Mario Hieblinger (born 5 July 1977) is a retired Austrian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and current manager of Austrian side Union Bad Hall.

Club career

Born in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, Hieblinger began his football career at

SV Stockerau SV Stockerau is an Austrian association football club from Stockerau, who currently play in the 5th tier Lower Austria 2. Landesliga Ost. History ''Stockerauer Sportvereinigung 07'' was founded on 7 May 1907. They reached the final of the 191 ...

. His first professional contract was signed with VfB Admira Wacker Mödling, from where he moved to SV Austria Salzburg. After receiving limited playing time, he moved to the former Salzburg satellite club

BSV Bad Bleiberg BSV Bad Bleiberg was an Austrian association football club based in Bad Bleiberg, Carinthia. It was founded in 1952 and became ''BSV Villach Juniors'' and moved to Villach in 2003 as a joint-venture with FC Kärnten. The club dissolved in 2004. B ...

in the Austrian Football second division. After good performances, Hieblinger moved to FC Kärnten in the

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

. While at Klagenfurt, Hieblinger became an international for Austria. Following FC Kärnten's relegation in 2004, he stayed with the

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

ns for one more year. In the summer of 2005, Hieblinger was brought by Walter Schachner as a replacement for Mario Tokić to Grazer AK, but failed to meet high expectations. Therefore, during the summer transfer window of 2006, Hieblinger moved to newly promoted Greek club

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

in the Greek Superleague. During his time with

, Hieblinger developed into a key player and one of the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

s of the Cretans, and was considered among the best defenders in the league. In 2011, Hieblinger extended his contract with the club until June 2013. He made 149 league appearances for

during a six-year span, all in the Greek Superleague, which makes him the player with the most caps in top-flight for the Cretan club (and third overall in professional league appearances, tied with former teammate

Diego Romano Diego Sebastián Romano (born 2 March 1980 in Rosario, Santa Fe) is an Argentina, Argentine association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Greece, Greek Voula, football Club AO Perachoras Club career Early years Romano began his ...

). In the summer of 2012, following

' relegation to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, Hieblinger moved back home to LASK Linz.

Career statistics

International career

Hieblinger made his debut for Austria on 22 March 2003 in a friendly match against Greece, which ended 2-2. He continued to receive caps for the national team under coach Hans Krankl even as a second division player. His last international game came during his time with GAK in September 2005, where he featured in a World Cup qualification match against Azerbaijan, which ended 0−0. In total, Hieblinger earned 13 caps for Austria.

National team statistics

References

External links

Mario Hieblinger
at ÖFB * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hieblinger, Mario 1977 births Living people People from Mistelbach Men's association football defenders Austrian men's footballers Austrian expatriate men's footballers Austria men's international footballers Footballers from Lower Austria FC Admira Wacker Mödling players SV Stockerau players FC Red Bull Salzburg players FC Kärnten players Grazer AK players Ergotelis F.C. players LASK players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Super League Greece players Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Austrian football managers