Emanuel Pogatetz, born on January 16, 1983 in Graz, Austria, is a professional football player. Nicknamed “the Pog” and “Mad Dog”, he is married and has a daughter, Lea, and a son, Noah.
Emanuel Pogatetz began his international career when he got his first call to play for the Austrian national side in 2002, and since then, he has been a regular player for his country. As of 2008, he has won a total of 31 international caps and has two goals in his credit.
In 2000, Emanuel Pogatetz began his professional football career with SK Sturm Graz, an Austrian football club, and later moved to F.C. Kärnten, which is based in Klagenfurt. He was a part of F.C. Kärnten during the 2000-01 season and made 33 appearances for this club. During his presence, the club won the 2001 Austrian Cup, by defeating FC Tirol Innsbruck, and also got promoted to Austrian Bundesliga. During the 2001-02 season, Emanuel Pogatetz moved to Bayer Leverkusen II and played 26 games for this club. In the following season, he signed with Bayer Leverkusen and was later loaned to FC Aarau for the 2002-03 season. During his tenure with the club, this defender scored three goals in the 21 games that he played. During the 2003-04 season, Emanuel Pogatetz signed a loan deal with Grazer AK and was a member of the squad that emerged victorious in the 2004 Austrian League and the 2004 Austrian Cup. During his stint with this club, he appeared in 53 games and added 2 goals to his credit.
In 2005, Emanuel Pogatetz moved to Spartak Moscow, a Russian football club, on a loan and played 11 games before signing a contract with the English Premier League side Middlesbrough. During the 2006-07 season, Emanuel Pogatetz played in the central defense position due to the absence of Chris Riggott. Since then, he made a name for himself by skillfully playing with teammates, Robert Huth and Jonathan Woodgate, the latter being his favorite player. His impressive performances won the hearts of his fans and they voted him the Middlesbrough player of the Year. Steve McClaren, former Middlesbrough coach, stated that Emanuel Pogatetz always puts 300% in every game he plays. During the close of the 2006-07 season, Gareth Southgate, the manager of Middlesbrough, announced that Emanuel Pogatetz would be the team’s captain on a full-time basis. As of 2008, he made a total of 83 appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals.
Other than football, Emanuel Pogatetz loves spending time with his kids, listening to hard rock, watching movies, playing ice-hockey and holidaying in the Maldives.
