Ivica Vastić

Ivica Vastić (; born 29 September 1969) is a retired Croatian-born Austrian football international midfielder, formerly a striker and current coach. He played, amongst others for FK Austria Wien, SK Sturm Graz and LASK Linz and the Austria national football team.

Club career
Born in Split, SR Croatia, then still part of Yugoslavia, Vastić started to play for local club Jugovinil (today GOŠK Adriachem), before joining RNK Split at time playing in Yugoslav third level. In 1991, he moved to Austria and signed with First Vienna FC. He subsequently also played for other Austrian clubs as VSE St. Pölten and Admira Wacker Mödling, and also had a half-season spell with Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg, where he made 10 league appearances without scoring a goal.

Sturm Graz
His most notable spell was with Sturm Graz between 1994 and 2002, during which he helped the club winning the Austrian Bundesliga two consecutive times in 1998 and 1999, as well as winning the Austrian Cup in 1996, 1997 and 1999. With the club, he also played in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the 1998/1999 and 1999/2000 seasons of the competition.

Japan and return to Austria

Vastić left Sturm for a one-season spell with Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight, after which he returned to Austria to spend two seasons with Austria Vienna before joining LASK Linz in the summer of 2005. He performed well for LASK in the Erste Liga, the Austrian second division, and was the top goalscorer of the league in two consecutive seasons, scoring a total of 42 goals in 62 league appearances between 2005 and 2007. After helping LASK winning promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga in 2007, he went on to help the club finish sixth in the 2007/2008 Austrian Bundesliga season and himself finished the season as the club's top goalscorer in the league, having netted 13 goals in 32 appearances. Vastić announced his retirement on 18 May 2009, quitting professional football by 30 June 2009.

International career
Vastić became an Austrian national in 1996 and subsequently started to play for the Austrian national team. By 2005, Vastić had won a total of 46 caps and scored 12 goals as an Austrian international. He then disappeared from the team for a period before making a spectacular comeback in 2008, being a surprise selection in the Euro 2008 squad and scoring Austria's first ever goal in the European Championship, also becoming the oldest goalscorer in the history of the tournament.

1998 World Cup
Vastić's first appearance at a major tournament with Austria was at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where he appeared in all of the team's three group matches and scored a last-minute equaliser in their second match at the tournament, a 1–1 draw against Chile. The Austrians were, however, eliminated from the tournament in the first round after recording two draws and one defeat.

Euro 2008
On 24 April 2008, Vastić was surprisingly added to Austria's preliminary squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland in June. His last appearance for the national team prior to the call-up had more than two and a half years before, on 17 August 2005 in their 2–2 draw in a friendly match against Scotland. He then made his international comeback, winning his 47th cap, as a substitute in Austria's friendly match against Nigeria on 27 May 2008 and was eventually added to their final 23-man squad for the Euro 2008 finals, where he was the oldest player. In Austria's next friendly match three days later, he scored the team's fourth goal in their 5–1 victory over Malta.

On 8 June, Vastić made his Euro 2008 bow in the 1–0 defeat to his native Croatia, replacing Jürgen Säumel in the 61st minute.

On 12 June, Vastić appeared in Austria's second match of the tournament, a 1–1 draw with Poland, winning his 50th international cap as he replaced captain Andreas Ivanschitz in the 64th minute. In the match, he scored Austria's first goal in the final tournaments of the UEFA European Championship by netting an injury-time penalty to equalise, also becoming the oldest goalscorer of the European Championship finals at age , over four years older than Nené who held the record since 1984. Vastic is also the only Austrian player to score at a European Championship and World Cup.

Coaching career

FC Waidhofen/Ybbs
On 16 June 2009 was named as Head Coach of FC Waidhofen/Ybbs of the Regionalliga Ost coincidently the club began a cooperation with the former Vastic club LASK Linz.
He started his coaching career very well, winning the Regionalliga Ost in 2009/10.

Austria Wien
He changed to Austria Wien Amateurs in summer 2010 and was promoted to manager of the first team of Austria Wien in December 2011. He was sacked on 21 May 2012 and his contract was not renewed when it finished at the end of May.

SV Mattersburg

Vastić became head coach on 20 December 2013. He is signed to the end of the season with an option for two more years. He subsequently had his option picked up. On 23 April 2016, Austria Wien defeated SV Mattersburg 9–0.

Personal life
Vastić has been married to his wife Annie for more than 20 years. Together they have three children. His oldest son Toni also became professional footballer and is currently signed to Austrian Bundesliga side SV Ried.

Career statistics

Club statistics

National team statistics

Coaching record

Honours

Player
Sturm Graz
Austrian Football Bundesliga (2): 1997–98, 1998–99
Austrian Cup (4): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2005
Austrian Supercup (3): 1996, 1998, 1999

LASK Linz
Austrian Football First League (1): 2006–07

Individual
Austrian Footballer of the Year (4): 1995, 1998, 1999, 2007
Austrian Bundesliga Top Goalscorer (2): 1996, 2000
Austrian Football First League Top Goalscorer (2): 2006, 2007

Manager
FC Waidhofen/Ybbs
Regionalliga Ost (1): 2009–10

SV Mattersburg
Austrian Football First League (1): 2014–15

References

External links
 Player profile – EURO2008
 Profile – Austria Archive
  
 
 

Category:Living people
Category:1969 births
Category:Sportspeople from Split, Croatia
Category:Croatian emigrants to Austria
Category:Naturalised citizens of Austria
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Croatian footballers
Category:Austrian footballers
Category:Austrian expatriate footballers
Category:Austria international footballers
Category:Austrian people of Croatian descent
Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players
Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players
Category:Austrian Football Bundesliga players
Category:Austrian Football Second League players
Category:Bundesliga players
Category:J1 League players
Category:Expatriate footballers in Germany
Category:Expatriate footballers in Japan
Category:First Vienna FC players
Category:FC Admira Wacker Mödling players
Category:MSV Duisburg players
Category:SK Sturm Graz players
Category:RNK Split players
Category:Nagoya Grampus players
Category:FK Austria Wien players
Category:LASK Linz players
Category:FK Austria Wien managers
Category:Croatian football managers