Vladimír Weiss (footballer, born 1989)

Manchester City

On 16 April 2008, Weiss scored in the second leg of the 2008 FA Youth Cup Final against Chelsea, in a 3–1 (4–2 on aggregate) win. He made his first team debut on 24 May 2009, replacing Stephen Ireland from the substitutes bench after seventy minutes in the final game of the 2008–09 season, a 1–0 win against Bolton Wanderers.

On 28 October 2009, he came on as a substitute against Scunthorpe United in the League Cup. He scored his first senior goal, as a substitute, on 2 December 2009, in a 3–0 League Cup win over Arsenal. He signed a new contract on 17 December 2009, to tie him to the club until 2012.

Bolton Wanderers

On 25 January 2010 Weiss joined Bolton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season, and made his debut as a last minute substitute a day later in the home game against Burnley. For the most part of his time at the Reebok Stadium, Weiss was a substitute.

Rangers

On 19 August 2010, Weiss joined Scottish side Rangers on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. Prior to signing for Rangers, Weiss rejected a move to their city rivals Celtic. He made his Rangers debut against Hibernian at Easter Road on 22 August coming on as a substitute for James Beattie, setting up the second goal with Rangers going on to win 3–0. He scored his first goal for Rangers in a 4–1 home win against Motherwell and five days later made his Champions League debut against Valencia, providing the assist from a corner for Maurice Edu's opener.

On 26 December 2010, Weiss gave a 'Man of the Match' performance, and scored the third goal in a 4–1 SPL victory over Motherwell at Fir Park. On 15 January 2011, Weiss scored twice in a 4–0 home victory over Hamilton Academical. On 20 March 2011, Weiss came off the bench in the League Cup Final against Celtic and made the assist for Nikica Jelavić to score the winning goal, he lifted his first senior trophy as a Rangers player. Weiss claimed a 2010–11 SPL winners medal, Rangers having won the title over rivals Celtic by a single point.

Espanyol

On 20 December 2011, Weiss scored his first goal for Espanyol in a Copa del Rey match which ended in a 4–2 victory against Celta Vigo. In February 2012 he scored a goal from outside the penalty area in a 3–3 draw away at Athletic Bilbao.

Pescara

On 2 August 2012 newly promoted Serie A side Pescara announced the signing of Weiss from Manchester City with the player signing a one-year contract with the option for a further year. He made his debut in a 3–0 home loss to Inter Milan. Weiss scored his first goal in Pescara's 1–0 victory over Palermo on 26 September.

Olympiacos Piraeus

After turning down a number of offers from clubs in Italy, Spain, England and Russia, on 28 June 2013, Weiss came to Greece to sign with current league champions, Olympiacos Piraeus. Some hours later, he announced (through his Twitter account) that he was joining Olympiacos in a three-year deal. Commenting on his reason he chose to sign with Olympiacos, he stated; "I chose Olympiacos because it's a great club with great history, their playing in the Champions League and I know they have Crazy fans! Fanatics with the team. I like to play in front of crazy fans because I'm a little crazy too. I also know that Olympiacos has lofty goals, and if I stay many years with the club, I want to win titles."

He scored his first goal for the club on 1 September 2013 in a league match against Levadiakos FC. On 17 September 2013, Weiss scored his first Champions League goal in a 4-1 home defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. The goal was voted by ESPN as UEFA Champions League best goal of Matchday 1: he "broke down the right and skipped past four challenges – including a sumptuous nutmeg on 19-year-old PSG debutant Marquinhos – before beating Salvatore Sirigu with the aid of a deflection." He netted his next goal in a 2-0 league away win against Panionios. He next scored in a 4-1 away league win over Platanias. Weiss ended his half-season stint at Olympiacos with six goals (four in the Superleague, one in the Greek Cup and one in the UEFA Champions League).

Lekhwiya SC

On 26 January 2014, Weiss joined Qatari football club, Lekhwiya SC based in the nation's capital city of Doha for a fee of 4 million euros. Commenting on departing Olympiacos and his move to Qatar, he commented; "I felt great in Greece. I am very grateful to the club for the chance I was given as I was playing in the UEFA Champions League with the best Greek club and I met lots of good people there. I expect another football adventure and I believe that I will not only feel good in Qatar, but also I will grow in terms of football." His transfer and departure to Qatar lead to great disappointment amongst Olympiacos supporters which led them to give him the nickname "Wei$$". He made his debut on 31 January 2014 against Muaither SC when he substituted in 46th minute for Ismaeel Mohammad. Later that match, Weiss made his first assist for Lekhwiya in the 84th minute, when after solo run from the half of the pitched his pass found Youssef Msakni who scored. In his second game for Lekhwiya, against Al Gharafa, on 4 February 2014, Weiss scored his first goal for the club. On 26 February 2014, he scored the only goal in Lekhwiya's 2-1 away defeat in the United Arab Emirates against one of their giants Al Ain in the first group game of the AFC Champions League.

Al Gharafa

Weiss signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with another Qatar Stars League club, Al Gharafa, in January 2016.

International career

Weiss made his debut for Slovakia on 12 August 2009 in a 1–1 friendly draw with Iceland. He was included in Slovakia's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Weiss played in three out of four of his country's games in South Africa, playing a total of 270 minutes. He impressed in the first match against New Zealand where he thrilled the crowd in a 1–1 draw. Weiss featured in the second group game against Paraguay which they lost 2–0 and played a full 90 minutes in the 2–1 defeat to Netherlands in the last 16. Weiss scored the opening goal in a Euro 2016 win against Russia,and thus became the first player to score at the Euros whilst playing for a non-European club.

Career statistics

International goals

Personal life

Weiss is a third generation international footballer. His father, also called Vladimír Weiss, won 12 caps for the national team, whom he later coached. His grandfather, named Vladimír Weiss too, also represented Czechoslovakia.

Controversy

On January 2nd 2015, Vladimír Weiss, together with former Slovak national team player Filip Šebo and several other people, had a conflict in a fast food restaurant. They were noisy and aggressive, according to the restaurant owner, after he warned someone from their group that threw a chair at the head of another restaurant visitor.

On October 2nd 2016, 6:45AM (6 days before an important qualification match against Slovenia) police on patrol in Bratislava stopped a Mercedes G owned by Vladimir Weiss with 11 people on board. Vladimir Weiss refused an alcohol test and spent 32 hours at a police station. Slovak national team coach Ján Kozák subsequently banned him for 2 matches. At present, he has criminal charges presented by the police and is at large.