Kevin Dennis Kurányi Rodríguez (German pronunciation: , Hungarian: ; born 2 March 1982) is a German former professional footballer. He played as a striker and possessed great aerial ability and finishing skills. From 2003 to 2008, Kurányi was part of the German national team, for which he scored 19 goals in 52 games. He participated in two UEFA Euro and one Confederations Cup.
Kurányi was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a German father of Hungarian descent and a Panamanian mother. He eventually opted to play for the German national team after being also qualified to play for Brazil, Panama or Hungary.
Kurányi made his debut for Germany during the Euro 2004 qualifier against Lithuania on 29 March 2003. In his sixth appearance, the young striker netted Germany's final qualifying goal in their 3–0 defeat of Iceland. He played for his adopted country at the tournament's finals and at the 2005 Confederations Cup but was not selected for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
In 2006–07, Kurányi regained his touch and after an absence of 15 months, he was recalled to the national team, scoring during Germany's 3–1 win against Switzerland on 7 February 2007, in a friendly in Düsseldorf. In Germany's Euro 2008 qualifying match against the Czech Republic on 24 March, he scored both goals in the 2–1 victory. He was brought on during the second half of the Euro 2008 final against Spain for Thomas Hitzlsperger, but was unable to score in the 0–1 loss, receiving a yellow card in the process. Incidentally, the appearance in the final marked his 50th cap for Germany.
On 11 October 2008, Kurányi was left out of the 18-man squad to face Russia. After watching the first half from the stands with other unselected players, he left the stadium during the half-time interval and failed to return to the German team hotel. After this incident, German team coach Joachim Löw said that he would never again select Kurányi for the national team. One of his advisors said of the incident to reporters "He decided what he for himself found to be right, which was to say I'm going home."
Due to his mixed descent, Kurányi holds German, Panamanian and Brazilian citizenships. Kurányi has stated that he is an avid supporter of his favorite team, Brazilian side Flamengo.
Bundesliga Hat-Trick 2002-09-22 |
2001-2005 |
2003-2008 |
2005-2010 |
2010-2015 |
2015-2016 |