Ivica Vastić (; born 29 September 1969) is a Croatian-born Austrian retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and as a striker. He is currently the youth head coach of HNK Šibenik U19. Vastić represented

Austria national football team The Austria national football team () represents Austria in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 Mar ...

at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. At the club level, he played for football clubs in Croatia, Austria, and Japan.

Club career

Born in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

, then still part of Yugoslavia, Vastić started to play for the local club Jugovinil (today GOŠK Adriachem), before joining RNK Split at the time playing in the Yugoslav third level. In 1991, he moved to Austria and signed with

First Vienna FC First Vienna FC is an Austrian football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly known to Aust ...

. 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 The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

, where he made 10 league appearances without scoring a goal.

Sturm Graz

Vastić's most notable spell was with

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...

between 1994 and 2002, during which he helped the club win the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

two consecutive times in 1998 and 1999, as well as the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

in 1996, 1997 and 1999. With the club, he also played in the group stages of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

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 ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

, 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

. 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 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

squad and scoring Austria's first ever goal in the European Championship, also becoming the oldest goalscorer in the history of the tournament until

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

broke the record in Euro 2024.

1998 World Cup

Vastić's first appearance at a major tournament with Austria was at the

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 Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. 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

finals co-hosted by Austria and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He then made his international comeback, winning his 47th cap, as a substitute in Austria's friendly match against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of 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 Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. On 8 June, Vastić made his Euro 2008 bow in the 1–0 defeat to his native

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, 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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, 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 The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

final tournaments 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. This record was broken by

in Euro 2024

Coaching career

FC Waidhofen/Ybbs

On 16 June 2009, Vastić was named head coach of FC Waidhofen/Ybbs of the Regionalliga Ost. Coincidently the club began a cooperation with the former Vastic club

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundes ...

. He started his coaching career very well, winning the Regionalliga Ost in 2009/10.

Austria Wien

Vastić changed to

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

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 SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga The Bunde ...

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 Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name used in several European countries as well as among individuals with ancestry from these countries outside Europe. In Spanish language, Spanish, Italian language, Italian, Croatian language, Croatian an ...

also became a professional footballer and is signed to German Regionalliga side

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vastić goal.''

Coaching record

Honours

Player

Sturm Graz *

: 1997–98, 1998–99 *

: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 *

Austrian Supercup The Austrian Supercup (German: ÖFB-Supercup) was a football competition held annually from 1986 until 2004 between the winners of the Austrian Football Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup. 19 editions were played during the short history of the com ...

: 1996, 1998, 1999 Austria Wien *Austrian Cup: 2004–05; runner-up: 2003–04 LASK *

Austrian Football First League The Second League (), commonly known as Admiral 2. Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest professional division in Austrian football. The division currently contains 16 teams, and the champion of the league is promoted to the Austr ...

: 2006–07 Individual *

Austrian Footballer of the Year The Austrian Footballer of the Year award () is an annual football award, established in Austria in 1984 and sponsored by the Austria Press Agency (APA). The coaches of all Austrian Football Bundesliga clubs vote to elect the player of the year. E ...

: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2007 * Austrian Bundesliga Top Scorer: 1995–96, 1999–2000 *Austrian Football First League Top Scorer: 2005–06, 2006–07

Manager

FC Waidhofen/Ybbs * Regionalliga Ost: 2009–10 SV Mattersburg *

: 2014–15

References

External links

*
Player profile
– EURO2008
Profile
– Austria Archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastic, Ivica 1969 births Living people Footballers from Split, Croatia Yugoslav emigrants to Austria Naturalised citizens of Austria Men's association football forwards Yugoslav men's footballers Croatian men's footballers Austrian men's footballers Austria men's international footballers Austrian people of Croatian descent 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players RNK Split players First Vienna FC players Admira Wacker players MSV Duisburg players SK Sturm Graz players Nagoya Grampus players FK Austria Wien players LASK players Austrian Football Bundesliga players 2. Liga (Austria) players Bundesliga players J1 League players Austrian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Austrian football managers FK Austria Wien managers SV Mattersburg managers FK Austria Wien non-playing staff Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany 20th-century Austrian sportsmen