Christoph Westerthaler

Christoph Westerthaler (11 January 1965 – 20 July 2018 ) was an Austrian football coach and player.

Club career Nicknamed Gischi, Westerthaler was a small-built striker who started his professional career at FC Wacker Innsbruck and stayed with them for nine years, split by a two-season period at LASK Linz. With the Tyrolean side he won two league titles and two domestic cups. In 1994, he moved to SK Vorwärts Steyr only to rejoin LASK two years later. In 1997, he moved abroad and played in Germany for the two major Frankfurt teams and VfL Osnabrück.

In the summer of 2001 he finished his career as a player because of a knee cartilage damage.

International career Westerthaler made his debut for Austria in an October 1989 friendly match against Malta but was not considered for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He earned 6 caps, no goals scored. His final international game was a November 1993 World Cup qualification match against Sweden.

Death On 20 July 2018, Westerthaler died at the age of 53, due to a heart attack.

Honours Austrian Bundesliga: 1989, 1990 Austrian Cup: 1989, 1993 Austrian Bundesliga top goalscorer: 1992