Norbert Sándor Balogh (born 21 February 1996) is a Hungarian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who last played as a forward for Slovak club

DAC Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

and the Hungarian national team.

Club career

Balogh grew up in very poor circumstances in

Hajdúböszörmény Hajdúböszörmény is a town in northeastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people. History It is also home to one of the faculties of the University of Debrecen. It has a unique circular plan (like Paris) to the streets that ...

Hajdú County Hajdú, formerly known as Hajdúság, was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The capital of the county was Debrecen. The territory of the county is now part of the Hungarian county Hajd ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. His parents did not earn enough money, therefore he often starved. Balogh's parents could not afford to buy new shoes for him, therefore he was often mocked at school. In an interview with

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

, Balogh said that he did not mind that he was brought up in poor circumstances because as an adult he can appreciate the success more. But he never forgets where he comes from. He is still in touch with his old friends from his birthplace. He remembers during the summers he played football with his friends even if they did not have food. He started playing football in the football club of

and he was spotted during an exhibition match by László Arany, who invited him to go to the academy of

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a Hungarian professional football club based in Debrecen that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the U ...

. When he was 17 he got a contract from Debrecen and he rented a flat there. He sent some of his earning to his parents who got divorced. When he was selected for the first squad of the club his father had to go to prison which hurt Balogh. His father is an important person in his life because he taught him a lot and persuaded him to become a footballer.

Debrecen

Early career

On 1 August 2014, Balogh debuted in the

2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2014–15 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, was the 113th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The season began 26 July 2014 and concluded on 1 June 2015. De ...

season against

MTK Budapest Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre (Hungarian for "Hungarian Circle of Physical Practitioners") is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycl ...

in a 1–0 defeat at the Bozsik József Stadion. On 17 May 2015, he scored his first and second goal for Debrecen in the

season in a 4–0 victory against Lombard-Pápa TFC. In the

2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, is the 117th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The season began 17 July 2015 and will conclude on 8 May 2016. ...

season, Balogh finished on the top in many statistics. He engaged in most battles (605) among which he won 250 (overtook only by Suljic). On 26 December 2015, Balogh was invited to see the 2015-16 Premier League match between

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

and

Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is a professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The team played at several grounds in their early history, includ ...

On 9 January 2016,

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

offered

1.5 million € to purchase Balogh.

Palermo

On 13 January 2016, Balogh was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club () is an Italian professional football club based in Palermo, Sicily, that currently plays in Serie B. It is part of the City Football Group. Founded for the first time on 1 November 1900 as Anglo Palermitan Athletic and F ...

. The transfer fee was €2,200,000.

APOEL FC

On 21 August 2018, he was loaned to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club APOEL. On 3 December 2018, he played his first match in the

2018–19 Cypriot First Division The 2018–19 Cypriot First Division was the 80th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) Aris Limassol and Ethnikos Achna were relegated at the end of the first phase of the 2017–18 season ...

in a 5–1 victory against

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

at the

GSP Stadium The GSP Stadium () is a association football, football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standards, it is the largest stadium in Cyprus, with a capacity of 22,859 and was opened in 1999. It serves as ...

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

. He entered the pitch in 67th minute as a substitute for Léo Natel. On 19 December 2018, Balogh scored his first goal against

Ayia Napa FC Athlitikos Omilos Ayia Napa (, Athletic Club Ayia Napa) is a Cypriot football club from the town of Ayia Napa. The club was founded in 1990 after the merger of two clubs: APEAN (''Athlitiki Podosfairiki Enosis Ayias Napas''; "Athletic Football U ...

in the first round of the

2018–19 Cypriot Cup The 2018–19 Cypriot Cup was the 77th edition of the Cypriot Cup. A total of 24 clubs were accepted to enter the competition. It began on 5 December 2018 with the first round and concluded on 22 May 2019 with the final held at GSP Stadium. The w ...

in the

. On 20 February 2019, he scored twice against

Doxa Katokopias FC Doxa Katokopias FC () is a Cypriot professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word) ...

in a

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

match. On 24 February 2019 he scored his first goal in the

away to

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

. Following Palermo's exclusion from the Serie B, he was released together with all other players in July 2019, thus becoming a free agent.

Hull City

On 14 September 2019, after a week of training with the team, it was announced ahead of Hull City's home game against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

that Balogh had signed permanently with The Tigers, on a one-year deal, with an option for a further 12 months. He made his debut on 23 October 2019, in a 1–2 away win against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

when he came on as a substitute for Jon Toral. On 29 May 2020, he left the club by mutual consent.

Vasas

On 14 February 2023, Balogh joined Vasas on loan.

International career

Balogh was a member of the Hungarian U-19 squad at the

2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship since its reclassification from an under-18 event in 2002, and the 63rd since the tournament was created in 1948. Hungary was chosen to ho ...

.
Uefa euro u19 squad (Hungarian)

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

APOEL *

: 2018–19 Cypriot First Division, 2018–19

References

External links

MLSZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balogh, Norbert 1996 births Footballers from Hajdú-Bihar County Living people Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's youth international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungary men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Debreceni VSC players Létavértes SC players Palermo FC players APOEL FC players Hull City A.F.C. players Budapest Honvéd FC players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players Vasas SC players Kisvárda FC players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Serie A players Serie B players Cypriot First Division players English Football League players Slovak First Football League players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in England Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen