Miroslav Karhan (born 21 June 1976) is a Slovak football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Karhan started and finished his career at Spartak Trnava; in between, he played in Spain, Turkey and Germany, where he spent ten seasons. Karhan was a regular member of the Slovakia national team and with 107 appearances, played the second most matches of any player to represent them.

Club career

Karhan began his career with local club Spartak Trnava. In 1999, he signed a four-year contract with La Liga club Real Betis, becoming the third Slovak player to join a Spanish league club in the 1990s after Peter Dubovský and Samuel Slovák. In 2002, he was named Slovak Footballer of the Year. Karhan joined Mainz 05 of the 2. Bundesliga on a free transfer from Wolfsburg in July 2007, signing a two-year contract. Having spent four seasons with Mainz 05, Karhan returned to Spartak Trnava in June 2011 before serving as club captain for two more seasons. In August 2013, Karhan announced his retirement from professional football and that he moved to a role of sports director of Spartak Trnava.

International career

Karhan made 107 appearances for Slovakia for 16 years, being the most-capped Slovak footballer of all time, until his record was surpassed by Marek Hamšík in October 2018. He captained the national team.

Personal life

Karhan is the father of two boys: Patrick, who currently plays for Spartak Trnava and represented Slovakia at youth international level, and Alex Thomas.

Career statistics

International