Tomáš Hubočan

Slovak footballer (born 1985)

Tomáš Hubočan
Hubočan with Dynamo Moscow in 2014
Personal information
Full name Tomáš Hubočan
Date of birth (1985-09-17) 17 September 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth Žilina, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
MŠK Žilina
Number 15
Youth career
Žilina
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Žilina 38 (2)
2006ViOn Zlaté Moravce (loan) 3 (1)
2008–2014 Zenit Saint Petersburg 114 (0)
2014–2016 Dynamo Moscow 40 (2)
2016–2019 Olympique Marseille 16 (0)
2017–2018 → Trabzonspor (loan) 20 (0)
2019–2022 Omonia Nicosia 57 (0)
2022–2023 Karmiotissa 27 (0)
2023– Žilina 7 (0)
2023– Žilina B 4 (0)
International career
2006–2021 Slovakia 73 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 March 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:24, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Tomáš Hubočan (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈtɔmaːʐ ˈɦubɔtʂan]; born 17 September 1985) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a defender for Slovak Niké liga club MŠK Žilina.

He made his senior international debut in 2006. He has gone on to make 73 appearances for Slovakia, representing his nation at the UEFA Euro 2016 and the UEFA Euro 2020 tournaments. He retired as 9th most capped international footballer in December 2021.

Club career

MŠK Žilina

Hubočan began in MŠK Žilina since his youth years, beyond the time when he was on loan in ViOn Zlaté Moravce since January 2006 until June 2006. After the end of loan he came back to Žilina and he worked up for one of the best defenders in Corgoň Liga. In the 2006–07 season, he won the league with Šošoni.

Zenit

Hubočan signed for Zenit on 11 February 2008 on a three-year contract for €3.8 million, the highest ever paid to a Slovak club.[1] Hubočan is hoped to fill the vacancy in the center of Zenit's defense created by fellow Slovak defender Martin Škrtel being sold to Liverpool.

As Zenit's star center-backs Ivica Križanac and Nicolas Lombaerts were still on the injured list, and defenders Kim Dong-Jin and Roman Shirokov were not quite ready to make their comebacks, Hubočan received his first taste of Champions League football against Real Madrid (at the Petrovsky stadium) on 30 September 2008. Only having played a total of 11 games for Zenit, it was a rude awakening as he conceded a disastrous own-goal in the 4th minute.

Having only played in 22 league games over two seasons, Hubočan was not quite trusted by former head coaches Dick Advocaat and Anatoli Davydov.[citation needed] He finally broke through to the starting eleven in 2010 under Italian Luciano Spalletti, winning the competition for the unfamiliar left back spot over the likes of Michael Lumb and Radek Šírl. Spalletti rated Hubočan as a hot prospect for the future.

On 30 September 2010, he scored his first goal for Zenit in a UEFA Europa League match against AEK Athens F.C.[2]

Trabzonspor

On 7 September 2017, he joined Turkish club Trabzonspor on loan.[3]

Omonia

On 4 September 2019, Hubočan joined Omonia on a one-year deal.[4] He would later sign 2 one-year extensions, thus staying at the club until 2022.[5][6]

During his time at Omonia, Hubočan won the domestic league, the Cup, and the Super Cup. He also helped the club reach the group stage of a European competition for the first time in its history, competing in the group stage of the 2020–21 Europa League and the 2021–22 Europa Conference League.

International career

Hubočan played his first international match for Slovakia against United Arab Emirates on 11 December 2006. He was a part of Slovakia's squad for the country's first European Championship tournament in 2016.[7]

Hubočan announced his national team retirement on 22 February 2019, at age 33 along with another national team defender and captain Martin Škrtel and forward Adam Nemec.[8] The trio shared a farewell game on 13 October 2019 in a friendly against Paraguay, which coincided with a national team return to Tehelné pole, after 10 years. Although Nemec and Škrtel had starred from the start of the game, Hubočan only entered the game symbolically in the 87th minute, due to a sprain. He entered with the game at 1–1. Ironically, this was Hubočan's first international game at the famed Slovakian stadium, home to the national team for a number of years. The game concluded in the same score.[9]

In November 2020, he came out of retirement, playing in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs clinching game against Northern Ireland.[10] In June 2021, he was included in the final 26-man roster for the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.[11] After Slovakia failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Hubočan announced his second and definitive retirement in an interview with Denník Šport, citing age and family commitments as main motivations.[12]

Career statistics

As of 30 May 2022[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Žilina 2004–05 Slovak Super Liga 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2005–06 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2006–07 26 1 0 0 26 1
2007–08 10 0 0 0 2 0 12 0
Total 38 2 0 0 2 0 40 2
ViOn Zlaté Moravce (loan) 2005–06 2. Liga 3 1 0 0 3 1
Zenit Saint Petersburg 2008 Russian Premier League 11 0 1 0 2 0 1[a] 0 15 0
2009 11 0 1 0 1 0 13 0
2010 23 0 3 0 7 1 33 1
2011–12 30 0 4 0 8 0 42 0
2012–13 24 0 3 0 9 0 1[b] 0 37 0
2013–14 15 0 0 0 8 0 1[c] 0 24 0
2014–15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 114 0 12 0 35 1 3 0 164 1
Dynamo Moscow 2014–15 Russian Premier League 18 1 1 0 8 0 27 1
2015–16 22 1 2 0 24 1
Total 40 2 3 0 8 0 51 2
Marseille 2016–17 Ligue 1 13 0 0 0 1[d] 0 14 0
2017–18 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
2018–19 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Total 16 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 20 0
Trabzonspor (loan) 2017–18 Süper Lig 20 0 4 0 24 0
Omonia 2019–20 Cypriot First Division 11 0 3 0 14 0
2020–21 24 0 1 0 9 0 34 0
2021–22 22 0 4 0 7 0 1 0 34 0
Total 57 0 8 0 16 0 1 0 82 0
Career total 287 4 27 0 64 1 5 0 383 5
  1. ^ One appearance in the Russian Super Cup
  2. ^ One appearance in the Russian Super Cup
  3. ^ One appearance in the Russian Super Cup
  4. ^ One appearance in the Coupe de la Ligue

Honours

MŠK Žilina

Zenit St. Petersburg

Omonia


Slovakia

References

  1. ^ "Hubo?an zo ?iliny do Petrohradu za 120 mili?nov! - Profutbal.sk" (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. ^ Лучано Спаллетти: "Тот, кто выигрывает титул, остаётся в истории" (in Russian). FC Zenit. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Agreement with Tomas Hubocan" (in Turkish). Trabzonspor. 7 September 2017.
  4. ^ OmonoiaFC (4 September 2019). "Στην ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ ο Tomas Hubocan!". Omonoia FC. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  5. ^ OmonoiaFC (26 May 2020). "Ανανέωση συνεργασίας με Tomáš Hubočan μέχρι το 2021!". Omonoia FC. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  6. ^ OmonoiaFC (12 May 2021). "Για ακόμη ένα χρόνο στην ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ ο Τόμας Χούμποτσαν!". Omonoia FC. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Aktuálne futbalové správy".
  8. ^ "Futbalisti Škrtel, Hubočan a Nemec prekvapivo ukončili reprezentačnú kariéru". SME.sk. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  9. ^ a.s, Petit Press. "Slováci v príprave remizovali s Paraguajom, s reprezentáciou sa rozlúčila trojica hráčov". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Northern Ireland's hopes of reaching Euro 2020 were ended as Slovakia scored deep into extra time to win their play-off final at Windsor Park". BBC. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  11. ^ "MUŽI A - Konečná nominácia na Euro 2020, tréner Tarkovič: Za menami si stojím!". futbalsfz. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ s.r.o, SPORT SK, s r o & Ringier Axel Springer Media. "Druhýkrát a definitívne. Tomáš Hubočan vo veku 36 rokov končí reprezentačnú kariéru". Šport.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 15 December 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "T. Hubočan". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Thailand vs. Slovakia - Football Match Line-Ups - March 25, 2018 - ESPN".
  15. ^ "Slovakia beat Thailand 3-2, win King's Cup". Bangkok Post. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

External links

  • Profile at the official FC Zenit St. Petersburg website (in Russian)
  • Tomáš Hubočan at Russian Premier League
  • MŠK Žilina players
  • Tomáš Hubočan at National-Football-Teams.com
Slovakia squads
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Slovakia squadUEFA Euro 2016
Slovakia
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Slovakia squadUEFA Euro 2020
Slovakia
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MŠK Žilina – current squad