Matthew Spiranovic
Matthew Spiranovic
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Matthew Spiranovic

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Matthew Spiranovic

Matthew Thomas Spiranovic (born 27 June 1988) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a defender.

Spiranovic started his career with Melbourne Victory, making one competitive appearance before being released with the consent of coach Ernie Merrick to join German Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg. Spiranovic struggled in his new climate with both injuries and form, making just 28 first team appearances over four seasons with the German club, playing more frequently for the club's second side. In search of more consistent playing time, Spiranovic then joined Urawa Red Diamonds making 13 league appearances and scoring 1 goal during the 2010 J-League season. At the end of his loan spell, Spiranovic signed permanently for the club in 2011 for a fee of 450.000.

Spiranovic has made appearances for Australia during the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He has also represented Australia at the 2005 OFC U-17 Championship, the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup where Australia finished runners-up and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, in which he was part of the starting line up in the final of the tournament, hosted & won by Australia.

In addition to holding an Australian passport, Spiranovic also has a UK passport.

Spiranovic played junior football in Geelong and Melbourne and had represented his state, Victoria, at U–14 and U–15 Australian national championship level.

He had a brief stint with former junior club and Victorian State League Division 2 North-West side North Geelong Warriors, scoring one league goal in a 5–0 home win against Albion Rovers on 5 June 2004.

In 2004, he earned a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport under coach Ian Greener, and was awarded the Weinstein Medal for best junior player of the year by Football Federation Victoria in 2005. Spiranovic was selected in a 20-man Australia U–17 national team by coach Ange Postecoglou for a five-match tour of Chile against Palestino U–17, Universidad Catolica U–17, Colo-Colo U–17 and Chile U–17. The tour was preparation for the 2005 OFC U-17 Championship. The Qantas U–17 Joeys were then crowned champions of the 2005 OFC U-17 Championship and qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru, where Spiranovic played in all three group-stage matches of the competition. He was also selected for a Four-Nations tournament in Peru against Costa Rica U–17, Ecuador U–17 and Peru U–17 in July 2005.

In 2006, Spiranovic then graduated to the Australian Institute of Sport where he joined future Socceroo teammates Dario Vidošić, Bruce Djite, Nikita Rukavytsya and Nathan Burns. During his stint at the AIS, Spiranovic received a call up to a 20-man Australia U20 team for a five-match tour of South America in August 2006. Spiranovic participated in matches against Colo-Colo U–20, Universidad de Chile U–20, Chile U–20 and Argentina U–20. The South American tour was preparation for the 2006 AFC Youth Championship, the qualification campaign for the eventual 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

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