Matthias Ostrzolek (born 5 June 1990) is a German professional

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 ...

coacn and a player who plays as a

left-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 ...

. He is currently the player-manager of

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern, ( en, Regional league Bavaria), is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tie ...

club

TSV Schwaben Augsburg TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg. The association's football department was formed in 1907 and af ...

Early life

Ostrzolek's parents emigrated from the Polish region of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

and settled in Bochum. Ostrzolek was born on 5 June 1990 in Bochum and grew up in the district of

Langendreer Langendreer is the most populous district of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in Germany. Langendreer is between Dortmund, the largest city of Westphalia and Langendreer-Alter Bahnhof, another district of Bochum. Langendreeer includes Kaltehard ...

International career

In 2007, Ostrzolek played in two matches for the U-17 national team of Poland against Lithuania. He did not receive further call-ups from Poland national teams and later chose to represent Germany at the youth level. On 21 March 2011, Ostrzolek was first invited to the U-21 national team of Germany, when he was nominated by coach

Rainer Adrion Rainer Adrion (born 10 December 1953) is a German football manager and former defender. Coaching career Adrion was head coach of SpVgg Unterhaching on two occasions. The first stint was from July 1991 to May 1993 and the second stint was from ...

for the friendlies against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. On 25 March 2011, he was brought on as a substitute in the 22nd minute for

Shervin Radjabali-Fardi Shervin Radjabali-Fardi (Persian: شروین رجبعلی‌فردی; born 17 May 1991) is a German former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Club career Born in Berlin, Germany, Radjabali-Fardi began his career with Hertha Zehl ...

in a 3–1 win in

Sittard-Geleen Sittard-Geleen (; li, Zittert-Gelaen ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It was formed in 2001 from the former municipalities Sittard, Geleen and Born. The combined municipality has approximately 92,518 inhabitants (March 2019) ...

against the Netherlands. Four days later he came in to replace the 2–2 draw against Italy in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

in the 83rd minute for

İlkay Gündoğan İlkay Gündoğan (born 24 October 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the Germany national team. Gündoğan came through VfL Bochum's youth academy. In 2008, he began playing for th ...

. Matthias Ostrzolek qualified with the U-21 National Team Germany for the European Under-21 Football Championships 2013. The team won in qualifying to win the group and eliminated in the play-off against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

; a 1–1 draw in the first leg in the BayArena in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is on ...

followed by a 3–1 victory in the second leg in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

. Ostrzolek did not play in the play-off. On 24 March 2013, Ostrzolek played for the last time for the U-21 team of Germany when he at 2–1 victory in the friendly match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

in the 19th minute came in to replace

Tony Jantschke Tony Jantschke (born 7 April 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right-back. Career Jantschke began his career at ''Hoyersw ...

. On 16 May 2013, he was not nominated in the preliminary squad for U-21 Football Championship in 2013. In December 2013, representatives from the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( pl, Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej; PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the Ekstraklasa), the Polish Cup and the Polish national footb ...

(PZPN) contacted Ostrzolek about playing for the senior national team of Poland. According to Ostrzolek, it was his first contact with Polish football officials since his brief stint with the U-17 team. Ostrzolek stated that he would be proud to represent either Poland or Germany and would need more time to decide. By his own admission, he can understand nearly everything in Polish but cannot express himself flawlessly in the language. Ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifying match between Poland and Germany in October 2014, Ostrzolek stated he had not decided on his national team future. The player stated, “I still haven’t decided between Germany and Poland. I don’t know for which national team I will play.”

Career statistics

*1.Includes German Cup. *2.Includes Promotion/relegation playoffs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrzolek, Matthias 1990 births Living people Footballers from Bochum Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers German men's footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers German people of Polish descent Men's association football defenders VfL Bochum players VfL Bochum II players FC Augsburg players Hamburger SV players Hannover 96 players FC Admira Wacker Mödling players TSV Schwaben Augsburg players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Oberliga (football) players Bayernliga players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Austria German football managers TSV Schwaben Augsburg managers