Matthias Sindelar

**Matthias Sindelar** (10 February 1903 – 23 January 1939) is a former Austrian football player. His nicknames were "Mozart of football" and "Der Papierene-the Paperman" due to his slight figure. He has played for Austria national team. Sindelar was elected for Austria's "Team of the century".

## Club career

Matthias Sindelar was of Czech origin. He and his family came to Vienna in 1905. They lived in Favoriten where Matthias started playing football with Hertha Vienna from 1918 to 1924. Then he went to FK Austria Wien (which was called Wiener Amateur-SV until 1926). For this club he played from 1924 until his death in 1939.

## International career

He was an important part of the Austrian team in the early 1930s. This team is called "Wunderteam" and had won lot of matches against leading European nations.
The following is a list of Sindelar's international appearances and goals with the Austria national football team.

|Cap #|Date|Location|Type of match !!Result!!Opponent!!Minutes played!!Goals !!Notes||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1.|Sep 28, 1926|Prague|Friendly|2-1||90|1||
|2.|Oct 10, 1926|Vienna|Friendly|7-1||90|2||
|3.|Nov 7, 1926|Vienna|Friendly|3-1||90|1||
|4.|Mar 20, 1927|Vienna|Friendly|1-2||90|0||
|5.|Apr 10, 1927|Vienna|Friendly|6-0||48|0||
|6.|May 6, 1928|Vienna|Friendly|3-0|Yugoslavia|90|0||
|7.|Oct 28, 1928|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|2-0||90|0||
|8.|Mar 23, 1930|Prague|Friendly|2-2||90|0||
|9.|May 16, 1931|Vienna|Friendly|5-0||90|1||
|10.|May 24, 1931|Berlin|Friendly|6-0||90|0||
|11.|Sep 14, 1931|Vienna|Friendly|5-0||90|3||
|12.|Oct 4, 1931|Budapest|Dr. Gerö Cup|2-2||90|0||
|13.|Nov 29, 1931|Basel|Dr. Gerö Cup|8-1||90|1||
|14.|Mar 20, 1932|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|2-1||90|2||
|15.|Apr 24, 1932|Vienna|Friendly|8-2||90|3||
|16.|May 22, 1932|Prague|Dr. Gerö Cup|1-1||90|1||
|17.|Jul 17, 1932|Stockholm|Friendly|4-3||90|1||
|18.|Oct 2, 1932|Budapest|Friendly|3-2||90|0||
|19.|Oct 23, 1932|Vienna|Dr.GeröCup|3-1||90|0||
|20.|Dec 7, 1932|London|Friendly|3-4||90|1||
|21.|Feb 12, 1933|Paris|Friendly|4-0||90|1||
|22.|April 9, 1933|Vienna|Friendly|1-2||90|0||
|23.|Apr 30, 1933|Budapest|Friendly|1-1||90|0||
|24.|Jun 11, 1933|Vienna|Friendly|4-1||90|1||
|25.|Sep 17, 1933|Prague|Friendly|3-3||90|2||
|26.|Oct 1, 1933|Vienna|Friendly|2-2||90|0||
|27.|Nov 29, 1933|Glasgow|Friendly|2-2||90|0||
|28.|Dec 10, 1933|Amsterdam|Friendly|1-0||90|0||
|29.|Apr 15, 1934|Vienna|Friendly|5-2||90|0||
|30.|Apr 25, 1934|Vienna|World Cup qualification|6-1||90|1||
|31.|May 27, 1934|Turin|World Cup|3-2||120|1||
|32.|May 31, 1934|Bologna|World Cup|2-1||90|0||
|33.|Jun 3, 1934|Milan|World Cup|0-1||90|0||
|34.|Sep 23, 1934|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|2-2||90|0||
|35.|Oct 7,  1934|Budapest|Dr.Gerö Cup|1-3||90|0||
|36.|Mar 24, 1935|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|0-2||90|0||
|37.|May 6, 1936|Vienna|Friendly|2-1||90|0||
|38.|May 17, 1936|Rome|Friendly|2-2||90|0||
|39.|Sep 27, 1936|Budapest|Dr. Gerö Cup|3-5||90|2||
|40.|Mar 21, 1937|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|2-0||73|0||
|41.|May 9, 1937|Vienna|Friendly|1-1||90|0||
|42.|May 23, 1937|Budapest|Friendly|2-2||90|0||
|43.|Sep 19, 1937|Vienna|Dr. Gerö Cup|4-3||90|1||
|**Totals**||||||**3841**|**26**||

## Honours

Sindelar was ranked as Austria's best footballer of the twentieth century by the IFFHS, also ranking as the world's 22nd best. His career titles include:

### Club

- Austria Wien
- 1. Liga
    - **Winner**: 1926
    - _Runner Up_: (2) 1925, 1937
- Austrian Cup
    - **Winner**: (5) 1925, 1926, 1933, 1935, 1936
- Mitropa Cup
    - **Winner**: (2) 1933, 1936

### International

- Austria
- FIFA World Cup
    - _Semi-finals_: 1934
- Central European International Cup
    - **Winner**: 1931–32
    - _Runner-up_: (2) 1927–30, 1933–35

**Individual**
- FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1934
- Central European International Cup : best player: 1927-30,1933-35
- Mitropa Cup : top scorer:1932,1933
- IFFHS : Austrian player of the century
- Austrian Football Bundesliga : top soccer : 1926-27,1931-32,1932-33
- European leagues : Top Soccer :1932-33

## International career statistics

|-
|1926||3||4
|-
|1927||2||0
|-
|1928||2||0
|-
|1929||0||0
|-
|1930||1||0
|-
|1931||5||5
|-
|1932||7||8
|-
|1933||8||4
|-
|1934||7||2
|-
|1935||1||0
|-
|1936||3||2
|-
|1937||4||1
|-
!Total||43||26
|}

## Death

Matthias Sindelar was found dead in his  home in Viennas Annengasse on 23 January 1939. The official reason was carbon monoxide poisoning. But soon after his death myths arose that it was because he said he wouldn't play for Germany, which occupied Austria, and therefore he was murdered. But the rumours were never verified.

## Other websites

- Profile at the official web site of FK Austria
- Tribute web page
- Channel 4 News: Matthias Sindelar
- Career stats – National Football Teams
- Player profile – Austria Archive