Holger Osieck

Holger Osieck (born 31 August 1948) is a German former football manager who last managed the Australia national team. Prior to the Australian role, he most recently managed J. League club Urawa Red Diamonds, where he won the 2007 AFC Champions League. He served as an assistant coach of the West Germany national football team when they won the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He also led Canada in winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Playing career In his native country, he played for FC Schalke 04, Eintracht Gelsenkirchen, SSV Hagen, 1. FC Mülheim, 1. FC Bocholt and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. However, he never appeared in a top-flight Bundesliga match. Toward the end of his playing career, he moved to Canada to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Managerial career

Early career After finishing his playing career in Canada, Osieck became an assistant coach to Franz Beckenbauer for the Germany that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Fenerbahçe, the Urawa Red Diamonds, and Kocaelispor.

With Bochum, he started on 1 July 1991. Bochum finished the 1991–92 season in 15th place and were eliminated in the second round of the German Cup. Osieck left Bochum on 2 November 1992

Osieck became manager of Fenerbahçe on 1 July 1993. and got to the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup. During the 1994–95 season, Fenerbahçe participated in the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated in the first round by Cannes. Osieck left on Fenerbahçe 18 December 1994.

Osieck was manager of Urawa Red Diamonds between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 1996. During the 1996 season, the Red Diamonds got to the semi-finals of the Emperor's Cup and were eliminated in the group stage of the League Cup.

Osieck was manager of Kocaelispor from 1 January 1997 to 30 June 1998. Kocaelispor finished the season in seventh place. They also won the Turkish Cup. In the 1997–98 season, Kocaelispor participated in the Cup Winners' Cup, where they were knocked out in the second round. Kocaelispor finished the season in 10th place. They were knocked out of the Turkish Cup in the semi-finals.

Canada and Urawa Red Diamonds Osieck landed the job of manager of the Canadian men's national soccer team in September 1998. His first match didn't come until 1999 when Canada played to a 1–1 draw against Northern Ireland. His first two wins came against Guatemala when Canada won 1–0 on 28 May 1999 and 2–0 on 1 June 1999. Canada eliminated Cuba. Under Osieck, Canada won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, earning the nickname "Holger's Heroes," a reference to the television show Hogan's Heroes. They defeated Colombia in the final. In the Confederations Cup, Canada lost to Japan and Cameroon and drew Brazil 0–0. In 2002, Canada participated in the Gold Cup where Canada defeated South Korea in the third place match. Osieck resigned in September 2003. His final match was a 2–0 loss to Cuba in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

He worked for FIFA between 2004 and 2006 as chief of their technical department. In 2007, he again became the manager of Urawa However, he was fired by Urawa on 16 March 2008, after a poor start to the 2008 season. Urawa were in 17th place when Osieck was sacked.

Australia

On 11 August 2010, Osieck was named as the head coach of the Australia, replacing Pim Verbeek, who stepped down as Australia's coach after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This role also involves actively assisting youth development. His first game as Australia's coach was against Switzerland, with Australia drawing 0–0. His first win as Australia's coach was a 2–1 win against Poland. Australia then proceeded to defeat Paraguay 1–0, before suffering a 3–0 loss to Egypt in Cairo.

In January 2011, he led the team to the final of the AFC Asian Cup, before an extra-time loss to Japan 1–0, with Australia conceding just two goals for the entire tournament. Osieck was widely praised for an otherwise outstanding campaign that included a victory over defending champions Iraq in the quarter-finals, and an amazing 6–0 defeat of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.

On 18 June 2013, Osieck precipitated a bout of conniptions from Australian talisman Tim Cahill and enraged Australian fans by substituting him in the 78th minute of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier against Iraq. His decision was to be vindicated, however, with the tactical substitution of Joshua Kennedy scoring the decisive goal in the 83rd minute and hoisting Australia to a third successive World Cup berth.

On 12 October 2013, after two consecutive 6–0 defeats in friendly matches against Brazil and France, Osieck's contract was terminated with the FFA.

Managerial statistics Managerial record

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008

Australia AFC Asian Cup: runner-up 2011