Matthäus Taferner

Matthäus Taferner
Taferner in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (2001-01-30) 30 January 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Klagenfurt, Austria[1]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 WSG Tirol
Number 30
Youth career
2007–2017 Wacker Innsbruck
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Wacker Innsbruck II 45 (6)
2017–2019 Wacker Innsbruck 29 (3)
2019–2020 Dynamo Dresden 4 (0)
2020 → Wacker Innsbruck (loan) 9 (1)
2020–2023 Wolfsberger AC 86 (2)
2023– WSG Tirol 29 (1)
International career‡
2016 Austria U15 3 (0)
2017 Austria U16 1 (0)
2017–2018 Austria U17 5 (1)
2018 Austria U18 2 (0)
2018 Austria U19 2 (0)
2019 Austria U20 1 (0)
2021–2022 Austria U21 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 June 2022

Matthäus Taferner (born 30 January 2001) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as midfielder for WSG Tirol.[2]

Club career

Wacker Innsbruck

Taferner began his career at Wacker Innsbruck. In 2015 he joined the Fußballakademie Tirol, while attending the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium Innsbruck, a gymnasium with a branch for competitive athletes.[3]

On 27 May 2017, Taferner, who had already attracted the interest of German club SC Freiburg,[4] made his debut for the reserve team of Wacker Innsbruck in the Austrian Regionalliga when he was substituted in place of Sandro Gavrić in the 60th minute of a 2–1 loss to USC Eugendorf.[5]

In September 2017, Taferner was promoted to the first team by coach Karl Daxbacher. He made his debut in the second-tier First League in the same month when he was substituted for Daniele Gabriele in the 84th minute of the Tyroleans' 4–0 away win over Austria Lustenau on 29 September 2017.[6] This appearance meant that he became the first player in the second tier of Austrian football who was born in the 21st century.[7] With Wacker Innsbruck he won promotion to the Austrian Football Bundesliga at the end of the season.[8]

He made his debut in the Bundesliga in April 2019 in a 3–1 defeat against SV Mattersburg.[9] The following month he scored his first goal in the highest Austrian league in a 4–0 win, also against Mattersburg.[10] At the end of the season, he suffered relegation with Innsbruck after one season, finishing in last place in the Bundesliga table.[11]

Dynamo Dresden

On 25 June 2019, 2. Bundesliga club Dynamo Dresden confirmed that they had signed Taferner from Wacker Innsbruck on a four-year contract.[12] In Dresden, the midfielder only played four times and was sent on loan to his former club Wacker Innsbruck in January 2020.[13]

Wolfsberger AC

In the summer of 2020, he returned to Austria, signing for Wolfsberger AC for an undisclosed fee.[14]

WSG Tirol

On 10 August 2023, Taferner signed with WSG Tirol.[15]

International career

On 24 April 2016, Taferner made his debut for Austria U15 in a 3–3 draw against their peers from Mexico at the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt.[16] Further appearances followed on 26 April against Norway and on 29 April against Brazil. On 9 April 2017, he played in his Tyrolean homeland, in Jenbach, in the friendly international match against Turkey (1–3) for the Austrian U16 national team.[17]

In the summer of 2017, he was selected by coach Rupert Marko for the Austria U17 team for the international Toto Cup. On 30 August 2017, he scored his first international goal in Sillian in the 79th minute of the match, putting the finishing touches to a 4–0 victory in the friendly against peers from Finland. In total, Taferner played five games for the U17 team.

In March 2021, Taferner made his international debut for the Austria U21 team against Saudi Arabia.[18]

Honours

Wacker Innsbruck

References

  1. ^ Matthäus Taferner at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ a b Matthäus Taferner at Soccerway
  3. ^ "Athletes on Air – Matthäus Taferner, Förderverein Nachwuchsleistungssport Tirol". nachwuchsleistungssport-tirol.at (in German). 25 June 2020.
  4. ^ Michael, Pipal (3 April 2017). "Der Ruf der Insel ereilt die Tiroler Fußball-Talente". Tiroler Tageszeitung Online (in German).
  5. ^ "FC Wacker Innsbruck – FCW II: Tolle Saison endet mit kleinem Dämpfer". fc-wacker-innsbruck.at (in German). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Austria Lustenau – FC Wacker Innsbruck 0:4 (2. Liga 2017/2018, 13. Spieltag)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  7. ^ Krainer, Josef (21 December 2017). "Matthäus Taferner von Wacker Innsbruck II erhält langfristigen Profivertrag". Regionalliga West | ligaportal.at (in German).
  8. ^ a b "Wacker Meister und wieder erstklassig". tirol.orf.at (in German). 11 May 2018.
  9. ^ "SV Mattersburg – FC Wacker Innsbruck 3:1 (Bundesliga 2018/2019 Qualifikationsgruppe, 26. Spieltag)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  10. ^ "FC Wacker Innsbruck – SV Mattersburg 4:0 (Bundesliga 2018/2019 Qualifikationsgruppe, 32. Spieltag)". weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  11. ^ Geiler, Christoph (27 May 2019). "Der FC Wacker steht nach dem Abstieg vor dem Nichts". kurier.at (in German).
  12. ^ Taferner und Koné steigen mit Kraftkreis ein Archived 29 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine, dynamo-dresden.de, 25 June 2019
  13. ^ "FC Wacker Innsbruck – Nachwuchsteamspieler kehrt zurück!". fc-wacker-innsbruck.at (in German). Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Offiziell: WAC holt Matthäus Taferner von Dynamo Dresden". Kleine Zeitung (in German). 6 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Matthäus Taferner unterschreibt bei der WSG Tirol" [Matthäus Taferner signs with WSG Tirol] (in German). WSG Tirol. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Österreich U15 – Mexiko U15". oefb.at (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Österreich U16 – Türkei U16". oefb.at (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Österreich U21 – Saudi Arabien U21". oefb.at (in German). Retrieved 19 November 2021.