Mario Haas facts for kids
Haas pictured in 2009
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 September 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Graz, Austria | ||
| Height | 1.83 m | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sturm Graz | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1992–1999 | Sturm Graz | 185 | (66) |
| 1999–2000 | Strasbourg | 27 | (3) |
| 2000–2005 | Sturm Graz | 114 | (39) |
| 2005–2006 | JEF United Chiba | 48 | (11) |
| 2006–2012 | Sturm Graz | 158 | (42) |
| National team | |||
| 1998–2007 | Austria | 43 | (7) |
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Mario Haas (born on September 16, 1974) is an Austrian former professional footballer. He played as a forward, which means he was a player who mainly tried to score goals. Mario Haas spent most of his career playing for SK Sturm Graz in Austria. He also played for a short time in France and Japan. He played 43 games for the Austria national football team, even joining them for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
Contents
Mario Haas's Football Journey
Playing for Clubs
Mario Haas started playing football in the youth teams of SK Sturm Graz. He was there for ten years before joining the main professional team in 1993. He became a very important player for the club.
He helped Sturm Graz win the Austrian league title twice, in 1998 and 1999. They also won the Austrian Cup three times, in 1996, 1997, and 1999. During this successful time, Mario Haas, Ivica Vastić, and Hannes Reinmayr were known as the "magic triangle" of Sturm Graz because they played so well together.
In 1999, Mario Haas moved to France to play for Racing Strasbourg. But he didn't play as much as he wanted there. So, in 2001, he returned to his home club, Sturm Graz.
Later, in 2005, his former coach, Ivica Osim, brought him to JEF United Chiba in Japan. While playing in Japan, he helped his team win the Japanese Cup twice, in 2005 and 2006. The 2005 win was the first time JEF United had ever won a trophy!
From 2007, Mario Haas played for Sturm Graz again. He won the Austrian Cup for the fourth time with them in 2010. On February 12, 2011, he played his 412th game for Sturm Graz in the Bundesliga. This made him the player with the most appearances for the team, passing Günther Neukirchner. At the end of the 2010/11 season, Mario Haas won the Austrian league title for the third time with Sturm. This means he was part of all three league titles and four out of five cup wins for Sturm Graz.
Mario Haas stopped playing professional football on December 1, 2012, when he was 38 years old. His last game was for Sturm Graz against Wiener Neustadt. After retiring, he started his own football camps to help young players. He also coached a few smaller clubs, like FC Bad Radkersburg and USV Mettersdorf.
On January 18, 2016, SK Sturm Graz honored Mario Haas as an honorary captain. He received this special title along with Günther Neukirchner and Andy Pichler.
Playing for the National Team
Mario Haas first played for the Austrian national team in April 1998. It was a friendly game against the United States. He also played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Overall, he played 43 games for Austria and scored seven goals. His last game for the national team was a friendly match against Scotland in May 2007. In November 2008, the Austrian coach asked him to play in another friendly game against Turkey. But Mario Haas said no because he wanted to focus on playing for Sturm Graz.
Mario Haas's Achievements
Mario Haas won many important titles during his career:
With Sturm Graz
- Austrian League Champion: 1997–98, 1998–99, 2010–11
- Austrian Cup Winner: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2009–10
- Austrian Supercup Winner: 1996, 1997
- He was the top scorer for Sturm Graz in many seasons: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
- He holds the record for the most games played for Sturm Graz with 451 appearances.
With JEF United Chiba
- J.League Cup Winner: 2005, 2006
