Ottmar Hitzfeld

At 75 years old, Ottmar Hitzfeld has this physical status:

Ottmar Hitzfeld (born in Lörrach, Baden) is a German former football player and former boss, dubbed der General ("the general") and "Gottmar Hitzfeld" (a pun on Gott, which is German word for "god."

He has won a total of 18 major titles, many in his time with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich.

Hitzfeld, a qualified mathematician and sports coach, is one of Germany and international football's most popular coaches.

He has twice been named "World Coach of the Year" twice; he is one of just five managers to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, alongside Ernst Happel, José Mourinho, Jupp Heynckes, and Carlo Ancelotti.

Personal life

Hitzfeld was born in Lörrach, southwest Germany, near the Swiss border. He grew up and was the youngest of five children. When Hitzfeld first left Bayern in 2004 he'felt burnt out' and was "a bit sad," he said, and 'it took me two years to recover.' On his return, he had 'the best years at Bayern.' People should not be too excited about stuff, not get too excited about it, and not be concerned with each situation individually, as he said. Otto Hitzfeld, the World War II general, was his uncle.

Beatrix Hitzfeld is Hitzfeld's wife. They have one child and three grandchildren.

After him, the Ottmar Hitzfeld Arena, Europe's highest structure, was named.

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Playing career

Hitzfeld, a native of Lörrach, began playing football in the lower German leagues in the 1960s with TuS Stetten and FV Lörrach before being spotted by Swiss first division club FC Basel. In 1971, he joined the club, which was located on the other bank of the Rhine. In the former season, the forward played for the Swiss championship in 1972 and 1973, while in the latter season he was still ranked as the top striker in Switzerland. He also won the Cup with Basel in 1975.

He graduated from nearby Lörrach College in 1973 as a mathematics and sports teacher. He kept his amateur status to participate in Munich's 1972 Summer Olympics. He worked with Uli Hoeneß, the later Bayern Munich player and general manager who would later hire him as a coach in the late 1990s, among other things. The first match between the national sides of West and East Germany on the football field was one of the tournament's highlights. West Germany lost this match 2–3 and therefore did not qualify for the semifinals. Hitzfeld scored one of his five goals in the tournament in this match. In 1975, the 26-year-old Hitzfeld turned down an invitation from then-German second division side VfB Stuttgart, who then refused to pay the boy. He was part of a legendary "100 goal offense" on the Swabian side (the goal difference this season being 100:36), and he scored six goals in one match against SSV Jahn Regensburg, breaking the record for a 2. He was a Bundesliga player. The team made promotion to the first division, the Bundesliga, after two years in 1977. Hitzfeld had scored 33 goals in 55 league games by that time. The club's season ended with a soaring fourth in the Bundesliga. In 22 games, Hitzfeld scored five goals. Hitzfeld returned to Switzerland, his second home by then. He played with FC Lugano from 1978 to 1980 before joining FC Luzern, where he ended his playing career in 1983, aged 34.

Managerial career

Hitzfeld began his coaching career with SC Zug in the second class of Swiss football in 1983. The team was crowned Nationalliga B champions in 1983-84. For the first and only time in the clubs' history, Hitzfeld and his team were promoted to Nationalliga A. He accepted an invitation to coach FC Aarau, where he spent four years. The 1985 Swiss Cup was his first title as coach, and he was crowned with his first title as coach. Grasshopper in Zürich attracted the attention of the major Swiss club Grasshopper right away. He won another four trophies from 1988 to 1991, beginning with a repeat of his cup triumph by the end of his first season. He continued with the double the next year before wrapping his involvement with the Swiss Championship in 1991.

Hitzfeld became the manager of Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in 1991. He and his assistant Michael Henke, who would work with him for the next 13 years, led the team to second place in the league in 1991-93, winning a 1992-93 UEFA Cup spot. Dortmund reached the finals of this season, but they were unable to win against Juventus. He won his first Bundesliga title with Dortmund in 1995, the first trophy since the DFB-Pokal in 1989, and Hitzfeld's first trophy in Germany. In 1995–96, he had a fruitful defense of the title, but the big win had to wait another year: Dortmund finished third in the league, but he didn't make it to the UEFA Champions League final, where another meeting with Juventus was scheduled. In Munich's Olympiastadion, Borussia defeated the team from northern Italy, which included Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, and Christian Vieri among others. Hitzfeld was rewarded for his first time with the "World Coach of the Year" award, but he was promoted out of the firing line to the position of sports manager with the team, where he watched his replacement, Nevio Scala, beat Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup against Cruzeiro from Brazil, where he saw him triumph. He finished with 144 victories, 63 draws, and 65 losses.

Hitzfeld was recruited by Bayern Munich, Germany's most renowned club, in 1998. He led the team to resurgent championship glory in his first year, winning the league title by 15 points, a record margin. However, the club lost the DFB-Pokal final to Werder Bremen on penalties. They were most notable in their ride to the Champions League final. The final is recalled for Manchester United's remarkable comeback from injury time to the mid-season. United scored two goals in stoppage time, condemning Bayern to a humiliating loss. They had also won the DFB-Ligapokal competition.

Domestic success was amplified in the coming season, with Bayern winning the double. Bayern defeated by a slim margin last season, and the team won by a narrow margin this season. They had won the league on a tiebreaker. Hitzfeld's crew was dependent on the neighbors from Unterhaching, a suburb of Munich, to defeat Bayer Leverkusen on the last day play to win the title. The DFB-Pokal final was won against Bremen, the team that defeated Bayern in the previous final. Bayern was disqualified in the semifinal by eventual winners Real Madrid, who were unbeaten in the Champions League.

Hitzfeld led Bayern not only to the league championship hat-trick, but also into the Champions League final, defeating Manchester United and defending champions Real Madrid en route. This time, the Munich team prevailed, although it took a penalty shoot-out against Valencia. Hitzfeld became the second coach since Ernst Happel's victory of the major European trophy with two teams.

He was honoured again as "World Coach of the Year," but this time he remained in charge of his team in the 2001 Intercontinental Cup final against Boca Juniors from Argentina. On extra time, Ghanaian defender Samuel Kuffour's sole goal made it an evening to celebrate for Hitzfeld and his crew. The team had a tendency to put in poor results by then, and the team had to make do with third place in the league in the end.

Bayern was kicked out of the DFB-Ligapokal in a shootout by Hertha BSC on July 25, 2002. Bayern once more dominated German football in the 2002-2003 season, winning the league championship four matches before the season's end. Bayern defeated second-place Stuttgart by 16 points over a 16-point lead. Hitzfeld's team won another double after beating Kaiserslautern in the 2003 DFB-Pokal final.

After losing a shootout Hamburger SV on July 22, 2003, Bayern began the 2003–04 season by being knocked out of the DFB-Ligapokal in the semi-finals. After Bayern finished second place in the second round of the DFB-Pokal, Alemannia Aachen knocked out of the DFB-Pokal, and Real Madrid defeated them out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16. Hitzfeld was fired after a year of the club's service. On May 22, 2004, he lost by 2–0 against SC Freiburg. Hitzfeld achieved a record of 193 victories, 73 draws, and 53 losses.

Hitzfeld had offered to take over the leadership of the German national team, but the German national team had chosen to take a break from the action. Following Felix Magath's dismissal, he returned to Bayern Munich on February 1, 2007. His first match back was a 3–0 loss against 1. FC Nürnberg is a football team based in Nürnberg, Germany. Despite losing by eight points with 15 games remaining, there were hopes that he would lead Bayern to another championship. Eventually, Bayern finished fourth, thereby losing out on the Champions League for the first time in more than a decade. Hitzfeld led the team to a new period of domestic dominance by winning the DFB-Ligapokal, the DFB-Pokal, and the league championship, as a result of a multimillion investment spree prior to the new season. Bayern's UEFA Cup campaign came to an end with a humiliating 4–0 loss to eventual winner Zenit St. Petersburg after many high victories and many draws. Hitzfeld had already announced that he would not be available for another season as his successor, Jürgen Klinsmann, was named as his successor at Bayern during the season. His last match was a 4–1 victory over Hertha BSC.

In summer 2008, Hitzfeld was hired as coach of the Swiss national team. On August 20, 2008, his first match at the helm was a friendly match between Switzerland and Cyprus, which ended as a 4–1 victory. In qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, his first competitive match was a 2–2 draw against Israel on September 6, 2008. With a 0–0 draw against Israel on October 14, Switzerland finished FIFA World Cup qualifying, beating Israel 2-0. Switzerland finished ranked in the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In friendlies leading up to the FIFA World Cup, Switzerland played Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Italy. On March 3, 2010, Switzerland defeated Uruguay 3–1 to Uruguay, lost 1–0 to Costa Rica on June 1, 2010 and drew Italy 1–1. Although Switzerland defeated eventual champions Spain 11-0, they went on to lose 1–0 against Chile and earn a 0–0 draw against Honduras, effectively ending their chances of qualifying from Group H.

Switzerland failed to qualify for Euro 2012, finishing third behind England and Montenegro in their qualifying group. Switzerland started qualifying with two consecutive losses to England and Montenegro. In their final qualifier of the year, the Vikings defeated Wales. Following a draw against England and a draw and a victory over Bulgaria, the team extended their undefeated streak to four matches. Switzerland lost to Wales before defeating Montenegro in their final qualifying match. Switzerland opened 2012 with a 3–1 loss to Argentina on February 29, 2012, and a 5–3 victory over Germany on May 26, 2012. Two days after losing to Romania, then Switzerland lost by a few days. On August 15, Switzerland defeated Croatia on a Sunday.

As his team remained unbeaten throughout the qualifying season, Hitzfeld led Switzerland to their second consecutive FIFA World Cup appearance. Switzerland won by a pair of 2–0 victories over Slovenia on September 7, 2012 and Albania on September 11, 2012. On October 12, 2012, the Vikings defeated Norway 1–1 and Iceland 2–0 four days later. Switzerland defeated Tunisia 2–1 in a friendly match in the final match of 2012. Switzerland started 2013 with a 0–0 draw against Greece on February 6, 2013. Switzerland's next two matches were against Cyprus. The match ended in a 0–0 draw on Sunday, and Switzerland took the match 1–0 on June 8th, a 1–0 win. On August 14, Switzerland defeated Brazil on August 14, 2013. With a 4–4 draw against Iceland and three straight victories over Norway, Albania, and Slovenia, Switzerland rounded out qualifying. Hitzfeld revealed on October 17 that he will be retiring after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Switzerland lost 2–1 against South Korea in a friendly match against South Korea in 2013. Switzerland defeated Jamaica and Peru in the FIFA World Cup, leading up to the FIFA World Cup. Switzerland defeated Ecuador, lost to France, and defeated Honduras to finish second in Group E of Group E of the FIFA World Cup on July 1, 2014. Hitzfeld's replacement, Vladimir Petkovi, was named after him.

After the World Cup with Vladimir Petkovi taking over on July 1, 2014, he announced his retirement from coaching.

Hitzfeld's 18-month contract, according to reports, cost the Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande once gave Hitzfeld an 18-month contract for a sum of 24 million euros. He turned it down, but it was turned down.

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