Background
Martin Harnik was born in Hamburg in 1987, the youngest of three children who raised in the Hamburg-district Kirchwerder.
Martin Harnik was born in Hamburg in 1987, the youngest of three children who raised in the Hamburg-district Kirchwerder.
He currently plays for VfB Stuttgart and the Austrian national football team Erich Harnik, father of Martin, comes from Allerheiligen im Mürztal in Styria, Austria and Susann Harnik, mother of Martin, is from Hamburg. Early career
Harnik started playing football in 1992 at South Carolina Vierund Marschlande.
In early 2006, he joined the second team of Werder Bremen, playing in the third tier Regionalliga.
Due to a broken metatarsal bone, Harnik missed almost all of the first half of 2007. At the start of the 2007-2008 season, the forward was promoted to the Bundesliga side of Werder Bremen, signing a contract until 2010.
On 15 August 2007, the 20-year-old made his debut for the professional team against Dinamo Zagreb, in the first leg of the third Champions League Qualification round (2–1). His Bundesliga debut came ten days later, in a game against 1.
Football Club Nuremberg (1–0). Being fielded in the 61st minute, he scored the winning goal for his side in the 69th minute.
On 24 August 2009, it was announced that Harnik was able to leave his club SV Werder Bremen as a free agent, and six days later was loaned out to Fortuna Düsseldorf. After one season at the 2. Bundesliga side, in which he was Fortuna"s topscorer (12 goals as of 24 April 2010) with the Rhinelanders narrowly missing promotion to the Bundesliga, Harnik announced on 26 April 2010 that he would leave Düsseldorf.
VfB Stuttgart
In July 2010, he moved to VfB Stuttgart.
Harnik propelled his side to victory with a brace against South Carolina Freiburg on 16 September 2011. In the 2011-2012 season, Harnik was Stuttgart"s top scorer with 17 goals and eight assists.
On 6 January 2012, he extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until June 2016. Harnik netted twice in the final of the DFB-Pokal on 1 June 2013, but Stuttgart fell 3–2 to Bayern Munich and the Bavarians secured an unprecedented league, cup and European cup treble.
Harnik, who also was eligible for Germany, opted to play for Austria, although he has never lived there, after having been nominated for the youth national teams of the ÖFB, not those of the German Football Association.
His debut came in a match against the Czechoslovakian Republic in the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna on 22 August 2007 (1–1). After being on the pitch for just six minutes, he scored the equaliser in the 78th minute. He was called up to Austria"s squad for the Euro 2008.
Harnik played in all three group games but the co-hosts were eliminated in the group stage.
On 2 September 2011, Harnik scored against Germany in a 6–2 loss at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen.