Ivica Vastić

2.1. Early Club Years

After beginning his professional career in his native Croatia with RNK Split in the 1990-91 season, where he made 22 appearances and scored 5 goals, Vastić moved to Austria. He joined First Vienna FC for the 1991-92 season, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga and registering 8 goals in 23 appearances. The following season, 1992-93, he moved to VSE St. Pölten, where he made a significant impact by scoring 18 goals in 34 league appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga. In the first half of the 1993-94 season, he played for Admira Wacker Mödling, scoring 7 goals in 18 appearances. Later in the same season, Vastić had a brief spell in Germany with Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg, where he made 10 league appearances but did not score a goal.

2.2. SK Sturm Graz

Vastić enjoyed his most notable and successful period at SK Sturm Graz, where he played for eight seasons between 1994 and 2002. During his time at the club, he was a pivotal player under the management of Ivica Osim and became the team's leading striker, consistently scoring goals and helping to establish a golden era for the club.
With Sturm Graz, Vastić contributed to winning the Austrian Football Bundesliga two consecutive times in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. He also helped the team secure the Austrian Cup on three occasions: in 1995-96, 1996-97, and 1998-99. Furthermore, he was part of the squad that won the Austrian Supercup in 1996, 1998, and 1999. Vastić's success with Sturm Graz extended to European competitions, as he played in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. He was a prolific goalscorer during this period, netting 32 goals in the 1999-2000 Austrian Bundesliga season alone, making him the top scorer for that season. Overall, he scored 125 goals in 250 league appearances for Sturm Graz.

2.3. Japan and Later Austrian Clubs

Following his successful tenure with Sturm Graz, Vastić embarked on a one-season spell in Japan with Nagoya Grampus Eight in the J1 League from 2002 to 2003. He made 18 appearances and scored 10 goals in 2002, and 9 appearances with 3 goals in 2003, for a total of 13 goals in 27 league appearances. During his time in Japan, he formed an effective partnership with Wesley, notably scoring his first J.League goal on July 21, 2002, against Gamba Osaka. He also scored the 8500th goal in J.League history. A memorable moment occurred in his last home game for Nagoya Grampus Eight on May 18, 2003, against Vegalta Sendai, where he scored a decisive last-minute free-kick goal that led to a victory and a spontaneous send-off ceremony by the fans and teammates.

After his stint in Japan, Vastić returned to Austria, playing two seasons with Austria Wien from 2003 to 2005. He made 35 appearances and scored 4 goals in the 2003-04 season, and 32 appearances with 10 goals in the 2004-05 season. With Austria Wien, he won the Austrian Cup in 2004-05 and was a runner-up in 2003-04.

In the summer of 2005, he joined LASK. He performed exceptionally well for LASK in the Erste Liga, Austria's second division, where he was the top goalscorer for two consecutive seasons, scoring 19 goals in 31 appearances in 2005-06 and 23 goals in 31 appearances in 2006-07, totaling 42 goals in 62 league appearances. Vastić played a crucial role in LASK's promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga in 2007. In the 2007-08 Austrian Bundesliga season, he helped the club finish sixth and remained the club's top goalscorer in the league, netting 13 goals in 32 appearances. Vastić announced his retirement from professional football on May 18, 2009, with his career officially concluding on June 30, 2009.

3.1. 1998 FIFA World Cup

Vastić's first major international tournament appearance for Austria was at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France. He featured in all three of Austria's group stage matches. A notable moment occurred in their second group match against Chile, where he scored a last-minute equalizer, resulting in a 1-1 draw. Despite this contribution, Austria was eliminated from the tournament in the first round after recording two draws and one defeat.

3.2. UEFA Euro 2008

Vastić made a surprising return to the national team in 2008, being unexpectedly called up to Austria's preliminary squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals, which Austria co-hosted with Switzerland. His previous appearance for the national team had been more than two and a half years earlier, on August 17, 2005, in a 2-2 friendly draw against Scotland. He made his international comeback as a substitute on May 27, 2008, in a friendly match against Nigeria and was ultimately included in the final 23-man squad for Euro 2008, where he was the oldest player. Three days later, on May 30, 2008, he scored the fourth goal in Austria's 5-1 friendly victory over Malta.

On June 8, Vastić made his Euro 2008 tournament debut in a 1-0 defeat to his native Croatia, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute for Jürgen Säumel. On June 12, he earned his 50th international cap in Austria's second tournament match, a 1-1 draw with Poland, replacing captain Andreas Ivanschitz in the 64th minute. In this match, Vastić scored Austria's first ever goal in the UEFA European Championship final tournaments by converting an injury-time penalty, which secured a draw and earned Austria its first point in the competition's history. At 38 years and 257 days old, he also became the oldest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship finals, surpassing the record held by Nené since 1984. This record was later broken by Luka Modrić at UEFA Euro 2024.

4.1. Early Coaching Roles

On June 16, 2009, Vastić was appointed head coach of FC Waidhofen/Ybbs, a club in the Regionalliga Ost (third division). His coaching career started successfully, as he led the team to win the Regionalliga Ost title in the 2009-10 season. During this period, FC Waidhofen/Ybbs also began a cooperation with Vastić's former club, LASK.

In the summer of 2010, Vastić moved to Austria Wien Amateurs, serving as their manager. In December 2011, he was promoted to manage the first team of FK Austria Wien. However, his tenure was short-lived, and he was sacked on May 21, 2012, with his contract not being renewed after its expiration at the end of May. Following his departure from Austria Wien, he took on roles at SV Gaflenz, initially as an assistant and then as manager, from May 27, 2013, until December 20, 2013.

4.2. SV Mattersburg

Vastić was appointed head coach of SV Mattersburg on December 20, 2013. He initially signed a contract until the end of the season with an option for two more years, which was subsequently exercised. Under his leadership, SV Mattersburg achieved promotion back to the Austrian Football Bundesliga by winning the Austrian Football First League title in the 2014-15 season. The following season, he successfully guided the team to secure their league survival in the top flight. His tenure at SV Mattersburg concluded on January 2, 2017. A notable match during his time was a 9-0 defeat against Austria Wien on April 23, 2016. Currently, Vastić serves as the youth head coach for HNK Šibenik U19.

6.1. Player Honours

6.2. Managerial Honours

• FC Waidhofen/Ybbs
  • Regionalliga Ost: 2009-10
• SV Mattersburg
  • Austrian Football First League: 2014-15

7.1. Club Statistics

7.2. International Statistics

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

7.3. Managerial Record