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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a player who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is currently the player-manager of

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

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 (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

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

Langendreer Langendreer is the largest and most populous district of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in Germany, with a population of 25,438 as of 31 December 2023. The district is located between the cities Dortmund, the largest city of Westphalia, to t ...

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 for the friendlies against the

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and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. 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

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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 North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

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. A youth academy graduate of VfL Bochum, Gündoğan joined 1. FC Nürnberg in 2009. In 2011, he signed for Borus ...

. 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

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; a 1–1 draw in the first leg in the

BayArena BayArena () is a Association football, football stadium in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which has been the home ground of Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen since 1958. History The stadium was originally known as ''Ulrich-Haber ...

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. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

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

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. 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

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in the 19th minute came in to replace Tony Jantschke. 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 ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...

(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 Admira Wacker 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 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Polish sportsmen