 99 matches for VfB Stuttgart's professional team, scoring 40 goals.[3] He also took part in 22 European team championship games, scoring 10 goals. In the 2002–03 season of the Bundesliga, he was the top German goal-scorer and one of the main reasons for Stuttgart's second-place finish in the league. That year, VfB and its "Junge Wilde" ("young wild ones"), comprising Timo Hildebrand, Andreas Hinkel, Alexander Hleb, Philipp Lahm, Imre Szabics and Kurányi, delighted Stuttgart fans with superb attacking football.

Schalke 04

Kurányi left Stuttgart during the 2005 summer transfer window to join Schalke, signing to 2009–10. At Gelsenkirchen, he finished top goalscorer for the team from 2005–08, while the team achieved three consecutive UEFA Champions League berths.

On 15 April 2008, Kurányi scored four goals in Schalke's 5–0 win over Energie Cottbus in a league match, the other being an own goal. Three days earlier, incidentally, Schalke were beaten 5–1 at Werder Bremen, with Kurányi also netting.

Dynamo Moscow
Kurányi playing for Dynamo Moscow

On 9 May 2010, it was announced that Kurányi would move to Dynamo Moscow on 1 July 2010[4] and signed a three-year contract.[5] After renewing his contract with Dynamo until 2015,[6] he became captain of the team in July 2012.[7] He netted two goals for Dynamo on 9 December 2012, to lift the capital club to a 2–1 victory over Terek Grozny.[8]

1899 Hoffenheim

After his contract with Dynamo expired in the summer of 2015, Kurányi returned to Germany and signed for 1899 Hoffenheim on 24 July 2015, on a one-year deal.[9]

Kurányi announced his retirement on 24 March 2017.[10]

International career

Kurányi made his debut for Germany during the Euro 2004 qualifier against Lithuania on 29 March 2003. In his sixth appearance, the young striker netted Germany's final qualifying goal in their 3–0 defeat of Iceland. He played for his adopted country at the tournament's finals and at the 2005 Confederations Cup but was not selected for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

In 2006–07, Kurányi regained his touch and after an absence of 15 months, he was recalled to the national team, scoring during Germany's 3–1 win against Switzerland on 7 February 2007, in a friendly in Düsseldorf. In Germany's Euro 2008 qualifying match against the Czech Republic on 24 March, he scored both goals in the 2–1 victory. He was brought on during the second half of the Euro 2008 final against Spain for Thomas Hitzlsperger, but was unable to score in the 0–1 loss, receiving a yellow card in the process. Incidentally, the appearance in the final marked his 50th cap for Germany.[11]

On 11 October 2008, Kurányi was left out of the 18-man squad to face Russia. After watching the first half from the stands with other unselected players, he left the stadium during the half-time interval and failed to return to the German team hotel. After this incident, German team coach Joachim Löw said that he would never again select Kurányi for the national team.[12] One of his advisors said of the incident to reporters "He decided what he for himself found to be right, which was to say I’m going home."[13]

Personal life

Due to his mixed descent, Kurányi holds German, Panamanian and Brazilian citizenships. Kurányi has stated that he is an avid supporter of his favorite team, Brazilian side Flamengo.[14] Apart from his native Brazilian Portuguese and German, Kurányi also speaks conversational Spanish, English, Russian, and Hungarian.

Kurányi's wife, Viktorija Peličić, is Croatian. They married on 28 April 2007 in Stuttgart. On 27 September 2005, Kurányi and his wife had their first child, a son named Karlo. Their second child, a daughter named Vivien Carmen, was born on 6 January 2008.

Career statistics

Club
Sources:[15][16][17]
ClubSeasonLeagueCupLeague CupContinentalTotal
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stuttgart II2000–01Regionalliga Süd8110—91
2001–0225910269
Totals331020—3510
Stuttgart2001–02Bundesliga5111——62
2002–03321522954322
2003–0433112110834415
2004–0529132220633918
Totals99407630231113257
Schalke2005–06Bundesliga301020211234614
2006–07341522—203817
2007–0832152220834420
2008–09331342—714416
2009–10331842—3720
Totals162711484129720987
Dynamo Moscow| 2010Premier League16900——169
2011–124113604713
2012–13271031403411
2013–1415800—158
2014–152410101453915
Totals12350101—18515156
1899 Hoffenheim2015–16Bundesliga14010—150
Totals14010—150
Career totals4311713415717023542210

International
National team Year Friendlies Competition Total
AppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoals
Germany
2003304171
20041010301310
200510152153
2006000000
2007326395
2008404080
Career total 30132265219

International goals

Honours

Club

VfB Stuttgart

Schalke 04

International

Germany

Individual

References
  1. Jahn, Michael (15 June 2004). "DUELL DER GEGENSÄTZE" (in German). Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  2. "Kevin Kurányi". BBC Sport. 25 May 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  3. Arnhold, Matthias (4 May 2017). "Kevin Kurányi - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  4. "Kuranyi bestätigt Wechsel" (in German). kicker. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  5. КУРАНЬИ – В "ДИНАМО"! (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow. 9 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  6. "Kuranyi bleibt in Moskau". Deutsche Welle (in German). 11 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  7. "Kuranyi ist neuer Kapitän von Dynamo Moskau". Die Welt (in German). 18 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  8. "Terek Grozny 1 – 2 Dinamo Moscow". ESPNFC. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  9. "Kevin Kuranyi verstärkt die TSG" (in German). TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. 25 July 2015.
  10. "Ex-Nationalspieler Kuranyi beendet Karriere" (in German). dfb.de. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  11. Matthias Arnhold (4 May 2017). "Kevin Kurányi - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  12. "Löw won't nominate Kurányi again". dfb.de (in German). 12 October 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  13. "Kuranyi Leaves Stands, Gets the Boot From Loew". DW-World.de. 12 October 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  14. "Flamenguista Kevin Kuranyi sonha marcar gol e derrotar o Brasil na final da Copa" (in Portuguese). esporte.uol.com.br. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  15. "Kevin Kuranyi" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  16. "Kevin Kuranyi" (in German). Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  17. "Kevin Kurányi » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  18. "Stuttgart 2-0 Lille (Aggregate: 2 - 1)". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  19. "Bundesliga Historie 2006/07" (in German). kicker.
  20. "Bundesliga Historie 2009/10" (in German). kicker.
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