Martin Harnik

Martin Harnik (b. June 10, 1987) is a Austrians association football with German passport.

Born in Hamburg to a German mother and an Austrian father (from Graz), he started playing football in 1992 at SC Vier- und Marschlande. In early 2006, he joined the second team of Werder Bremen, playing in the third tier Regionalliga (football).

Due to a broken metastarsus, Martin missed almost all of the first half of 2007. At the start of the 2007/08 season, the forward was promoted to the Bundesliga side of Werder Bremen, signing a contract until 2010.

On August 15th, 2007, the 20-year-old made his debut for the professional team against Dinamo Zagreb, in the first leg of the third UEFA Champions League 2007-08 (2:1).

His Bundesliga debut came ten days later, in a game against 1. FC Nürnberg (1:0). Being fielded in the 61st minute, he scored the only, winning goal for his side in the 69th minute.

National team

Harnik, who could have also played for Germany national football team, opted to play for Austrian national football team, despite he has never lived there, after having been nominated for the youth national teams of the ÖFB, not those of the DFB.

His debut came in a match against Czech Republic national football team in Ernst Happel Stadium on August 22nd, 2007 (1:1). After being on the pitch for just six minutes, he scored the equalizing goal in the 78th minute.