Zoltán Gera - The Magic Magyar

taken from uefa.com


Gera sticks with Ferencváros
Monday, 20 January 2003
Hungarian international Zoltán Gera has handed a boost to the game in that country by committing his future to Ferencvárosi TC for a further two and a half years.

Top man
The 23-year-old striker, voted Hungary's Player of the Year for 2002 in a poll of coaches organised by the Hungarian Football Federation, has signed a new contract that could keep him at the Budapest club until summer 2005.

Loyalty payment
"I feel good here," said Gera, who had been linked with a move away from the Hungarian 1. Liga with reported interest from teams in Turkey, Germany and France. "I became a player at Ferencváros - that is the reason for my staying rather than moving abroad where I could earn more money."

I feel the club is making real progress

Zoltán Gera


Making strides
Gera, who scored a hat-trick in Hungary's UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying win against San Marino in October, also had a word of praise for Ferencváros coach József Garami. "He is a very good trainer and I feel the club is making real progress," he said.

Forward planning
Meanwhile, Ferencváros general manager József Szeiler was delighted with his player's decision to stay with the Hungarian league leaders. "We are looking to build a squad here rather than sell our best players," he said.

Zoltán Gera - Captain of Hungary


Date of birth April 22, 1979 (1979-04-22) (age 29)
Place of birth Pécs, Hungary
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Attacking Midfielder, Right Midfielder

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace missed his side's latest drawn encounter as he strives to bring in new players he hopes will aid manager Gary Megson's quest for a victory.

Megson revealed Peace was in Europe attempting to conclude a transfer or two ahead of the closure of the transfer window on Tuesday.

Ivory Coast striker Aruna Dindane is understood to head the shopping list, although he remains in Champions League action with Anderlecht after firing them into the group stage on Tuesday with a double in a 3-0 win over Benfica, and could prove hard to prise away.

French midfielder Ousmane Dabo, Hungary left-back Szablocs Huszti and Sylvain Wiltord, a free agent after being released by Arsenal in the summer, have all been linked.

After watching his side struggle for the point from their third 1-1 draw this season, Megson knows his side are lacking in certain positions and is eager to strengthen.

"I hope we can add to the squad because that will give us a much better chance," said Megson.

"We have been talking to a few clubs and a few players where we have agreements with those clubs to try and bring them in.

"Hopefully we are close and we can get them done. If we can, all well and good, but if we can't then we will have to battle on with what we have.

"But each time I watch us play I become more convinced the areas we are showing a little naivety and we are trying to strengthen are the areas we need to strengthen."

At least one of Megson's summer buys in Hungary captain and right winger Zoltan Gera, a £1.5million capture from Ferencvaros, would appear to be a Barclays Premiership player in the making.

After impressing in two substitute appearances, and scoring twice for Hungary in last week's 3-0 win over Scotland , Megson handed Gera his first start and the 25-year-old did not disappoint as he opened the scoring inside three minutes.
Megson knows he has a quality player on his hands as he added: "As he gets stronger and more attuned to the pace English football is played at, I think he will get better and better.

"He has good quality and some of the passes he played from wide right were terrific. He did start to tire late on, but it is certainly a good start for him to score on his full debut."

Tottenham, though, slowly clawed their way back into the game, with Jermain Defoe the pivotal character as he was at the heart of Spurs' recovery.

His 34th-minute equaliser was a fine drive from 20 yards, although Russell Hoult was at fault as the ball squeezed under his gloves much to the disgust of Megson.

"He is disappointed and he has held his hands up and apologised, but it was an awful goal to give away all round," assessed Megson.

"Neil Clement gave the ball away, allowing Defoe to drop into the area Neil had vacated and it allows the lad to turn, run and shoot, and Houlty makes a complete hash of it, but that happens."

Megson saw the result as one point gained rather than two dropped, with Spurs coach Jacques Santini also adopting a positive outlook.

"In France we say the glass is half full because we had two or three good chances to win the game, but I accept the result and it was a good point for us," reflected Santini.

"I am happy with the results of our first three matches from three good games because our preparation has not been good this season.

"We have had injuries, a lot of players coming and going, and there has been no time for good training sessions.

"Last week there were players away on international duty and this week we are playing three games, so for morale, this is a good result."

Santini will lose more players next week due to the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign, in particular Defoe who appears a man in form and vying for a starting role in England's World Cup matches against Austria and Poland.

With Alan Smith on the scoresheet for Manchester United last night, and Emile Heskey on target for Birmingham on Tuesday, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has a dilemma on his hands as to who will partner Michael Owen.

Santini was enthusiastic about Defoe's display after a game which died a death after the forward's withdrawal as a precaution midway through the second half.

"I am happy with the form of Jermain because he scored a very good goal for us and I hope he can continue playing like that," added Santini.

GERA ZOLI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Zoltan Gera inspired West Brom to their first Barclays Premiership win and eased the pressure on under-fire boss Gary Megson.

The Hungarian's 65th minute header capped a superb individual performance at The Hawthorns and sealed a nervy success against high-flying Bolton. Gera had provided the cross from which Kanu swept Albion ahead nine minutes earlier.finale, Albion held firm to give a much-needed boost to Megson.

Responding to rumours that this could be his last match in charge of Albion, Megson had taken the bold step of dropping record #3million signing Robert Earnshaw to the bench in place of the in-form Geoff Horsfield.

And he replaced midfield playmaker Jason Koumas with the relatively unproven Gera - leaving himself open to criticism were his tactics to fail.

But he was boosted by a poor show from Sam Allardyce's Bolton who looked anything but a side who started the day in fourth place.

Recalled 37-year-old Les Ferdinand had had the first shot in the Albion box which was blocked by returning defender Darren Moore.

From then on the first half belonged to Albion and in particular to Gera, who was at the centre of most of his side's attacking moves.

In the eighth minute he hit a low shot which flashed just wide of Jussi Jaaskelainen's right-hand post.

Horsfield raced onto Kanu's through ball to shoot straight at the Bolton `keeper one minute later, then Gera had a powerful drive deflected over the bar.

The home side came even closer in the 11th minute when Moore's powerful header from a Jonathan Greening corner was booted off the line by Gary Speed.

Albion were taking charge of a surprisingly open game with Gera's exciting, shoot-on-sight approach leading to another long-range effort blazing high and wide in the 18th minute.

Speed's foul on Gera led to a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the Bolton box but Greening's quick, lofted effort fell into the arms of Jaaskelainen.

But as time ticked by and more Albion chances went begging the wisdom of dropping Earnshaw was being questioned.

Greening wasted a superb chance in the 21st minute when he caught Moore's flick-on on his chest before volleying over the bar from an unmarked position in the box.

Bolton had produced nothing of note until the 25th minute when a lapse in Albion's defence came close to giving the visitors the lead.

Ricardo Gardner cut inside Gera and Bernt Haas from the left flank and when his initial shot was spilled by `keeper Russell Hoult, Kevin Nolan poked the rebound against the post from point-blank range.

Gera came close yet again on the stroke of half-time when he cut in from the right and unleashed a low left-foot effort which blazed inches wide of Jaaskelainen's left-hand post.

Albion's first chance of the second half also fell to Gera after Greening's accurate cross from the left flank. But the Hungarian's header clattered against defender Bruno N'Gotty and deflected away from danger.

Albion finally snatched a richly deserved lead via the opposite flank in the 56th minute when Gera's cross found Kanu in front of goal and was swept home with consummate ease by the Nigerian.

And Gera's contribution was even more impressive by the 65th minute when he rose highest to head home Greening's corner and celebrated in acrobatic fashion in front of the Albion fans.

Bolton had little more to lose at that point and threw themselves forward though they were fortunate to reduce the deficit in the 73rd minute.

Giannakopoulos' free-kick from way out on the left was flapped at by Hoult and eluded everybody on its way into the Albion net. Radhi Jaidi and Gardner both had late chances to grab a point for Bolton - but Albion clung on to grab a potentially priceless victory for their boss.