Miklós Fehér
Fehér with Benfica in 2003
Personal information
Full name Miklós Fehér[1]
Date of birth (1979-07-20)20 July 1979[1]
Place of birth Tatabánya, Hungary
Date of death 25 January 2004(2004-01-25) (aged 24)
Place of death Guimarães, Portugal
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Győri ETO
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1998 Győri ETO 62 (23)
1998–2002 Porto 10 (1)
1999–2002 Porto B 7 (2)
2000 → Salgueiros (loan) 14 (5)
2000–2001 → Braga (loan) 26 (14)
2002–2004 Benfica 30 (7)
Total 149 (52)
International career
1996–1997 Hungary U18 8 (2)
1996–2000 Hungary U21 5 (1)
1998–2003 Hungary 25 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Miklós "Miki" Fehér (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈmikloːʃ ˈfɛheːr]; 20 July 1979 – 25 January 2004) was a Hungarian professional footballer who played as a striker.

He spent most of his nine-year career in Portugal, representing four clubs and amassing Primeira Liga totals of 80 games and 27 goals. On 25 January 2004, he died of a cardiac arrest during a match between Vitória de Guimarães and his team Benfica in Guimarães.[2][3]

Fehér represented Hungary national team at international level, making his debut in 1998 at the age of 19.

Club career

Born in Tatabánya, Fehér started his playing career at Győri ETO FC, where he was spotted by FC Porto scouts. He was signed in 1998 but never really made a breakthrough onto the first team, being loaned to gain experience from ages 20 to 21 to another two northern sides, S.C. Salgueiros and S.C. Braga.

At Braga, Fehér had his best professional season, scoring 14 Primeira Liga goals in 26 games in 2000–01. After Porto chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa quarrelled with his agent José Veiga, the player refused to part with the latter and left, joining Lisbon side S.L. Benfica and going on to net eight official goals over two seasons.[4]

Death and legacy

Fehér memorial at the Estádio da Luz

On 25 January 2004, Fehér was in Guimarães with Benfica to play against Vitória de Guimarães. The game was being broadcast live on television, and Benfica were leading 1–0. Fehér had just come on as a substitute and assisted another player just off the bench, Fernando Aguiar, for the match's only goal, but received a yellow card in injury time and suddenly bent forward, seemingly in pain; he then fell backwards to the ground.

Members of both teams rushed immediately to aid Fehér before medical personnel arrived on the pitch. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, an ambulance arrived on the pitch and he was rushed to the hospital. His condition was covered by the Portuguese media throughout the day and, before midnight, his death was confirmed, the cause of death being cardiac arrhythmia brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.[5] In his memory, Benfica retired the number 29 shirt, which he wore during his time at the club.[6] He was remembered by many and his death caused a profound shock in Portuguese sports. Among others, Porto director of football Reinaldo Teles and manager José Mourinho paid their respects at the Estádio da Luz, where the player's body remained before his burial in his native Hungary.

Benfica's delegation, which included president Luís Filipe Vieira, coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the entire first-team squad, travelled to Hungary, presenting Fehér's parents with the 2004–05 league championship medal, in respect for the player and his time with the club.[7] They had previously dedicated the 2003–04 Taça de Portugal trophy to him.[6]

On 9 October 2009, the day before their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Portugal in Lisbon, the Hungary national team squad laid a wreath next to a metal bust of Fehér at Benfica's homeground, in tribute to his memory.[8] Before a UEFA Europa Conference League game at the ground where he died, Hungarian club Puskás Akadémia FC paid tribute to him on 20 July 2022, which would have been his 43rd birthday.[9]

International career

Fehér earned his first cap for the Hungary national team on 10 October 1998, in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match against Azerbaijan. He came on as a sixth-minute substitute for Ferenc Horváth at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku, and scored the final goal of the 4–0 win.

On 11 October 2000, Fehér netted a hat-trick in a 6–1 away rout of Lithuania for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[10] In total, he scored seven goals in 25 appearances.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[11][12][13]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Győri ETO 1995–96 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 82——82
1996–97 298——298
1997–98 2513——2513
Total 6223006223
Porto 1998–99 Primeira Liga 50201080
1999–2000 51102081
Total 1013030161
Porto B 1999–2000 Segunda Divisão 41————41
2001–02 31————31
Total 72000072
Salgueiros (loan) 1999–2000 Primeira Liga 14521——166
Braga (loan) 2000–01 Primeira Liga2614————2614
Benfica 2002–03 Primeira Liga 17410——184
2003–04 1332041194
Total 3073041378
Career total 14952817116454

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[14]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Hungary 199831
199950
200044
200130
200271
200331
Total257
Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fehér goal.[14]
List of international goals scored by Miklós Fehér
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
110 October 1998Tofiq Bahramov, Baku, Azerbaijan Azerbaijan4–04–0Euro 2000 qualifying
2 11 October 2000Darius and Girėnas, Kaunas, Lithuania Lithuania2–06–12002 World Cup qualification
33–0
45–1
515 November 2000Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia Macedonia1–01–0Friendly
617 April 2002Oláh Gábor Út, Debrecen, Hungary Belarus2–52–5Friendly
720 August 2003Fazanerija, Murska Sobota, Slovenia Slovenia1–21–2Friendly

Honours

Porto

Benfica

Individual

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Miklós Fehér". Eurosport. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  2. ↑ Ashdown, John (26 January 2004). "Benfica's Miklós Fehér dies after heart attack on pitch". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Miklos Feher: Football remembers". FIFA. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Ruela, João (1 March 2014). "Benfica pagou ao FC Porto por Fehér 12 anos depois" [Benfica paid FC Porto for Fehér 12 years later]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "Fehér death stuns football". UEFA. 26 January 2004. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Miklos Fehér partiu há 11 anos" [Miklos Fehér departed 11 years ago] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 25 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Benfica trip a tribute to Fehér". UEFA. 31 May 2005. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Laxmidas, Shrikesh (9 October 2009). "Hungary squad honours late striker Feher". Reuters. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. ↑ "Puskás Akadémia homenageia Miklos Fehér em Guimarães" [Puskás Akadémia pay tribute to Miklos Fehér in Guimarães] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  10. ↑ ""Minhoto" Fehér marca três pela Hungria em goleada na Lituânia" ["Minho"'s Fehér scores three for Hungary in rout in Lithuania]. Record (in Portuguese). 12 October 2000. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Miklós Fehér at ForaDeJogo (archived)
  12. ↑ Miklós Fehér at Soccerway
  13. ↑ "Miklos Fehér". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Fehér Miklós". European Football. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Benfica vence Taça de Portugal (2–1)" [Benfica win Portuguese Cup (2–1)]. Público (in Portuguese). 16 May 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
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