Dario Hübner

Dario Hübner
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-04-28) 28 April 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth Muggia, Italy
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1988 Pievigina 25 (10)
1988–1989 Pergocrema 30 (11)
1989–1992 Fano 88 (25)
1992–1997 Cesena 166 (74)
1997–2001 Brescia 129 (75)
2001–2003 Piacenza 60 (38)
2003 Ancona 9 (0)
2003–2004 Perugia 13 (3)
2004–2005 Mantova 23 (7)
2005 Calcio Chiari 7 (9)
2005–2006 Rodengo Saiano 18 (9)
2006–2009 Cortefranca 64 (58)
2009–2010 ASD Castel Mella 14 (16)
2010–2011 Cavenago 6 (2)
Total 646 (337)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dario Hübner (born 28 April 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer. An opportunistic forward, with an eye for goal, and an accurate finisher (with both his head and feet) and penalty taker, he was, however, questioned for his work-rate and behaviour at times. He scored over 300 goals throughout his career, only playing in the higher divisions towards the end of his career, becoming the oldest player to win the Serie A top scorer award, which he managed during the 2001–02 Serie A season, at the age of 35; this record was later broken by Luca Toni in 2015, who won the award at the age of 38. 38 of Hübner's career goals came from penalties, whilst he was sent off ten times throughout his career, also receiving 36 yellow cards.[1][2][3][4]

Career

Born in Muggia, Province of Trieste, Hübner started his career in 1987–88 at Pievigina, in Interregionale, scoring ten goals. He later also played in Pergocrema (1988–89), Fano (1989–92) in Serie C, and Cesena (1992–97), in Serie B.[5]

Following Cesena's relegation to Serie C in 1997, Hübner moved to newly promoted Serie A side Brescia, making his debut in the top Italian division in his thirties. On his debut, he scored his first goal in Serie A, against Inter at the San Siro Stadium, from an Andrea Pirlo assist, and on his second appearance, he scored a hat-trick against Sampdoria.[5] Notwithstanding his impressive tally of 16 goals, Brescia were relegated to Serie B the following season, although he was later named the club's captain and main penalty taker, and helped the side to re-gain promotion to Serie A, scoring 21 goals during the 1999–2000 Serie B season.[5] During the 2000–01 season, he played alongside attacking midfield playmaker Roberto Baggio, the team's new captain, under coach Carlo Mazzone, while he also faced competition as the starting striker from Igli Tare, who had a higher work-rate than Hübner. Alongside Baggio, Hübner was extremely prolific, as he scored 17 goals, helping the club to qualify for the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup. He was also famous for smoking on the bench during his time at Brescia, and was known for drinking grappa.[3][4][6][7][8]

After joining newly promoted Serie A club Piacenza in 2001, for 6 billion Lit.,[3] Dario consistently battled for the title of top scorer in Serie A (capocannonieri), coming 1st alongside David Trezeguet in the 2001–02 season, at 35 years old, with 24 goals, and 7th in 2002–03 season with 14 goals. Along with Igor Protti, Hübner is the only player to have won the top scoring titles in Serie A, Serie B, and Serie C1 (winning the Serie B top scorer title during the 1995–96 season with Cesena, scoring 22 goals, and the Serie C1, Girone A top scorer title during the 1991–92 season with Fano, scoring 14 goals).[9] He is currently Piacenza's all-time Serie A top scorer.[10]

After his time with Piacenza, he later played for Ancona during the first half of the 2003–04 Serie A season, although he was unable score or help the club avoid the relegation zone, and subsequently moved to Serie A club Perugia (2004), where he was also unsuccessful in helping the club to avoid relegation. He later moved on to play for Mantova in Serie C1 (2004–05).

In September 2005 he left professional football and signed for Chiari of Serie D, which he left two months later to join Rodengo Saiano, another Serie D club (2005–06).

In 2007–08 season, he played for Orsa Corte Franca of Eccellenza (2006–09), also later playing with Castel Mella (2009–10) and Cavenago (2010–11), before retiring and working as a coach.

Personal life

Hübner is of German heritage on his father's side; his paternal grandfather was from Frankfurt, but he later moved to Trieste.[5] However, although his grandfather was German, Dario Hübner does not speak the German language fluently.

He was nicknamed Bisonte (Bison).[5]

In 2015, he featured in a music video, "L'estate di Hubner", by the band Toromeccanica. He was also referenced in the 2018 song "Hübner" by singer-songwriter Calcutta.[11]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cesena 1992–93 Serie B 34 10 2 1 — 36 11
1993–94 Serie B 32 12 5 3 1[a] 1 38 16
1994–95 Serie B 33 15 2 1 — 35 16
1995–96 Serie B 36 22 1 0 — 37 22
1996–97 Serie B 31 15 3 3 — 34 18
Total 166 74 13 8 1 1 180 83
Brescia 1997–98 Serie A 30 16 1 0 — 31 16
1998–99 Serie B 36 21 4 2 — 40 23
1999–2000 Serie B 32 21 3 1 — 35 22
2000–01 Serie A 31 17 8 7 — 39 24
Total 129 75 16 10 — 145 85
Piacenza 2001–02 Serie A 33 24 1 0 — 34 24
2002–03 Serie A 27 14 1 1 — 28 15
Total 60 38 2 1 — 62 39
Ancona 2003–04 Serie A 9 0 0 0 — 9 0
Perugia 2003–04 Serie A 13 3 0 0 — 13 3
Mantova 2004–05 Serie C1 23 7 — 4[b] 0 27 7
Career total 400 197 31 19 5 1 436 217
  1. ^ Appearance in Serie B play-offs
  2. ^ Appearance in Serie C1 play-offs

Honours

Fano

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Hübner Dario". legaserieb.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Dieci italiani più uno che avrebbero meritato la nazionale" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Hubner: "Fumo, corro poco, ma gioco ancora"". ilgiornale.it (in Italian). Il Giornale. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b Gates, Emmet (31 May 2017). "Serie A's unlikely top goalscorers: from Michel Platini to Luca Toni". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e Fabio Monti (6 February 2001). "Hubner, il grande errore del calcio italiano". corriere.it (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  6. ^ Daniele Vitiello (18 February 2017). "Hubner: "Baggio poteva ribaltare le partite fino al 93′. Ero capitano, quando arrivò…"" (in Italian). F.C Inter 1908. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  7. ^ Andrea Losapio (28 April 2017). "Il Corriere di Brescia: "Hubner 50"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  8. ^ Raffaele Panizza (28 April 2017). "Dario Hubner, 50 anni da bomber: Pirlo, Baggio, sigarette e campi di provincia" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d Enrico Turcato (8 November 2010). "Dario Hubner supera ogni record". mediaset.it (in Italian). Sport Mediaset. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  10. ^ "TUTTI I RECORD DEL PIACENZA". storiapiacenza1919.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Calcutta ha dedicato una canzone a Dario Hubner" (in Italian). Giornale di Brescia. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2021.