Footballer Martin Shtranzl: biography, sports career

Moscow "Spartacus", which became the real flagship of Russian football at the turn of the 90's, in the 2000s experienced already difficult times. After the departure from the post of team leader Oleg Ivanovich Romantsev, the team suffered a repeated change of trainers, a vague transfer policy. Through the club passed a huge number of foreign players, obviously not consistent with the ambitions of the club. But even in such a difficult time there were players, which fans after many years remember with warmth. One of these players was Martin Shtranzl - defender of the Austrian national team, one of the best in the last decade.

Childhood

Martin was born in the Austrian town of Güssing, whose population was a little over 26 thousand people. It happened on June 16, 1980. Martin's family was quite athletic: my father played football on an amateur level, my mother was a member of the school team. The question of the choice of sport for the boy in the family was not standing. A big fan of the game, Martin's dad was categorical: only football. And now, at the age of six, Shtranzl Martin started studying at the local club "Güssing". What is characteristic, almost to the last Martin played in the position of the striker, and only when he was fourteen, coaches transferred a tall teenager in defense. As time showed, they were right. All his professional career, Martin played in the position of defender.

Bundesliga

In the 90s, football in Austria was in crisis. The generation of Tony Polster and Andreas Herzog left, and there was no equivalent change. The main goal of the young players was the neighboring Germany. The level of club football, the prospect of growth in the Bundesliga were immeasurably higher than in the Austrian Championship. Martin Shtranzl was no exception. At the age of 17, the guy was invited to watch the Bundesliga Club "Munich 1860". Heads of the club were able to see the potential in a lanky teenager and signed a long-term contract with him. The Munich team at that time was considered a strong middleweight in Germany, with a certain perspective in terms of growth. Martin in Munich passed all the steps of becoming as a football player. Starting his career in the youth team, a year later he got to "Munich 1860". And there Shtranz for a long time did not stay: in front was the main team.

Martin Shtranzl: career

At the end of the 1998/1999 season, when all the tournament tasks were solved, the coaching staff of "Munich" gave the opportunity to play in the last matches of the season to young players from the second team. Among them was the 18-year-old football player Shtranzl Martin. In these few games, the guy looked so confident that he was already preparing for the next season, along with the main team. And in the season 1999-2000 Shtrantsl already was the main defender of the Munich club, having spent the season 22 games. The season turned out to be successful both for Martin himself, and for his club. "Munich 1860" took the 4th place and won the right to play in the qualification of the Champions League. It would seem that a little more - and the club will enter the cohort of the strongest in Germany. However, there were problems of the financial plan, and "Munich" began a gradual downward movement. As a result, this led to the fact that the season 2003/2004 Munich finished in 17th place, flying to the lower division. Martin Shtrantsl by that time had already gained a certain reputation in football circles, so no one was surprised at his transition to a more ambitious club. In total for five years of his career in the "Munich 1860" Shtranz held 96 games, scoring 4 goals in them, which is quite a good result for the defender.

"Stuttgart"

According to the results of 2003-2004. In the qualifying stage of the Champions League from Germany got "Stuttgart". On the eve of the new season the team seriously strengthened, having acquired several high-class players for certain game positions. Among them was the 24-year-old Martin Shtranzl. The term of the contract was four years. At Martin it turned out to fit into the game model of "Stuttgart", becoming the main player of the defense team. And in "Stuttgart" Shtranzl played the right-back, although initially he was bought for the role of central defender.

In the first season, Martin played 29 matches, scoring one goal against the opponents. "Stuttgart" by the end of the year took a step back, taking the fifth place. And in the middle of the 2005/2006 season in Martin's career, there was a sharp turn.

Russian career stage

In the middle of the season interest in the Austrian defender was shown by the Moscow "Spartak". Initially, the management of "Stuttgart" did not even consider the option of selling a reliable defender. But the Spartak players were persistent, and in March 2006, Martin Shtranzl became a player of the Moscow club. According to various sources, the amount paid for the defender was about 3 million euros. A personal contract meant the payment of approximately 1 million euros per year.

Martin made his debut in Russian football in the cup game against the Moscow "Locomotive". Already from the first season Shtrantsl became the main defender of "Spartak", and Spartak's coaches returned Martin to his usual position as a central defender.

In total, "Spartacus" Martin Shtranzl, whose photo you see in the article, spent five seasons playing 95 games and thrice striking the opponent's goal. During this time, the team three times became the silver medalist of the championship of Russia, and Martin himself in 2007 ranked second in the list of the best central defenders of the championship of Russia.

Goalkeeper

The Russian stage of the career brought Martin a unique experience of playing at the gate. In the 18th round, "Spartacus" took on the field of the outsider championship - Tomsk "Tom". The game took place with a noticeable advantage of the Muscovites, and towards the end of the inning they led with a score of 4: 1. And suddenly for a foul of last hope follows removal of the goalkeeper of "Spartacus" and the penalty is appointed. By this time, all the replacements for the Muscovites had already been made, and a field player stood in the gate. It was Martin Shtranzl. He missed the penalty kick, but in the remaining few minutes he managed to keep an acceptable account for the team.

Return to the Bundesliga

In 2010, the leadership of "Spartacus" decides to take a course on the rejuvenation of the composition. At the same time, the club Bundesliga - "Borussia Mönchengladbach" begins to show interest to Shtranzl. And in the last days of 2010, the parties reached a mutually beneficial agreement. "Borussia" signed with Shtrantslem three-year contract, the transaction amount was 800 thousand euros. And here the career of Martin, seemingly already going downhill, gained a second wind. Already in the next season, "Borussia" makes a significant step forward, taking after the sixteenth place fourth. Martin Shtranzl in the 2011/2012 season falls into various symbolic national teams as one of the best central defenders. In the future, in 2013, the management extended the contract with the defender for another three years.

"Borussia" was a landmark club in the career of Stranzl. It was here that he spent six full seasons, won the bronze of the German championship, took part in European cups. In total for "Borussia" Martin spent 116 games, scoring in these matches 8 goals. According to the Austrian, the season 2015/2016 should be the last in the career of Martin Shtranzl as an active player.

National team of Austria

Already at the age of twenty, Martin made his debut for the national team of Austria. It happened in a friendly game against the team of Sweden. In the future, he spent 56 games in the national team, scoring 3 goals in them. The peak of the career in the Austrian national team was the captain's armband, with which Martin led his team to the final games of the European Championship in 2008. Unfortunately, the generation of those years has not been able to achieve any success at the national team level. In 2009, Shtranz Martin, whose biography was presented to your attention in the article, decided to end the performances for the national team, focusing on games for the club.