Tyrol will be playing its best football in a decade after the Austrians hired former German international and co-founder of the Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund, Torben Beltz, as the club’s new head coach.
Austria 1-0 Austria
The 34-year-old Beltz, who is in his second spell with Borussia Dortmund after moving from Red Bull Salzburg in 2016, will take over the Tyrol club on Jan. 1, taking over from his Borussia teammate Johann Gudmundsson. The Austrian club also re-signed current assistant coach Thorsten Prokop as head of the development squad.
Beltz will be Austria’s first new head coach since 1998.
“I am looking forward to the challenge,” said Beltz, who has won 17 of 43 games in the Austrian Bundesliga and played in two domestic cups. “We want to create a team capable of becoming successful on the international stage as well. I will implement the ideas of my predecessor, Gudmundsson, and I am convinced that we have a team who can build on his achievements.”
Prokop is the longest-serving coach in Austria having held the role since 1997. His side claimed the league title in 2001-02 and retained the title for the following two seasons. Beltz said he wants to offer Austrian youth the same opportunity he was given.
“I want to give Austrian football as good a result as possible over the next few years,” said Beltz, who was the first coach to play for Dortmund in 1983. “I want to build a team of young players, but with good prospects.”
Beltz began his coaching career at Borussia Rudolf Grunwald in 1999, guiding the club to promotion to the German Bundesliga. He followed up with two stints with East Germany’s third division, Palatinate, and one with Eastern German second division team Lech Netherlands.
Beltz also played for Borussia Dortmund as a goalkeeper between 2000 and 2005, playing in the Champions League final in 2004. He spent two years with the German national team, coaching Joachim Loew’s U20 squad in 2008. Beltz earned his U.S. citizenship in 2011.
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