Sándor Torghelle (; born 5 May 1982) is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, he played for Honvéd, Marcali, Crystal Palace, Panathinaikos, PAOK, Carl Zeiss Jena, FC Augsburg, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Videoton, and Vasas. He played 42 games for the Hungary national team between 2004 and 2010.
Club career
Crystal Palace After developing in Hungary and playing for Budapest Honvéd, Marcali VFC and MTK Hungária, Torghelle signed for Crystal Palace, in August 2004 for a fee of roughly £750,000. He caught their eyes after scoring both goals for Hungary national team in their shock international friendly 2–0 victory over Germany in Kaiserslautern before UEFA Euro 2004. He wore the number 10 shirt, that of a first-choice striker, but found it hard to gain a regular place in the Crystal Palace starting eleven with Andy Johnson often playing as a lone striker. He scored only one goal in a League Cup match against Charlton, but the referee sent him off late in the game for diving.
After 12 months at Palace, Torghelle was first stripped of his first-team squad number (given number 30, while 10 went to new signing Jon Macken), and shortly after was loaned out to Panathinaikos in Greece for the 2005–06 season. In the deal, there was no clause for re-calling him, so he spent the whole season in Greece. However, he failed to impress, and Panathinaikos chose not to make the deal permanent.
PAOK Torghelle was transferred to PAOK in Greece and handed a three-year contract, being one of the three players that were traded for the transfer of striker Dimitris Salpingidis.
He was also famous for his failure to score even a single goal since he was transferred from Crystal Palace, yet this "curse" was lifted when he scored in a PAOK-Olympiakos derby in early 2007. He left PAOK at the end of the 2006–07 season for 2. Bundesliga team Carl Zeiss Jena. There, he finally met the expectations, scoring eight goals over the course of the 2007–08 2. Bundesliga season. Carl Zeiss Jena finished in last place and was relegated to the new 3. Liga.
FC Augsburg Torghelle transferred to 2. Bundesliga team FC Augsburg before the start of the 2008–09 season. He played two seasons for the largest team in Swabian Bavaria.
Fortuna Düsseldorf On 17 May 2010, Torghelle left FC Augsburg and signed with another 2. Bundesliga team Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Budapest Honvéd Torghelle signed with former club Honvéd in August 2011. That reunion was short-lived and he signed for fellow Hungarian National Championship team Videoton FC in January 2012.
International career Torghelle made 42 appearances for the Hungary national team. He scored several decisive ones during the 2010 World Cup Qualification campaign, such as against Albania and Malta. He came to prominence after scoring both goals in a 2–0 victory over Germany in a friendly match in 2004.
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBudapest Honvéd1999–2000Nemzeti Bajnokság I70–––702000–01Nemzeti Bajnokság I211–––2112001–02Nemzeti Bajnokság I184–––1842002–03Nemzeti Bajnokság I2710–20–2910Total731520007515Marcali IFC (loan)2000–01Nemzeti Bajnokság II107–––1072001–02Nemzeti Bajnokság II227–––227Total321400003214MTK Budapest2003–04Nemzeti Bajnokság I229–61–2810Crystal Palace2004–05Premier League1200031––151Panathinaikos (loan)2005–06Alpha Ethniki110–50–160PAOK2006–07Super League Greece241–––241Carl Zeiss Jena2007–082. Bundesliga27811–––289FC Augsburg2008–092. Bundesliga27700–––2772009–102. Bundesliga21721––10248Total4814210000105115Fortuna Düsseldorf2010–112. Bundesliga16110–––171Fortuna Düsseldorf II2010–11Regionalliga West10––––10Budapest Honvéd2011–12Nemzeti Bajnokság I630032––95Videoton2011–12Nemzeti Bajnokság I91323200–1552012–13Nemzeti Bajnokság I2164070100104362013–14Nemzeti Bajnokság I50104100–101Total35782143100106812MTK Budapest2013–14Nemzeti Bajnokság I1072100––1282014–15Nemzeti Bajnokság I2261061––2972015–16Nemzeti Bajnokság I2611100020–29112016–17Nemzeti Bajnokság I269000042–30112017–18Nemzeti Bajnokság II251210–––26122018–19Nemzeti Bajnokság I29721–––318Total138527261620015757Vasas SC2019–20Nemzeti Bajnokság I102000000–102Career total45512619626729320531142
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsHungary2004114200572200671200700200853200991201030Total4211
Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Torghelle goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Sándor TorghelleNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 28 April 2004 Budapest, Hungary 1–3 1–4 Friendly2 6 June 2004 Kaiserslautern, Germany 1–0 2–0 Friendly3 2–04 8 September 2004 Budapest, Hungary 2–1 3–2 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification5 15 August 2005 Budapest, Hungary 1–1 1–2 Friendly6 3 September 2005 Budapest, Hungary 1–0 4–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification7 11 October 2006 Ta'Qali, Malta 1–1 1–2 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying8 11 October 2008 Budapest, Hungary 1–0 2–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification9 15 October 2008 Ta'Qali, Malta 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification10 19 November 2008 Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–0 2–0 Friendly11 28 March 2009 Tirana, Albania 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
References
External links Torghelle Sándor Profile at magyarfutball.hu Torghelle Sándor at FC Augsburg official site Torghelle Sándor at HLSZ.hu