Zoltán Stieber

Zoltán Stieber (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈzoltaːn ˈʃtiːbɛr]; born 16 October 1988) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for MTK Budapest. Having spent time in a number of Hungarian youth sides Stieber spent four years with the academy of Premier League side Aston Villa before moving to Germany where he worked his way up the league system. He became a regular international player for the Hungary national team including in their Euro 2016 finals squad.

Stieber initially played for Budapest-based Goldball '94 alongside younger brother András, before moving to Hungarian giants Újpest. After impressing for the capital side, he was offered trials with a selection of English clubs. He had an unsuccessful trials with Arsenal and Manchester United prior to signing a youth contract with Aston Villa where he played for four years.

Stieber signed a two-year contract with Aston Villa in May 2005 and quickly impressed Tony McAndrew with his performances for the Academy. In total, he made 30 appearances for the Academy, scoring 4 goals in his debut season. He was part of the squad that got to the Play-offs Final of the FA Premier Academy League in May 2006, which Villa lost 3–2 against Southampton. He also made six substitute appearances for the Reserves in the 2005–06 season.

Stieber appeared 13 times for Aston Villa Reserves in the 2006–07 season, scoring two goals, against Fulham and Chelsea. He was also involved in producing a memorable hat-trick of assists, to help gain victory over Reading in a 3–0 win. On 4 January 2007, Stieber signed a two–year contract with the club, keeping him until 2009.

In late May 2007, Stieber guided Aston Villa to success in the 2007 HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens, scoring a spectacular winner against City Academy Hong Kong to book a place in the knock-out stages. He then went on to lead the Midlands club to victory against Urawa Red Diamonds, PSV and finally Central Coast Mariners FC to secure the trophy, in a competition which has brought notable success to Aston Villa in the past. His efforts in the competition were also rewarded with the Player of the Tournament trophy – succeeding last years winner – Gabriel Agbonlahor. After this success, he was rewarded with a three-year contract at Aston Villa – the longest given to any of the seven contractee's – thus showing the promise and potential shown in the young Hungarian.

In July 2007, Stieber was given his first taste of first-team action, when he was called up to the senior squad for the tour of the U.S. and Canada. He made his debut against Toronto and impressed against the Major League Soccer team, he also appeared in a further pre-season match against Walsall, in which he assisted the first goal of the game. Despite not making a competitive breakthrough to the senior team, he made a positive impression for Aston Villa Reserves that season, scoring against Fulham and Portsmouth and chalking up 6 assists in the opening 6 matches. This led the young midfielder to be awarded the first ever BBC Radio West Midlands Young Player of the Month, on 20 September 2007.

Like the previous season, Stieber was again involved with the first-team prior to the beginning of the new campaign. In early July 2008, he was called up to a 21-man squad for the tour of Switzerland, but only played 20 minutes – all in the 6–0 victory over FC Wil 1900. Further appearances against Lincoln City, Walsall and Reading followed, the majority of which were played in an unaccustomed left-back role. He never saw competitive first-team action at Villa Park, so the club allowed him to participate in trials at other clubs.

On 22 November 2007, Stieber joined League One side Yeovil Town on loan until 1 January 2008. Upon joining the club, Manager Russell Slade commented on Stieber, attributing his style on ‘dead-ball situations and a great crosser of the ball.’