Matthew Špiranović

Matthew Thomas Špiranović (born 27 June 1988) is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays for Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi and for the Australian national team.

Špiranović started his career with 1. FC Nuremberg, making his debut in the 2006–07 Fußball-Bundesliga in a 0–0 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 30 January 2007. He briefly played for 1. FC Nuremberg U–19 in 2007 and made two appearances in the 2006–07 DFB-Pokal, which 1. FC Nuremberg won after defeating VfB Stuttgart 3–2 in the final on 26 May 2007. He participated in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, which eventually saw 1. FC Nuremberg eliminated by S.L. Benfica during the competition's knockout stage. 1. FC Nuremberg were also relegated to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season. During 2008 and 2009, Špiranović had stints with 1. FC Nuremberg II in the Regionalliga Süd whilst regaining his fitness after suffering from injury. After 1. FC Nuremberg had gained promotion back into the Fußball-Bundesliga, Špiranović made just one appearance during the start of the 2009–10 season. He went on to score 2 goals in 8 Regionalliga Süd league appearances with the club's reserve-team before being loaned out to J-League club Urawa Red Diamonds in 2010 in a bid to gain more game time. He left the club in 2011, having made 28 appearances in all competitions. During his years at 1. FC Nuremberg, Špiranović had his appearances limited due to frequent injuries and competition from team mates Ivica Banović, Javier Pinola, Andreas Wolf and Dennis Diekmeier.

Having made 13 league appearances and scored 1 goal for Urawa Red Diamonds during the 2010 J-League season, Špiranović signed permanently for the club in 2011 for a fee of €450.000. He had also made five appearances in the 2010 J. League Cup. Špiranović's impressive performances earned him a spot in the Urawa starting line up for the 2011 J-League season, where he made 25 league appearances.

Špiranović 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 and at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, where Australia finished runners-up.