Andreas Ivanschitz (; born 15 October 1983) is an Austrian retired

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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. During his 18-year career as a player, Ivanschitz played for

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

, Red Bull Salzburg, Panathinaikos, 1.FSV Mainz 05, Levante,

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

and Viktoria Plzen. A full international since 2003, he represented Austria at

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; ; ; or ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Austria, Austrian state of Burgenland. With a population of 15,074 (as of 2023), it is the smallest state capital and the 38th-largest city in Austria overall. It lies at the foot o ...

, Ivanschitz began his football career as a youth in his town's local team called ASK Baumgarten, where he spent nine years. Soon,

scouts found out about his talent and in 1998, he signed his first professional contract with the Austrian champions. He was only 16 years old when he wore his team's shirt during an

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 ...

match against Ranshofen on 26 October 1999. His first official League match was in 2000 against Wüstenrot Salzburg. In 177 games for Rapid Wien, Ivanschitz scored 27 times, winning the Austrian Championship title in 2004–05. In 2003, he was elected "Austrian Footballer of the Year." In January 2006, Ivanschitz transferred to Red Bull Salzburg and then to Greek Super League club Panathinaikos in August 2006 on a two-year loan. On 20 June 2008, Ivanschitz agreed on a permanent deal with Panathinaikos. After three years in Greece with Panathinaikos he agreed on 18 July 2009 on a two-year loan with

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

with the view to a two-year permanent contract in the summer of 2011. Mainz took advantage of this contract option prematurely, and signed Ivanschitz permanently in January 2011. On 10 June 2013, Ivanschitz left Mainz for Levante. He scored his first goal in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

on 31 August, the winner with the last kick of a 2–1 home win over

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. He finished his first season in Spain with three goals from 29 games, the last being in a 2–0 win over city rivals

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

on 10 May. On 4 August 2015, he signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. After suffering from an injury his debut was postponed to 13 September where he assisted a late

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he played for a number of L ...

goal to tie up the game against

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. Ivanschitz converted Seattle's second kick from the spot in the 2016 MLS Cup penalty shootout, which the Sounders eventually won after six rounds, securing their first MLS Cup Title.

International career

Ivanschitz made his debut for

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in a February 2003 friendly match against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, coming on as a substitute for Markus Weissenberger. He was also a participant at the

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 ( ...

. He has earned 69 caps for Austria and has scored 12 goals.

Personal life

Ivanschitz comes from a musical family and plays various musical instruments in his spare time. He is a part of the Burgenland Croat community. Ivanschitz's son Ilia, is also a footballer who currently plays for Red Bull Salzburg.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Austrian Football 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 ...

: 2005

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

: 2016 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 ...

: 2003

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanschitz, Andreas 1983 births Living people Footballers from Eisenstadt Men's association football midfielders Austrian men's footballers Austrian expatriate men's footballers Austria men's international footballers Austrian people of Croatian descent Austria men's youth international footballers 21st-century Austrian sportsmen UEFA Euro 2008 players SK Rapid Wien players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Panathinaikos F.C. players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Levante UD footballers Seattle Sounders FC players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Burgenland Croats Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the United States FC Viktoria Plzeň players Czech First League players Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic