Lukas Hradecky (born 24 November 1989) is a Finnish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains both Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Finland national team.

Born in Bratislava, present-day Slovakia, Hradecky was raised in the Finnish city of Turku from the age of one. He began his senior club career playing for TPS, before signing with Esbjerg fB at age 19 in 2009. After winning his first trophy, the Danish 1st Division, during his third season in Denmark, he helped Esbjerg win the Danish Cup in 2013. Hradecky was named Finnish Footballer of the Year by the Football Association of Finland three years in a row between 2016 and 2018.

Formerly an international at under-17, under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels, Hradecky made his debut for Finland in May 2010 at the age of 20. He appeared in nine out of ten of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 qualification matches and helped the national team secure its first ever appearance at the UEFA European Championship.

Club career

TPS
Hradecky began his career in Turun Palloseura, a club in Turku, where he grew up. In 2008, he played in the International Karel Stegeman U-19 Youth Tournament in Ruurlo, Netherlands, where he won the prize for best goalkeeper.

Esbjerg
On 10 January 2009, Hradecky transferred to Esbjerg fB and signed a four-year contract with the five-time Danish champions. On 3 August 2010 it was announced that Hradecky had been called to be tested for a week by Manchester United to strengthen their goalkeeping department after the departure of Tom Heaton. However, he chose to seek the chance to be the primary keeper in Esbjerg instead.
After the 2012–13 Superliga season Hradecky's contract with Esbjerg fB expired, and an agreement to prolong the contract was not reached.

Brøndby
On 12 June 2013, Hradecky joined Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF on a four-year contract on a free transfer. On 21 June 2013 Hradecky made his debut in the Superliga in a match against Vestsjælland.

Eintracht Frankfurt
In August 2015 Hradecky transferred from Brøndby to German Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt. The value of the transfer was never published, but according to newspapers Eintracht paid €2.5 million to Brøndby. In 2017–18, Hradecky's last season with Eintracht, he was voted Bundesliga Goalkeeper of the Season.

Bayer Leverkusen

In May 2018, Bayer Leverkusen announced the signing of Hradecky for the 2018–19 season on a free transfer. He agreed a contract until 2023.
 Hradecky made his debut in Leverkusen on 15 September 2018 in a match against Bayern Munich. On 6 August 2022, Hradecky was sent off during Leverkusen's defeat against Borussia Dortmund for handball after reaching out to grab the ball in front of his box.

On 30 August 2022, Hradecky renewed his contract with Leverkusen, signing a deal until the end of June 2026.

International career

Finland youth teams

Hradecky earned several caps for Finland on different junior levels. He made his junior level national team debut when he was 16 years old on 16 November 2006 in Athens in a match against Greece. He was a member of the Finland national under-20 football team and represented the team at the Valentin A. Granatkin Memorial Tournament. Hradecky was selected to Finland national under-21 football team for 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship but he had to withdraw due to a knee injury. He was the first choice keeper for Finland's under-21 side during the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifications.

Finland first team

In January 2010 Hradecky was called to the Finland national football team by Stuart Baxter to face South Korea in a friendly at Málaga, Spain. Hradecky was at the bench the whole match. He finally made his first team debut on 21 May 2010, when he replaced Jukka Lehtovaara for the second half in a 2–0 away loss against Estonia. He played his first UEFA European Championship qualification game on 3 June 2011 when Mixu Paatelainen chose him to the starting line up against San Marino in Serravalle. During autumn of 2011 he established himself as a regular in the Finland national team and appeared in the UEFA European Championship qualification matches against Moldova, Netherlands and Sweden.

Hradecky appeared in three friendly matches during Finland's preparation for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. He was chosen to starting line up in the first qualification match against France, but remained as a substitute for the rest of the campaign as Niki Mäenpää established himself as the number one choice.

Hradecky was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021. He played in all three international games at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. Finland was placed 3rd in Group B following a 2–0 defeat to Belgium on 21 June 2021. They were subsequently knocked out of the tournament. Hradecky was awarded as the tournament's  best goalkeeper of the group stage.

Personal life
Hradecky was born in the Kramáre area of Bratislava. He speaks Slovak and has a Slovak passport. In September 1990, his father, a volleyball player, moved to Finland and started playing for , based in Turku. That winter, the family settled in Runosmäki. His brothers Tomas and Matej are also professional footballers.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours
Esbjerg fB
Danish Cup: 2012–13
Danish 1st Division: 2011–12

Eintracht Frankfurt
DFB-Pokal: 2017–18
Finland
Baltic Cup runner-up: 2012

Individual
Football Association of Finland Promising Player of the Year: 2007
Best Goalkeeper Award at International Karel Stegeman U-19 Youth Tournament: 2008
Finland national under-21 football team Goalkeeper of the Year: 2010
Finland national under-21 football team Player of the Year: 2010
Danish Superliga Goalkeeper of the Year: 2013
Danish Superliga Best Player of the Spring Season: 2013
Esbjerg fB Best Player of the Season: 2013
Finnish Sports Journalists Footballer of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020
Finnish Sports Personality of the Year: 2020
Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2017–18

Notes

References

External links

 Bayer Leverkusen official profile 
 Lukas Hradecky – SPL competition record
 
 
 
 
 
 

1989 births
Living people
Footballers from Bratislava
Men's association football goalkeepers
Finnish men's footballers
Finland men's international footballers
Finland men's under-21 international footballers
Slovak men's footballers
Turun Palloseura footballers
Åbo IFK players
Esbjerg fB players
Brøndby IF players
Eintracht Frankfurt players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
Danish Superliga players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
Finnish expatriate men's footballers
Slovak expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Finnish people of Slovak descent
Finland men's youth international footballers
루카스 흐라데츠키(, , 1989년 11월 24일~)는 슬로바키아 출생 핀란드의 축구 선수로 현재 독일 분데스리가의 바이어 04 레버쿠젠에서 골키퍼로 활약하고 있으며 핀란드 축구 국가대표팀의 일원으로도 활약하고 있다.

클럽 경력

에스비에르 fB 
2008년 투룬 팔로세우라에 입단한 직후 오보 IFK로 임대 이적하여 11경기를 소화한 뒤 2009-10 시즌을 앞두고 덴마크 수페르리가의 에스비에르 fB로 이적했다.

이적 후 2012-13 시즌까지 4시즌동안 공식전 81경기에 출전하며 2번의 수페르리가 4위, 2010-11 시즌 덴마크컵 4강, 2011-12 시즌 덴마크 1부 리그 우승, 2012-13 시즌 덴마크컵 우승에 공헌하는 등 팀의 주전 골키퍼로 활약했다.

브뢴뷔 IF 
2012-13 시즌을 마친 뒤 에스비에르를 떠나 같은 리그의 브뢴뷔 IF로 트레이드된 이후 2015-16 시즌 초반까지 공식전 79경기에 출격하며 2013-14 시즌 수페르리가 4위, 2014-15 시즌 수페르리가 3위의 성적에 공헌했다.

아인트라흐트 프랑크푸르트 
2015년 8월 브뢴뷔를 떠나 독일 분데스리가의 아인트라흐트 프랑크푸르트의 유니폼으로 갈아입은 뒤 2017-18 시즌까지 공식전 116경기에 나서며 2016-17 시즌 DFB-포칼 준우승, 2017-18 시즌 DFB-포칼 우승에 기여했으며 2017-18 시즌 분데스리가 올해의 골키퍼상 수상자로도 선정되는 영예까지 안았다.

바이어 04 레버쿠젠 
2018-19 시즌 여름 이적 시장을 통해 같은 독일 분데스리가팀인 바이어 04 레버쿠젠에 입단한 이후 현재까지 분데스리가 2018-19 4위, 2019-20 시즌 DFB-포칼 준우승, 분데스리가 2021-22 3위, 2022-23년 UEFA 유로파리그 4강 진출의 성과를 남겼고 2021-22 시즌부터 팀의 주장으로 선임되는 등 현재까지도 레버쿠젠의 핵심 골키퍼 자리를 굳게 지키고 있다.

국가대표팀 경력

핀란드 청소년 대표팀 
2006년 핀란드 U-17 대표팀을 시작으로 2010년까지 U-18, U-19, U-20, U-21 대표팀 소속으로 19경기를 출전했다.

핀란드 A대표팀 
2010년 1월에 열린 대한민국과의 친선 경기를 앞두고 A대표팀에 첫 발탁된 뒤 같은 해 5월 에스토니아와의 친선 경기에서 국제 A매치 데뷔전을 치렀고 2012년 발틱컵에도 출전하여 팀의 준우승에 일조했다.

그 후 한동안 니키 매엔페와의 주전 경쟁에서 뒤쳐지다가 매엔페 골키퍼가 소속팀에서의 주전 경쟁에서 밀려나며 핀란드 대표팀 주전 골키퍼로 발탁된 뒤 UEFA 유로 2020 예선 J조 10경기 10실점 6클린시트로 활약하며 핀란드 축구 역사상 첫 유로 대회이자 메이저 대회 본선 진출에 기여했다.

그리고 UEFA 유로 2020 본선 엔트리에도 합류한 이후 UEFA 유로 1992 우승팀이자 같은 북유럽팀인 덴마크와의 B조 조별리그 1차전에서 상대팀의 공격을 모두 막아내면서 핀란드의 메이저 대회 본선 역사상 첫 승을 선사했다.

수상

클럽 
  에스비에르 fB
 덴마크 수페르리가 : 4위 (2009-10, 2012-13)
 덴마크 1부 리그 : 우승 (2011-12)
 덴마크컵 : 우승 (2012-13), 4강 (2010-11)

  브뢴뷔 IF
 덴마크 수페르리가 : 3위 (2014-15), 4위 (2013-14)

  아인트라흐트 프랑크푸르트
 DFB-포칼 : 우승 (2017-18), 준우승 (2016-17)

  바이어 04 레버쿠젠
 독일 분데스리가 : 3위 (2021-22), 4위 (2018-19)
 DFB-포칼 : 준우승 (2019-20)
 UEFA 유로파리그 : 4강 (2022-23)

가족 관계 
둘째 동생인 토마시 흐라데츠키, 셋째 동생인 마테이 흐라데츠키도 현재 축구 선수이며 둘째 동생인 토마시는 파르가스 IF의 수비형 미드필더이자 중앙 미드필더로, 셋째 동생인 마테이도 세이내요엔 얄카팔로케르호의 미드필더로 활동하고 있다.

외부 링크 
 
  루카스 흐라데츠키 - National Football Teams
  루카스 흐라데츠키 - 트랜스퍼마크트

1989년 출생
살아있는 사람
20세기 슬로바키아 사람
20세기 핀란드 사람
21세기 핀란드 사람
핀란드의 남자 축구 선수
슬로바키아의 남자 축구 선수
남자 축구 골키퍼
핀란드 남자 청소년 축구 국가대표팀 선수
핀란드 남자 U-21 축구 국가대표팀 선수
핀란드 남자 축구 국가대표팀 선수
투룬 팔로세우라의 축구 선수
에스비에르 fB의 축구 선수
브뢴뷔 IF의 축구 선수
아인트라흐트 프랑크푸르트의 축구 선수
바이어 04 레버쿠젠의 축구 선수
덴마크 수페르리가의 축구 선수
분데스리가의 축구 선수
핀란드의 해외 진출 남자 축구 선수
슬로바키아의 해외 진출 남자 축구 선수
덴마크의 외국인 남자 축구 선수
독일의 외국인 남자 축구 선수
UEFA 유로 2020 참가 선수
브라티슬라바 출신
슬로바키아계 핀란드인