Emanuel Pogatetz

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Emanuel Pogatetz bigraphy, stories - Footballer

Emanuel Pogatetz : biography

16 January 1983 –

Emanuel Pogatetz (born 16 January 1983) is an Austrian footballer who plays as a defender for 1. FC Nuremberg. Pogatetz has previously played for FC Kärnten, Bayer Leverkusen II, FC Aarau, Spartak Moscow, Middlesbrough, Hannover 96, West Ham United and international football for Austria at under 16, under18, under 19, under 21 and full international level. He is nicknamed "Mad Dog" for his aggressive style of play.

International career

Pogatetz made his international debut for Austria on 18 May 2002 in a 6–2 defeat by Germany. He came on in the 83rd minute as a substitute for Ernst Dospel. His first international goal came on 6 September 2003 in a Euro 2004 qualifying game in the Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam. With score at 1–0 to Netherlands, Pogatetz equalised only for the game to finish 3–1 to the Netherlands. On 12 October 2005 he was dismissed in an international game against Northern Ireland. In the 73rd minute in a 2–0 win in the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna. Pogatetz retaliated to a "reckless challenge" by Northern Ireland’s Damien Johnson. Both were dismissed. In September 2006, Pogatetz was banned from playing for his country after he criticised the coach Josef Hickersberger and captain Andreas Ivanschitz after Austria drew with Costa Rica and lost to Venezuela in an international tournament played earlier in the month. In 2008 he was a member of the Austria team at Euro 2008 which Austria co-hosted with Switzerland. He played all three games, against Croatia, Germany and Poland, as Austria failed to make the knock-out stages of the competition.

In March 2009, Pogatetz was named captain of Austria by coach Dietmar Constantini. However, a series of injuries kept Pogatetz out of Austria’s team for much of 2009 and 2010, with Christian Fuchs replacing him as captain.

International goals

As at 10:08, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 6 September 2003 Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands NED}} 1–1 3–1 Loss Euro 2004 qualifying
2 20 August 2008 Stade du Ray, Nice, France ITA}} 1–0 2–2 Draw Friendly

Club career

Born in Graz, Pogatetz’s career started at Sturm Graz before going to Kärnten and later to Bayer Leverkusen. After a short loan spell at Aarau, Grazer, and Spartak Moscow, he joined Middlesbrough.

He had also been tracked by Fulham, but during his final match on loan at Spartak Moscow, he tackled Yaroslav Kharitonskiy, leaving the Russian with a double leg fracture. Although initially banned for 24 weeks by the Russian Football Union, the suspension was later reduced to eight weeks after Pogatetz attended a personal hearing in Moscow. As the ban commenced in June and was specified as a length of time rather than a number of matches, he ended up missing only three games for his new club Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough

Signed by manager Steve McClaren for £1.8m his Middlesbrough debut came on 25 August 2005 against Charlton Athletic. With Pogatetz coming on in the second-half for Franck Queudrue, Middlesbrough lost 3–0. On 30 March 2006, during the first leg of Middlesbrough’s 2–0 UEFA Cup quarter-final defeat against Basel, Pogatetz broke his nose, jaw and cheekbone in an accidental clash of heads with Mladen Petrić and was later warned against returning to full training for three months, for fear of losing his eyesight. He underwent successful surgery to have the fractures reset and Dr. Douglas Bryan declared himself "delighted" with Pogatetz’s progress. "It is anticipated he will make a full recovery and be back with his team-mates for pre-season training," said Middlesbrough head physio Grant Downie. "The only disappointing thing for Manny [Pogatetz] is he won’t be able to play football, and he was desperate to get back involved. But another blow to his face would risk severe trauma and a potentially eyesight-threatening injury."