Anton Ondruš

Anton Ondruš
Personal information
Date of birth	27 March 1950 (age 74)
Place of birth	Solčany, Czechoslovakia
Position(s)	Sweeper
Youth career
1959–1970	Slovan Bratislava
Senior career*
Years	Team
1970–1977	Slovan Bratislava
1977–1978	Dukla Banská Bystrica
1978–1980	Slovan Bratislava
1981–1982	Club Brugge
1983–1987	CS Thonon
1988–1989	FC Biel
National team
1974–1980	Czechoslovakia
Honours
Representing Czechoslovakia
UEFA European Championship
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Anton Ondruš (born 27 March 1950 in Solčany, Czechoslovakia) is a former Slovak football player. At home, Anton Ondruš was characterized as an excellent athlete with good athletic data, who knew how to competently organize an attack or counterattack in the game, use various combinations during the game and score penalties. For these traits he received the nickname "Slovak Beckenbauer". He is considered one of the best central defenders in Europe in the 1970s of the twentieth century. He won the UEFA Euro 1976. Regarded as one of the best football players in the history of Slovan.

Club career[change | change source]

A graduate of Slovan Bratislava, Anton Ondruš started as a striker, but played without much success. It was believed that due to slowness and indecisiveness, he would not be able to play in the team, but then coach Josef Vengloš transferred him to the center of defense, where Ondruš quickly became an indispensable player. As part of Slovan, he twice became the champion of Czechoslovakia, and in the 1973/74 season the team won the "golden double". For a long time, Ondruš was the captain of the Bratislava club. Part of the 1977/78 season, Anton Ondruš played in Dukla Banská Bystrica, then returned to Slovan. He played 226 matches in the Czechoslovak league, scoring 38 goals.

Since 1981, Ondruš has played in foreign clubs: Belgian Club Brugge, French Tonon, Swiss Biel. He finished his football career in 1989.

International career[change | change source]

Anton Ondruš made his debut for Czechoslovakia on March 27, 1974 in a friendly match against the GDR national team in Dresden, and on September 25, during a meeting with the same opponent, Ondruš scored his first goal for the national team.

Anton Ondruš was the captain of the Czechoslovak national team at the victorious 1976 European Championship, in the semi-final match against the Netherlands he opened the scoring, then scored into his own net, but the Czechoslovaks managed to win in extra time with a score of 3:1. The final match between Czechoslovakia and Germany ended with a penalty shootout.

Ondruš, like other Czechoslovak players, converted his attempt, thus becoming one of the 9 players who took part in the first post-match penalty shootout at a major international tournament.

At the 1980 European Championship, Ondruš also played all the matches without substitutions, and the match for 3rd place against Italy on June 21 was his last in the Czechoslovak national team.

In total, Anton Ondruš played 58 matches for the national team, 30 of which as a captain, scored 9 goals.