Ottmar Hitzfeld

Ottmar Hitzfeld
Personal information

Full name	Ottmar Hitzfeld
Date of birth	January 12, 1949 (1949-01-12) (age 62)
Place of birth	Lörrach, Baden, West Germany
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Switzerland (manager)
Youth career
1960–1967	TuS Stetten
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1967–1971	FV Lörrach
1971–1975	FC Basel
1975–1978	VfB Stuttgart	77	(38)
1978–1980	FC Lugano
1980–1983	FC Luzern
National team
1972	West Germany Olympic team
Teams managed
1983–1984	FC Zug
1984–1988	FC Aarau
1988–1991	Grasshopper Club Zürich
1991–1997	Borussia Dortmund
1998–2004	Bayern Munich
2007–2008	Bayern Munich
2008–	Switzerland
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ottmar Hitzfeld (born 12 January 1949 in Lörrach, Baden) is a German former football player (striker) and manager,^[1] nicknamed der General ("the general").^[2]

With a total of 18 major titles, mostly accumulated in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the trained mathematics and sports teacher is not only the most successful German coach, but also one of the most outstanding in the history of the game. Twice he was elected "World Coach of the Year". He is one of only three managers to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League with two different clubs, along with Ernst Happel and José Mourinho. He is currently the Head Coach of the Swiss national football team.

1 Career as player
2 Career as coach
3 Honours
- 3.1 As player
- 3.2 As manager
4 Individual honours
5 References

Career as player

Born in 1949 as the youngest of five children, Ottmar Hitzfeld started playing football in the late 1960s with TuS Stetten and FV Lörrach in the lower German leagues before he captured the attention of Swiss first division team FC Basel.^[3] He joined the club, located on the other bank of the Rhine, in 1971. With this club the forward won the Swiss championship in 1972 and 1973, in the latter season even contributing as the top striker in Switzerland.^[1] In 1975 also he won the cup with Basel.^[4]

In 1973, while playing at Basel, he graduated from nearby Lörrach college as a teacher of mathematics and sports.

He retained his amateur status in order to be able to participate in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. There he played amongst others with Uli Hoeneß, the later Bayern Munich player and general manager who would hire him as coach in the late 1990s. One of the highlights of this tournament was the first encounter between the national sides of West and East Germany on the football pitch. West Germany lost this match 2-3 and thus failed to reach the semi-finals. In this match Hitzfeld scored one of his five goals in the tournament.

In 1975, the 26 year old Hitzfeld accepted an offer by the then German second division side VfB Stuttgart.^[5]. At the Swabian side, he was part of a legendary "100 goal offense" (the goal difference that season being 100:36) and in one match against SSV Jahn Regensburg he scored six goals. After two years, in 1977, the team achieved promotion to the first division the Bundesliga. Hitzfeld had by that time scored 33 goals in 55 league matches. In the Bundesliga, the club finished the season a remarkable fourth. Hitzfeld contributed five goals in 22 matches.^[5]

After three years with Stuttgart, Hitzfeld returned to what by then had become his second home, Switzerland. There he played from 1978 to 1980 with FC Lugano before joining FC Luzern, where he finished his playing career in 1983, aged 34.

Career as coach

Switzerland

Ottmar Hitzfeld got his first coaching position with FC Zug where he stayed for a year. In 1984 he followed an offer to coach FC Aarau where he settled for four years. His tenure there was crowned with his first title as coach, the 1988 Swiss Cup. By then he had attracted also the attention of the major Swiss club Grasshopper in Zürich. Between 1988 and 1991 he gained there another four trophies, starting with a repeat of his cup victory by the end of his first season.^[6] The next year he followed up with the double before finishing his engagement with the defence of the Swiss Championship in 1991.^[7]

Borussia Dortmund

In 1991 Hitzfeld received an offer from Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, which had just finished the season tenth. In his first year he and his assistant Michael Henke, whom he would collaborate with for the next 13 years took the team to second spot in the league, securing an UEFA Cup place. The following season Dortmund reached the finals of this competition, but both matches were lost against Juventus. In 1995 he gained his first German championship with Dortmund, their first trophy since the 1989 German Cup, and Hitzfeld's first trophy in Germany. 1995–96 saw a successful defence of the title, but the great triumph had to wait for another year: in 1997 Dortmund finished third in the league, but reached the Champions League final where another encounter with Juventus was due. This time Borussia prevailed 3–1 in Olympic Stadium Munich against the team from northern Italy which featured Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, and Christian Vieri amongst others.

For his success Hitzfeld was rewarded for the first time with the "World Coach of the Year" award,^[2] but as frictions with the team had come to a head he was promoted out of the firing line to the position of sports manager with the club, where he witnessed his successor Nevio Scala taking the team to Intercontinental Cup honours.

Bayern Munich

In 1998 Ottmar Hitzfeld was hired by Germany's most successful club, FC Bayern Munich. In his first year he led the club to renewed championship glories, winning the league title by a record margin. The club lost the German Cup final to Werder Bremen on penalites, though. Most important was their run to the Champions League final. The final is remembered for the dramatic Manchester United comeback inside the injury time period. Trailing 1–0 Manchester scored two goals in stoppage time, condemning Bayern to a stunning defeat.

In the next season domestic success was improved upon with Bayern winning the double. After winning by a record margin last season Bayern won on a heartbeat finish this season. Hitzfeld's team depended on the neighbours from Unterhaching to beat Leverkusen on the last day play to secure the title. The cup final was won against Werder, the team which beat Bayern in the previous final. In the Champions League Bayern was stopped in the semi-final by eventual winners Real Madrid.

2000–01 Hitzfeld led Bayern not only to the league championship hattrick, but once again into the Champions League final, defeating Manchester United and defending champions Real Madrid en route. This time the side from Munich prevailed, albeit it took a penalty shoot-out against Valencia. This made Hitzfeld only the second coach after Ernst Happel to win the major European trophy with two different teams. Again, he found himself recognized with the honour of "World Coach of the Year",^[7] but this time he remained in control over his team in the ensuing Intercontinental Cup final against Boca Juniors from Buenos Aires. A sole goal by Ghanean defender Samuel Kuffour in extra-time made it an evening to celebrate for the general and his team. By then the team had a tendency to put in lacklustre performances and in the end had to make do with third place in the league.

In the season 2002–03 Bayern once more dominated German football, claiming the league title four game days before the end of the season. With a 3–1 win over Kaiserslautern Hitzfeld's team secured another double. When this was followed by a season of less impressive football, yielding no title, the club renounced the remaining year of the contract of the 55 year old coach.

Ottmar Hitzfeld had an offer to take over the reins of the German national team, but preferred to take a break from the game.^[8] On February 1, 2007, following the sacking of Felix Magath, he returned to Bayern Munich. Hopes that he might lead Bayern to another championship,^[9] despite trailing by eight points with 15 games remaining were not fulfilled, though. Eventually Bayern finished fourth, thereby failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in more than a decade.

A multi-million spending spree before the new season helped Hitzfeld to lead the club to a new phase of domestic dominance, winning the DFB-Ligapokal, the DFB-Pokal, and the 2007-08 championship. After several high wins and lots of draws Bayerns 2007-08 UEFA Cup campaign ended in the semi-final with a humbling 4–0 defeat by eventual winner Zenit St. Petersburg. During the season Hitzfeld had announced that he would not be available for another season at the helm. Jürgen Klinsmann became his successor at Bayern.

Swiss national team

Hitzfeld took over as coach of the Swiss national team in summer 2008.^[1] Switzerland qualified for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, and won the opening match 1–0 against the heavily favoured European Champions, Spain. Although Switzerland beat the eventual champions, Spain, they went on to lose 1-0 against Chile and get a 0-0 draw against Honduras which eliminated their chances of qualifying from the group. Switzerland was the only team to have beaten Spain during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Language skills (Swiss German dialect)

Additionally to his native German, he can speak fluent English. Due to his growing up close to the Swiss border, where Alemannic German dialects are spoken, and then playing and coaching in Switzerland for decades, he is also able to speak the Swiss German variant of German, especially that of Basel (Basel German), as he has demonstrated in numerous interviews in the Swiss media. In fact, he rarely spoke Standard German prior to taking over at Dortmund and had to first learn it properly, therefore being viewed as a Swiss by the local Dortmund media.

Statistics

Team	From	To	Competition	Record
Team	From	To	Competition	G	W	D	L	%
F.C. Zug	1983	1984
			Swiss Super League

			Total
F.C. Aarau	1984	1988
			Swiss Super League	126	54	36	36	42.9%
			Swiss Cup
			Europe
			Total
Grasshopper Club Zürich	1988	1991
			Swiss Super League
			Swiss Cup
			Europe
			Total
Borussia Dortmund	1991	1997
			Bundesliga	209	111	53	45	53.1%
			DFB Cup
			Europe
			Total
Total			Career

Honours

As player

FC Basel

2 × Swiss Super League: 1971-1972, 1972-1973
1 × Swiss Cup: 1975

As manager

FC Aarau

1 × Swiss Cup: 1985

Grasshopper

2 × Swiss Super League: 1989-1990, 1990-1991
2 × Swiss Cup: 1989, 1990

Borussia Dortmund

1 × UEFA Champions League: 1996–97
2 × Fußball-Bundesliga: 1994–95, 1995–96
1 × Intercontinental Cup: 1997

Bayern Munich

1 × UEFA Champions League: 2000–01
5 × Fußball-Bundesliga: 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2007-08
3 × DFB-Pokal: 1999–00, 2002-03, 2007-08
1 × Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Individual honours

1 Top scorer of Switzerland (1973 with 18 goals)
2 World Coach of the Year (1997 and 2001)
Voted Bayern Munich's greatest coach ever^[10]
Rated the best Bundesliga-coach of all time^[11]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Ottmar Hitzfeld" (in German). weltfussball.de. 2008. http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/trainer/92/hitzfeldottmar/aufeinenblick.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Ottmar Hitzfeld, General a.D." (in German). bundesliga.de. May 17, 2008. http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga/news/2007/index.php?f=93145.php. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ "Ottmar Hitzfeld". transfermarkt.de. July 2008. http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil/ottmar-hitzfeld/. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ "1973/74 bis 1982/83" (in German). FC Basel Official Website. 2008. http://www.fcb.ch/articles/show/historyDetail//10339/5/63/10/44/49. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 "Ottmar Hitzfeld" (in German). fussballdaten.de. 2008. http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/hitzfeldottmar/. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ "Nationale Erfolge" (in German). Grasshopper Club Zürich Official Website. 2008. http://www.gcz.ch/index.php?id=47. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 "Ottmar Hitzfeld". WorldSoccer. September 2, 2003. http://www.worldsoccer.com/profiles/player_profile_profile_55736.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ "Ottmar Hitzfeld turns down offer to become Germany coach". German News. July 1, 2004. http://www.germnews.de/dn/2004/07/01. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
↑ "Hitzfeld return restores dreams of glory". 2007-02-01. http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/news/news/2007/10662.php. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
↑ "Fans name greatest Reds of all time". The official FC Bayern Munich Website. 2005-06-01. http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/news/news/2005/04283.php. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
↑ "Grosse Ehre für Ottmar Hitzfeld" (in German). football.ch. 2009-06-24. http://www.football.ch/de/start.aspx?vNews=1&newsID=16. Retrieved 2009-06-26.

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Marcello Lippi	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 1996-97	Succeeded by Jupp Heynckes
Preceded by Vicente Del Bosque	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 2000-01	Succeeded by Vicente Del Bosque

Switzerland squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup

1 Benaglio • 2 Lichtsteiner • 3 Magnin • 4 Senderos • 5 von Bergen • 6 Huggel • 7 Barnetta • 8 Inler • 9 Frei (c) • 10 Nkufo • 11 Behrami • 12 Wölfli • 13 Grichting • 14 Padalino • 15 Yakin • 16 G. Fernandes • 17 Ziegler • 18 Bunjaku • 19 Derdiyok • 20 P. Schwegler • 21 Leoni • 22 Eggimann • 23 Shaqiri • Coach: Hitzfeld

Ottmar Hitzfeld managerial positions

FC Aarau – Managers

Kerr (1933–34) · Hammerlindl (1934–35) · Stocker (1934–35) · Kiss (1934–35) · Schrenk (1935–36) · Volentik (1936–38) · Sutter (1938–39) · Heine (1939) · Kerr (1939–40) · Heine (1940–41) · Suter (1941–42) · Heine (1942–43) · F. Sobotka (1943–46) · Ludwig (1946–48) · Longrin (1948–50) · Schneeberger (1950–51) · Weber (1950–51) · Schaer (1950–51) · Presch (1951–53) · Imhof (1953) · Czischek (1953–54) · Kerr (1954–55) · Isler (1955–56) · Scheurer (1956–58) · Macho (1958–59) · Imhof (1959–60) · Schulz (1960–62) · Schauer (62) · Beck (1962–65) · Schauer (65) · Bürgler (1965–67) · Stehrenberger (1967–70) · Olk (1970–72) · J. Sobotka (1972–73) · Čebinac (1973–75) · Tschui (1975–77) · Stehrenberger (1977–82) · Stehrenberger & Fischli (1982) · Čebinac (1982–84) · Hitzfeld (1984–88) · Kostka (1988–89) · Frank (1989–90) · Wehrli (1990–91) · Strasser (1991–92) · Fringer (1992–95) · Trümpler (1995–98) · Strasser (1998–99) · Dries (1999–2000) · Fringer (2000–02) · Geiger (2002–04) · Rueda (2004) · Egli (2004–05) · Geiger (2005–06) · Schönenberger (2006) · Zahner (2006–07) · Komornicki (2007) · Gress (2007) · Komornicki (2007–09) · Saibene (2009) · Andermatt (2009–10) · Jakovljević (2010–)

Grasshopper Club Zürich – Managers

Kürschner (1925–34) · Rappan (1935–48) · Walter (1948–50) · Treml (1950–55) · Hahnemann (1955–58) · Glišović (1958) · Pogačnik & Bickel (1958–60) · Vukosavljević (1960–63) · Bickel (1963–64) · Sing (1964–66) · Brunner & Schley (1966–67) · Skiba (1967–69) · Brunner & Schley (1969–70) · Hüssy (1970–73) · Vogel & Szabó (1973–76) · Johannsen (1976–79) · Sundermann (1979–80) · Konietzka (1980–82) · Weisweiler (1982–83) · Svab (1983) · Blažević (1983–85) · Konietzka (1985–86) · Jara (1986–88) · Hitzfeld (1988–91) · Svab (1991–92) · Beenhakker (1992–93) · Gross (1993–97) · Latour (1997) · Fringer (1998) · Hegi (1999) · Hodgson (1999–2000) · Hamberg (2000) · Zaugg (2000–02) · Koller (2002–03) · Bernegger (2003–04) · Geiger (2004) · Bernegger (2004) · Latour (2005–06) · Hamberg (2006) · Balakov (2006–07) · Latour (2007–09) · Sforza (2009–)

Borussia Dortmund – Managers

Kuzorra (1935–36) · Thelen (1936) · Swatosch (1936–39) · Sevcic (1939) · Thelen (1946) · Fabra (1946–48) · Havlicek (1948–50) · Kretschmann (1950–51) · Schmidt (1951–55) · Schneider (1955–57) · Tauchert (1957–58) · Merkel (1958–61) · Eppenhoff (1961–64) · Kwiatkowski (1964) · Eppenhoff (1964–65) · Multhaup (1965–66) · Murach (1966–68) · Pfau (1968) · Schneider (1968–69) · Lindemann (1969–70) · Witzler (1970–71) · Burdenski (1972) · Brüggemann (1972) · Michallek (1972–73) · Kurrat (1973) · Bedl (1973–74) · Knefler (1974–76) · Buhtz (1976) · Rehhagel (1976–78) · Rühl (1978–79) · Maslo (1979) · Lattek (1979–81) · Bock (1981) · Zebec (1981–82) · Feldkamp (1982–83) · Maslo (1983) · Witte (1983) · Tippenhauer (1983) · Franz (1983–84) · Konietzka (1984) · Ribbeck (1984–85) · Csernai (1985–86) · Saftig (1986–88) · Köppel (1988–91) · Hitzfeld (1991–97) · Scala (1997–98) · Skibbe (1998–2000) · Krauss (2000) · Lattek (2000) · Sammer (2000–04) · van Marwijk (2004–06) · Röber (2006–07) · Doll (2007–08) · Klopp (2008–)

FC Bayern Munich – Managers

Hesselink (1903–--) · Taylor (1908–09) · Hoer (1909–11) · Griffith (1911–14) · Townley (1914) · Kreisel (1915) · Baumann (1916–17) · Kirstner (1917–18) · Storch (1918–19) · Townley (1919–21) · Schmid (1921–24) · McPherson (1924–27) · Weisz (1927–28) · Konrád (1928–30) · Kohn (1931–33) · Tauchert (1933–34) · Hofmann (1934–35) · Michalke (1935–37) · Körner (1937–38) · Goldbrunner (1938–43) · Heidkamp (1943–45) · Högg (1945–46) · Pöttinger (1946–47) · Riemke (1947) · Dietl (1947–48) · Riemke (1948–50) · Davison (1950–51) · Riemke (1951) · Schäfer (1951–53) · Bayerer (1953–54) · Knöpfle (1954) · Streitle (1954–55) · Moll (1955–56) · Hahn (1956–58) · Moll (1958) · Patek (1958–61) · Schneider (1961–63) · Čajkovski (1963–68) · Zebec (1968–70) · Lattek (1970–75) · Cramer (1975–77) · Lóránt (1977–79) · Csernai (1979–83) · Saftig (1983) · Lattek (1983–87) · Heynckes (1987–91) · Lerby (1991–92) · Ribbeck (1992–93) · Beckenbauer (1994) · Trapattoni (1994–95) · Rehhagel (1995–96) · Beckenbauer (1996) · Trapattoni (1996–98) · Hitzfeld (1998–2004) · Magath (2004–07) · Hitzfeld (2007–08) · Klinsmann (2008–09) · Heynckes (2009) · Van Gaal (2009–)

Switzerland national football team – Managers

Déjerine (1905–10) · Referee's Commission (1910–24) · Duckworth & Kürschner & Hogan (1924) · Müller (1934) · Rappan (1937–38) · Rappan (1942–49) · Tschirren & Andreoli & Minelli (1949–50) · Andreoli (1950) · Baumgartner & Tschirren & Kielholz (1950–53) · Rappan (1953–54) · Rüegsegger (1954) · Baumgartner & Kielholz (1954–55) · Baumgartner & Kielholz & Spagnoli (1955–58) · Sekulić & Rüegsegger & Vescori (1958–60) · Hahn (1958–59) · Rappan (1960–63) · Sobotka & Quinche & Guhl (1964) · Foni (1964–67) · Ballabio (1967–69) · Hussy (1970) · Maurer (1970–71) · Michaud (1972–73) · Hussy (1973–76) · Blažević (1976) · Vonlanthen (1977–79) · Walker (1979–80) · Wolfisberg (1980–85) · Jeandupeux (1986–89) · Wolfisberg (1989) · Stielike (1989–91) · Hodgson (1992–95) · Jorge (1995–96) · Fringer (1996–97) · Gress (1998–99) · Zaugg (2000) · Trossero (2000–01) · Kuhn (2001–08) · Hitzfeld (2008–)

German Football Manager of the Year

2002: Toppmöller \| 2003: Magath \| 2004: Schaaf \| 2005: Magath \| 2006: Klinsmann \| 2007: Veh \| 2008: Hitzfeld \| 2009: Magath \| 2010: Van Gaal