Rubin Okotie

Rubin Rafael Okotie (German pronunciation: [ˈruːbɪn ʔoˈkoːti̯ə]; born 6 June 1987) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Rubin Okotie
Okotie with Austria in 2015
Personal information
Full name Rubin Rafael Okotie[1]
Date of birth (1987-06-06) 6 June 1987
Place of birth Karachi, Pakistan
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1994–1998 SC Wiener Viktoria
1998–2001 Rapid Vienna
2001–2005 Frank-Stronach-Fußballakademie
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Austria Vienna II 55 (19)
2007–2010 Austria Vienna 57 (21)
2010–2012 1. FC Nürnberg 4 (0)
2010–2012 1. FC Nürnberg II 7 (1)
2011–2012 → Sint-Truiden (loan) 9 (1)
2012–2013 Sturm Graz 43 (11)
2013–2014 Austria Vienna 13 (1)
2014 → SønderjyskE (loan) 15 (11)
2014–2016 1860 Munich 57 (21)
2016–2017 Beijing Enterprises Group 24 (3)
2018–2019 K Beerschot VA 11 (1)
International career‡
2005–2006 Austria U19 13 (1)
2006–2007 Austria U20 9 (2)
2007–2008 Austria U21 7 (2)
2008–2016 Austria[3] 18 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:50, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2014

Having moved to Austria at the age of six, Okotie began his playing career with Austria Vienna. He made his professional debut in 2007 and went on to make over 50 appearances for the club before joining German side 1. FC Nürnberg. Okotie spent a season at Nürnberg, and another season on loan with Belgian side Sint-Truiden before returning to Austria to sign for Sturm Graz. A season-and-a-half later he returned to Austria Vienna where following which he had a loan stint with SønderjyskE in Denmark. In 2014 he signed for 1860 Munich where he scored 21 goals in 57 appearances before joining Beijing Enterprises Group, where he spent a full season. In 2018, he joined his final club, Belgian outfit K Beerschot VA, before hanging up his boots.

Okotie also represented the Austria national team at senior level and was part of Austria's squad at the 2016 UEFA European Championship.

Early life and career

Okotie was born in the Pakistani city of Karachi to an Austrian mother and Nigerian father. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Barcelona in Spain before immigrating to Vienna when he was four-years old.[4] Okotie joined his first football club two years later before signing for the Rapid Vienna academy at the age of ten. Three years later, he left to join club rivals Austria Vienna, where he later made his professional debut.[1]

Club career

Austria Vienna

Okotie quickly progressed through the Frank-Stronach-Fußballakademie at Austria Vienna and was playing in the second division with the reserve side at the age of seventeen.[1] In 2007, he made his professional debut for the club against SV Ried before scoring his first goal the following year in a 3–1 win over FC Red Bull Salzburg.[1] At the end of his debut campaign with the club he was recognized with the Austrian Bundesliga's Young Star of the Season award.

Okotie with Austria Vienna in 2009.

The following season he scored the opening goal in the 2008–09 Austrian Cup final to help Die Veilchen to a 3–1 victory over Trenkwalder Admira, and thereby claim the title. During the 2009–10 Austrian Football Bundesliga season, he suffered a serious knee injury which ruled him out for seven months, and limited him to just seven appearances for the season.[1] During his time on the sidelines, Okotie was approached by 1. FC Nürnberg who assisted him in locating a doctor to help him in the recovery process and at the end of the season he signed for the German club, departing Austria with a return of 21 goals in 57 league appearances.[1]

1. FC Nürnberg

On 30 May 2010, Okotie signed a three-year contract with 1. FC Nürnberg, who had secured promotion to the Bundesliga through the previous season's play-offs.[1] He struggled at the club, however, due in part to injury and illness, and managed to feature in just four appearances during his debut season.[5] He spent the following season on loan in Belgium with Sint-Truiden, where he scored once in ten appearances, before leaving to join Sturm Graz.[6]

Sturm Graz

Okotie failed to feature for Nürnberg again following the expiration of his loan with Sint-Truiden and in January 2012 returned to Austria to join Sturm Graz, initially on a season-long loan.[7] He scored two goals in thirteen appearances on loan before signing for the club permanently on a free transfer at the end of the season.[8] He scored 12 goals across all competitions during the following season's campaign before leaving the club to rejoin Austria Vienna.[9]

Return to Austria Vienna

Okotie returned to Austria Vienna ahead of the 2013–14 campaign but scored only once in thirteen appearances during the course of the season. Following discord with club manager Nenad Bjelica he left to join Danish side SønderjyskE on loan.[10] He made 15 appearances during his spell in Denmark and scored eleven goals.[2]

1860 Munich

After a loan spell with SønderjyskE expired, Okotie joined 2. Bundesliga side 1860 Munich on 2 July 2014 on a two-year contract.[11] He spent two seasons with in Munich during which time he scored 25 goals in 64 appearances and proved to be a crucial player in the club's relegation survival in 2015.[12]

Beijing Enterprises Group

In July 2016, Okotie joined China League One team Beijing Enterprises Group on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[13] He scored three goals in 24 appearances over the next year-and-a-half before mutually terminating his contract with the club in February 2018.[14]

International career
Rubin Okotie on international duty for Austria in 2014.

As a result of his multinational background, and prior to making his senior debut for Austria, Okotie was eligible to represent three countries at national level, namely Austria, Nigeria and Pakistan. Okotie identifies himself primarily as Austrian, however, stating in an interview with FIFA's website that "I live there, it's where I have my friends, and I think of myself as Austrian" .[1]

Okotie represented Austria at various youth levels and featured for the nation at the 2006 European championships in Poland and the 2007 World Cup in Canada, where Austria reached the semi-finals.[1][15] His senior debut followed in 2008 when he selected by manager Karel Bruckner for a match against Turkey.[1] He was, however, left out of Austria's squad for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship later that year.[1] Austria failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012 tournaments but topped their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2016. Okotie scored twice during qualifying, against Montenegro and Russia, and was later chosen for the tournament squad.[16][17][18]

Career statistics

Club
As of 8 November 2017[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Austria Vienna 2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 193———193
2008–09 3414—51—3915
2009–10 44—31—75
Total 5721—82—6323
1. FC Nürnberg 2010–11 Bundesliga 4020——60
2011–12 00———00
Total 4020—60
Sint-Truidense (loan) 2011–12 Belgian Pro League 9110——101
Sturm Graz 2011–12 Austrian Bundesliga 13210—142
2012–13 30933——3312
Total 431143—4714
Austria Wien 2013–14 Austrian Bundesliga 13!!11060—201
SønderjyskE (loan) 2013–14 Danish Superliga 1511———1511
1860 Munich 2014–15 2. Bundesliga 251323—202916
2015–16 30831——339
Total 552154—206225
Beijing Enterprises Group 2016 China League One 9100——91
2017 15200——152
Total 24300—243
Career total 218681271422024677

International
Okotie has scored two goals at senior level for Austria.
Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Okotie goal.
List of international goals scored by Rubin Okotie[3]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
112 October 2014Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Montenegro1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
215 November 2014Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria Russia1–01–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Honours

Austria Vienna

Austria U20

Austria U19

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.
  2. "R.Okotie - Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  3. Rubin Okotie at National-Football-Teams.com
  4. "Okotie: Austria have a chance". FIFA. 18 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  5. "Wollitz irritiert, Okotie im Angebot". kicker (in German). 12 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. "1. FC Nürnberg gibt Okotie an Sturm Graz ab". Fussball 24 (in German). 28 June 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. "Sturm Graz leiht Okotie". 1.FC Nürnberg (in German). 2 January 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  8. "Rubin Okotie wechselt nun fix zum SK Sturm Graz". Relevant (in German). 27 June 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  9. Strecha, Alexander (18 June 2013). "Der Stürmer kehrt Graz den Rücken und heuert bei seinem ehemaligen Arbeitgeber an". Kurier. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  10. "Okotie stürmt künftig in Beijing". sport (in German). 7 July 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  11. "Rubin Okotie weiß,wo das Tor steht". TSV 1860 Munich (in German). 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  12. Howell, Alex (8 July 2016). "Two departures at 1860 Munich, as Kosta Runjaić begins clear-out". Vavel. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  13. Ellwanger, Kristina; Ernstberger, Thomas (13 July 2016). "Okotie in Chine - Klar spielt der finanzielle Aspekt eine Rolle". Bild (in German). Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  14. "Rubin Okotie beendet China-Abenteuer - jetzt sucht er einen neuen Klub". TZ (in German). 4 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  15. Vetter, Florian (8 June 2016). "Austria Euro 2016 team guide: tactics, key players and expert predictions". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  16. "Okotie earns Austria victory against Montenegro". UEFA. 12 October 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  17. "Okotie gives Austria win over Russia". SuperSport. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  18. "Austria Euro 2016 Squad". The Telegraph. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
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