Roland Linz

Austrian association football player

Roland Gunther Linz (born 9 August 1981) is an Austrian former professional footballer. He played as a forward. He played mainly for Austria Wien and the Austrian national football team.

Roland Linz
Linz playing with Austria Wien in 2011
Personal information
Full name Roland Gunther Linz
Date of birth (1981-08-09) 9 August 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Leoben, Austria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1995–1997 DSV Leoben
1997–1999 1860 Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 DSV Leoben 53 (27)
2001–2006 Austria Wien 81 (26)
2003–2004Admira Mödling (loan) 31 (15)
2004Nice (loan) 15 (0)
2005Sturm Graz (loan) 13 (4)
2006–2007 Boavista 28 (10)
2007–2009 Braga 33 (11)
2009Grasshoppers (loan) 16 (7)
2009–2010 Gaziantepspor 5 (0)
2010–2013 Austria Wien 86 (40)
2013–2014 Muangthong United 4 (1)
2014 Belenenses 3 (0)
Total 368 (141)
National team
2002–2010 Austria 39 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Linz earned 39 caps for Austria, appearing for the nation at Euro 2008.

Club career

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Roland Linz began his career as a junior player at DSV Leoben. In 1997 he moved to Germany for two years to the youth team of TSV 1860 Munich. He then returned to his home club in Leoben. At the age of 19 he became his club's top scorer in the second-class first division. After scoring 21 goals in the 2000/01 season he signed for FK Austria Wien in the Bundesliga. He scored 8 goals in his first year in the Bundesliga. In the 2002/03 season he won the championship and the ÖFB Cup with the Austria. He was used less and less by manager Christoph Daum and from the sixth round onwards had no more match over the full distance.

Linz was loaned to VfB Admira Wacker Mödling in the 2003/04 season. Then he was loaned to OGC Nizza. He returned to Austria in winter 2005, where he worked for SK Sturm Graz for the rest of the season. In the 2005/06 season, Linz played again as a striker for Wiener Austria, became Austria's top scorer and won the championship title and ÖFB Cup with the club.

2007 the went to Boavista Porto in the Portuguese first division, where he scored ten goals in his first season. In August 2007 there he joined Sporting Braga. On January 30, 2009 he went on loan to the Swiss Grasshopper Club Zurich until the end of the 2008/09 season,[2] then to Gaziantepspor in Turkey. However, the contract was dissolved in January 2010.[3] On February 1, 2010, Linz signed a six-month contract with an option for three more years at FK Austria Wien. After he was only used very rarely at FK in 2012, the contract was dissolved. He moved to Thai club Muangthong United on January 10, 2013. In January 2014 Linz moved back to the Portuguese league to Belenenses Lisbon, where the contract ended on June 30, 2014.

International career

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Linz made his debut for Austria in a friendly match with Slovakia, a 2–0 win in Graz on 27 March 2002. He remained a regular until September 2007. He made a public outburst against Austrian Football Association president Friedrich Stickler. For the next 18 months, he was not called in the team.[1][2]

Linz returned to the national side in time for UEFA Euro 2008 . He played two of Austria's matches during the tournament . He scored no goals.

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[3][4][5][6][7]
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental[a] Total
League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
DSV Leoben 1999–2000 Austrian First League 0 0 2 0 2 0
2000–01 12 3 1 0 13 3
Total 12 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 15 3
Austria Wien 2001–02 Austrian Bundesliga 29 8 3 3 32 11
2002–03 21 3 3 0 1 0 25 3
Total 50 11 6 3 0 0 1 0 57 14
Admira Mödling 2003–04 Austrian Bundesliga 31 15 3 3 34 18
Nice 2004–05 Ligue 1 15 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 17 0
Sturm Graz 2004–05 Austrian Bundesliga 13 4 0 0 0 0 13 4
Austria Wien 2005–06 Austrian Bundesliga 31 15 1 0 4 3 36 18
Boavista 2006–07 Primeira Liga 28 10 4 1 32 11
2007–08 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 28 10 4 1 1 0 0 0 33 11
Braga 2007–08 Primeira Liga 27 11 4 0 0 0 8 5 39 16
2008–09 6 0 3 1 0 0 6 3 15 4
Total 33 11 7 1 0 0 14 8 54 20
Grasshoppers (loan) 2008–09 Swiss Super League 16 7 1 0 17 7
Gaziantepspor 2009–10 Süper Lig 5 0 0 0 5 0
Austria Wien 2009–10 Austrian Bundesliga 15 6 1 0 16 6
2010–11 36 21 4 2 6 3 46 26
2011–12 28 12 3 2 10 2 41 16
2012–13 7 1 2 2 9 3
Total 86 40 10 6 0 0 16 5 112 51
Muangthong United 2013 Thai League T1 4 1 0 0 6 0 10 1
Belenenses 2013–14 Primeira Liga 3 0 0 0 2 0 5 0
Career total 327 117 35 14 4 0 41 16 407 147

Honours

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Austria Wien

Individual

  • Austrian Bundesliga top scorer: 2006, 2011[8][9]

References

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  1. "Der Teamchef bin ich" ("I am the boss"); Der Standard, 5 October 2007 (in German)
  2. Austrians awarded second chance; UEFA, 24 January 2008
  3. "R. Linz". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  4. "Roland Linz » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  5. "Roland Linz" (in French). L'Équipe. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  6. "Roland Linz". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  7. "Roland Linz". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  8. Österreichs Torschützenkönige (Austria top scorers) Archived 15 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; at Oberliga (in German)
  9. Season review: Austria; UEFA, 13 June 2011

Other websites

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