Ivica Vastić

Ivica Vastić
Vastić in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-09-29) 29 September 1969 (age 54)
Place of birth Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, striker
Team information
Current team
 Austria Wien U18 (Head coach)
Youth career
NK GOŠK Kaštel Gomilica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 RNK Split 22 (5)
1991–1992 First Vienna FC 23 (8)
1992–1993 VSE St. Pölten 34 (18)
1993 Admira Wacker Mödling 18 (7)
1994 MSV Duisburg 10 (0)
1994–2002 Sturm Graz 250 (125)
2002–2003 Nagoya Grampus Eight 27 (13)
2003–2005 Austria Wien 67 (14)
2005–2009 LASK 123 (59)
Total 574 (249)
International career
1996–2008 Austria 50 (14)
Managerial career
2009–2010 FC Waidhofen/Ybbs
2010–2011 Austria Wien Amateure
2011–2012 Austria Wien
2012–2013 SV Gaflenz (assistant)
2013 SV Gaflenz
2013–2017 SV Mattersburg
2018–2020 Austria Wien U16
2020– Austria Wien U18
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ivica Vastić (German pronunciation: [iˈvɪtsa ˈvastɪtʃ]; born 29 September 1969) is an Austrian retired professional footballer, who played as a midfielder and as a striker, and head coach of Austria Wien U18.

He played, amongst others ,for FK Austria Wien, SK Sturm Graz and LASK 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 the 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, such 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

Vastić's most notable spell was with Sturm Graz between 1994 and 2002, during which he helped the club win the Austrian Bundesliga two consecutive times in 1998 and 1999, as well as 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.[1]

Japan and return to Austria

Vastić playing for LASK

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 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 win 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 Austria national football team. By 2005, Vastić had won a total of 46 caps and scored 12 goals as an Austrian international.[2] 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,[3] 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 been more than two and a half years before, on 17 August 2005 in their 2–2 draw in a friendly match against Scotland.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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 UEFA European Championship final tournaments by netting an injury-time penalty to equalise, also becoming the oldest goalscorer of the European Championship finals at age 38 years, 257 days, over four years older than Nené who held the record since 1984.[7]

Coaching career

FC Waidhofen/Ybbs

On 16 June 2009, Vastić was named head coach of FC Waidhofen/Ybbs of the Regionalliga Ost.[8] Coincidently the club began a cooperation with the former Vastic club LASK.[9] He started his coaching career very well, winning the Regionalliga Ost in 2009/10.

Austria Wien

Vastić 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.[10]

SV Mattersburg

Vastić as SV Mattersburg head coach in 2015.

Vastić became head coach on 20 December 2013.[11] He is signed to the end of the season with an option for two more years.[11] He subsequently had his option picked up.[12] On 23 April 2016, Austria Wien defeated SV Mattersburg 9–0.[13]

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 a professional footballer and is signed to German Regionalliga side VfR Aalen.[14]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[15]
Club Season League Cup[16] Continental[17] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
RNK Split 1990–91 Yugoslav Third League 22 5 – 22 5
First Vienna FC 1991–92 Austrian Bundesliga 23 8 2 1 – 25 9
VSE St. Pölten 1992–93 Austrian Bundesliga 34 18 3 3 – 37 21
Admira Wacker 1993–94 Austrian Bundesliga 18 7 2 1 2 0 22 8
MSV Duisburg 1993–94 Bundesliga 10 0 0 0 – 10 0
Sturm Graz 1994–95 Austrian Bundesliga 35 7 0 0 – 35 7
1995–96 31 20 5 2 2 0 38 22
1996–97 33 13 4 4 2 1 39 18
1997–98 30 14 6 3 4 1 40 18
1998–99 30 14 5 3 7 3 42 20
1999–2000 35 32 3 3 10 4 48 39
2000–01 24 8 1 0 10 1 35 9
2001–02 32 17 4 2 2 1 38 20
Total 250 125 28 17 37 11 315 153
Nagoya Grampus Eight 2002 J1 League 18 10 3 0 – 21 10
2003 9 3 1 0 – 10 3
Total 27 13 4 0 0 0 31 13
Austria Wien 2003–04 Austrian Bundesliga 35 4 3 2 3 0 41 6
2004–05 32 10 5 4 14 2 51 16
Total 67 14 8 6 17 2 92 22
LASK 2005–06 Austrian First League 31 19 1 0 – 32 19
2006–07 31 23 3 0 – 34 23
2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 32 13 0 0 – 32 13
2008–09 29 4 2 1 – 31 5
Total 123 59 6 1 0 0 129 60
Career total 574 249 53 29 56 13 683 291

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Austria 1996 3 0
1997 6 1
1998 11 4
1999 5 4
2000 3 2
2001 9 0
2002 3 0
2003 0 0
2004 2 0
2005 4 1
2006 0 0
2007 0 0
2008 4 2
Total 50 14

Coaching record

As of 25 May 2017
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Waidhofen/Ybbs 16 June 2009 30 June 2010 30 17 7 6 57 31 +26 056.67
Austria Wien II 1 July 2010 21 December 2011 49 24 11 14 89 57 +32 048.98
Austria Wien 21 December 2011 31 May 2012[10] 19 8 5 6 20 17 +3 042.11
Gaflenz 27 May 2013 20 December 2013[11] 18 10 3 5 34 21 +13 055.56
Mattersburg 20 December 2013[11] 2 January 2017 118 45 30 43 181 183 −2 038.14
Total 234 104 55 75 384 313 +71 044.44

Honours

Player

Sturm Graz

Austria Wien

LASK

Individual

Manager

FC Waidhofen/Ybbs

SV Mattersburg

References

  1. ^ Heissenberger, Mag Angela (2 June 2019). "Man muss mental stark sein". archiv.report.at (in Austrian German). Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  2. ^ Appearances for Austrian National Team – RSSSF
  3. ^ Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  4. ^ Österreichs EM-Kader mit drei Bundesliga-Spielern Archived 10 July 2012 at archive.today, Eurosport, 24 April 2008 (in German)
  5. ^ "Lehmann zweitältester Spieler - Italien älteste Elf". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  6. ^ Croatia labour to win over Austria, BBC Sport Online, 8 June 2008
  7. ^ Poland draw with Austria, BBC Sport Online, 12 June 2008
  8. ^ "Coach bei Waidhofen/Ybbs". sport.orf.at.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "LASK".[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ a b "Austria trennt sich von Vastic". Österreich (in German). 21 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d "Vastic neuer Mattersburg-Trainer". Österreich (in German). 20 December 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  12. ^ "Vastic bleibt Mattersburg-Trainer". Österreich (in German). 28 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  13. ^ "tipico - Bundesliga, 2015/16, 32. Spieltag". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Toni Vastic: Hab sicher ein paar Sachen vom Papa" (in German). kurier.at. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  15. ^ Ivica Vastić at National-Football-Teams.com
  16. ^ Includes Austrian Cup, Austrian Supercup, Emperor's Cup and J.League Cup
  17. ^ Includes UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Champions League

External links