Toni Polster

Toni Polster

Personal information
Full name	Anton Polster
Date of birth	(1964-03-10) 10 March 1964
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1973–1981	Austria Wien
1982	1. Simmeringer SC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1982–1987	Austria Wien	147	(119)
1987–1988	Torino	27	(9)
1988–1991	Sevilla	102	(55)
1991–1992	Logroñés	38	(14)
1992–1993	Rayo Vallecano	31	(14)
1993–1998	1. FC Köln	151	(79)
1998–1999	Borussia Mönchengladbach	38	(15)
2000	Austria Salzburg	12	(2)
Total		546	(307)
National team
1982–2000	Austria	95	(44)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Anton "Toni" Polster (born 10 March 1964 in Vienna) is a retired Austrian footballer. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for Austria and the singer of the Austrian band Achtung Liebe.

Club career

Polster came through the Austria Wien youth system to make his professional league debut in August 1982, at 18 years of age. He scored his first Bundesliga goal three weeks later and went on to win three league titles and a domestic cup before moving abroad to play a season for Serie A mid-table side Torino. He then spent the five following years at Spanish teams Sevilla, Logroñés and Rayo Vallecano, ending up with these teams in mid-table as well. In 1990, he finished runner-up in the Spanish goalscoring chart. In 1993, he moved to Germany to spend five years at Köln, again ending up in mid-table every season except for the last one in which he experienced relegation. That made him join Borussia Mönchengladbach next year but they got also relegated at the end of the season and Polster returned to Austria to play a final season at Austria Salzburg.

He was known to fans as "Doppelpack" Polster – "Twinpack" Polster, because of his reputation for scoring two goals in many matches.^{[citation needed]}

Polster was chosen in Austria's Team of the Century in 2001 and as Austrian Sportsman of the year 1997.

International career

In 1983, Polster was selected for the Austria U20's to play at the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship.

He had already made his senior debut for Austria in November 1982 against Turkey, immediately scoring his first goal, and was a participant at the 1990 World Cup and 1998 World Cup. He earned 95 caps, scoring a record 44 goals. He overtook the previous goalscoring record, set by Hans Krankl, in 1996, scoring his 35th goal against Latvia.

His final (and record-breaking 94th) international was thought to be a June 1998 FIFA World Cup match against Italy, but he was given an official farewell match in September 2000 against Iran in which he was substituted in the 21st minute by Christian Mayrleb. His appearances record was surpassed by Andreas Herzog in May 2002.

International goals

Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 November 1982	Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, Vienna	Turkey	1–0	4–0	Euro 1984 qualifier
2.	7 May 1985	Liebenau Stadium, Graz	Cyprus	2–0	4–0	1986 World Cup qualifier
3.	26 March 1986	Stadio Friuli, Udine	Italy	1–0	1–2	Friendly
4.	27 August 1986	Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck	Switzerland	1–0	1–1	Friendly
5.	15 October 1986	Liebenau Stadium, Graz	Albania	2–0	3–0	Euro 1988 qualifier
6.	29 October 1986	Praterstadion, Vienna	West Germany	1–0	4–1	Friendly
7.				2–1
8.	1 April 1987	Praterstadion, Vienna	Spain	2–2	2–3	Euro 1988 qualifier
9.	29 April 1987	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana	Albania	1–0	1–0	Euro 1988 qualifier
10.	2 November 1988	Praterstadion, Vienna	Turkey	1–0	3–2	1990 World Cup qualifier
11.	20 May 1989	Zentralstadion, Leipzig	East Germany	1–0	1–1	1990 World Cup qualifier
12.	15 November 1989	Praterstadion, Vienna	East Germany	1–0	3–0	1990 World Cup qualifier
13.				2–0
14.				3–0
15.	28 March 1990	Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga	Spain	2–2	3–2	Friendly
16.	25 March 1992	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–0	1–2	Friendly
17.	14 April 1982	Praterstadion, Vienna	Lithuania	3–0	4–0	Friendly
18.	27 May 1982	De Baandert, Sittard-Geleen	Netherlands	1–2	2–3	Friendly
19.	2 September 1982	Linzer Stadion, Linz	Portugal	1–0	1–1	Friendly
20.	28 October 1992	Praterstadion, Vienna	Israel	3–0	5–2	1994 World Cup qualifier
21.	14 April 1993	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Bulgaria	3–1	3–1	1994 World Cup qualifier
22.	2 June 1994	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Germany	1–4	1–5	Friendly
23.	7 September 1994	Sportpark, Eschen	Liechtenstein	1–0	4–0	Euro 1996 qualifier
24.				3–0
25.				4–0
26.	12 October 1994	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Northern Ireland	1–1	1–2	Euro 1996 qualifier
27.	29 March 1995	Stadion Lehen, Salzburg	Latvia	4–0	5–0	Euro 1996 qualifier
28.				5–0
29.	26 April 1995	Stadion Lehen, Salzburg	Liechtenstein	2–0	7–0	Euro 1996 qualifier
30.				4–0
31.	11 June 1995	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Republic of Ireland	1–1	3–1	Euro 1996 qualifier
32.				3–1
33.	16 August 1995	Daugava Stadium, Riga	Latvia	1–2	2–3	Euro 1996 qualifier
34.	24 April 1996	Népstadion, Budapest	Hungary	1–0	2–0	Friendly
35.	9 November 1996	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Latvia	1–0	2–1	1998 World Cup qualifier
36.	8 June 1997	Daugava Stadium, Riga	Latvia	2–0	3–1	1998 World Cup qualifier
37.	20 August 1997	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn	Estonia	1–0	3–0	1998 World Cup qualifier
38.				2–0
39.				3–0
40.	11 October 1997	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Belarus	1–0	4–0	1998 World Cup qualifier
41.				3–0
42.	2 June 1998	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Liechtenstein	1–0	6–0	Friendly
43.				6–0
44.	11 June 1998	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	Cameroon	1–1	1–1	1998 World Cup

Honours

Austria Wien

• Austrian Football Bundesliga: 3

1984, 1985, 1986

• Austrian Cup: 1

1986

Individual

• Austrian Football Bundesliga Top Goalscorer: 3

1985, 1986, 1987

• European Golden Shoe: 1

1987

• Austrian Player of the Year: 2

1986, 1997

External links

• Official website
• Toni Polster at Austria Archive (German)
• Toni Polster at National-Football-Teams.com

Awards
Preceded by Andreas Goldberger	Austrian Sportsman of the year 1997	Succeeded by Hermann Maier