Marcel Koller
Marcel Koller 2013
Marcel Koller ( born November 11, 1960 in Zurich ) is a Swiss football manager and former football player.
- 3.1 as a player
- 3.2 as coach
Career
Playing career
Koller played his entire career with Grasshopper Zurich. With the city club, he won seven championships and five times the trophy. His first professional contract he signed at age 18 and became the 1980/81 season called into the first team. He was long captain of Grasshoppers Zurich, often playing it on the position of the "classical 6ers ". The midfielder played 55 international matches for the Swiss national football team. The statements and simultaneous climax was doing to participate in the European Football Championship 1996.
Coaching career
Associations in Switzerland
His coach debut on 1 July 1997 at FC Wil in the 1997/98 season in the Swiss Challenge League. When the club was in January 1999 on a promotion place, he moved to FC St. Gallen in the Super League. In St. Gallen, he scored his first coach - success in the top league: In the season 1999/2000 the FC St. Gallen was the first time since 1904 Swiss champion, and the club defeated in the UEFA Cup Chelsea. For these achievements Koller was honored as Swiss coach of the year 1999.
On January 9, 2002, he moved to " his" club, where he went through his career as a player, to the Grasshoppers Zurich. There he won again in 2003 the Swiss Championship. After five successive defeats, he resigned on 3 October 2003 immediately after the defeat against his former club FC Wil from his office.
Clubs in Germany
In direct connection to his work in Zurich, the Swiss moved to Germany: From 2 November 2003 to 14 June 2004, he was head coach at the 1 FC Cologne in the Bundesliga. He is considered the discoverer of the German international Lukas Podolski. However, Koller could not save from relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga the club from the Rhineland and was suspended after the last matchday.
From 23 May 2005 he was coach of VfL Bochum. After a season in the 2nd Bundesliga succeeded on 17 April 2006, the direct promotion back to the Bundesliga already five games before the end of the season. On 5 May 2007, the VfL Bochum secured with the away win against Hamburger SV with two games before the end of the 2006/07 season against relegation in the Bundesliga. Koller reached with VfL Bochum in the 2006/07 season in eighth place in the table, the third- best finish in the club's history of VfL Bochum. With Marcel Koller of Bochum played three seasons in succession in the top flight. Nevertheless, the VfL Bochum separated at the beginning of the fourth season, September 20, 2009, by Koller. At the end of the season, VfL rose again in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Coach
On November 1, 2011 Koller took over the office of the OFB team bosses as successor to the interim coach Willibald Ruttensteiner. The Austrian national team recorded under him although a clear upward trend, but failed to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil, after the decisive game was lost on 11 October 2013 Sweden 1:2: Austria finished behind Germany and Sweden, but ahead of Ireland, Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands the third group rank. Koller was taken towards the end of the World Cup qualifiers with clubs in Switzerland and in Germany in connection. In addition, the Swiss Football Federation offered him the post of the Switzerland national coach. In the end, Koller decided to extend his contract with the OFB by two years.
Private
Marcel Koller is married to his second wife since 2007. With his first wife, Jolanda, an Austrian, he has two children together. His son Kevin Koller is also football players, playing in the Zurich football club FC Pfäffikon.
Achievements
As a player
- 7 × Swiss champion ( with Grasshopper Zurich )
- 5 × Swiss Cup ( with Grasshopper Zurich )
- Participation in the European Football Championship in England in 1996
As coach
- 2 × Swiss champion ( with FC St. Gallen and Grasshopper Zurich )
- Swiss Coach of the Year (1999)
- Promotion to the Bundesliga ( VfL Bochum 2006 )