Holger Osieck (born 31 August 1948) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager who last managed the Australia national team. Prior to the Australian role, he most recently managed

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

club

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

, where he won the 2007 AFC Champions League. He served as an assistant coach of the

West Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...

when they won the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

. He also led

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in winning the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

Playing career

In his native country, he played for

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

, Eintracht Gelsenkirchen, SSV Hagen,

1. FC Mülheim FC Mülheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia. History ''Spielvereinigung Oberhausen und Styrum'' was established through the union of a number of local sports clubs ...

, 1. FC Bocholt and

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

. However, he never appeared in a top-flight

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

match. Toward the end of his playing career, he moved to Canada to play for the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

Managerial career

Early career

After finishing his playing career in Canada, Osieck became an assistant coach to

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

for the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

that won the

. He then managed

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

, Fenerbahçe, the

, and

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish football club based in İzmit. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980–1988 and 1992–2003. Their best finish was in 1992–93 season, where they finished fourth. They have won the Turkish ...

. With Bochum, he started on 1 July 1991. His first match was a 2–2 draw against 1. FC Köln. Bochum finished the 1991–92 season in 15th place and were eliminated in the second round of the German Cup. Bochum started the 1992–93 season with a 2–2 draw against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

. Osieck left Bochum on 2 November 1992 and had his last match on 31 October 1992, a 3–1 loss to 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Bochum were in last place when Osieck left the club. Osieck became manager of Fenerbahçe on 1 July 1993. In the 1993–94 season, Fenerbahçe finished in second place in the league and got to the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup. During the 1994–95 season, Fenerbahçe participated in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, where they were eliminated in the first round by

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. Osieck left on Fenerbahçe 18 December 1994. His final match was a 1–1 draw against

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matche ...

on 17 December 1994. Fenerbahçe were in fourth place when he left the club. Osieck was manager of Urawa Red Diamonds between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 1996. The Red Diamonds finished the season in third place and got to the quarter-finals of the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

. During the 1996 season, the Red Diamonds got to the semi-finals of the

and were eliminated in the group stage of the League Cup. Osieck was manager of

from 1 January 1997 to 30 June 1998. His first match was a 1–1 draw against

on 18 January 1997. 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 The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, 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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

of the

Canadian men's national soccer team The Canada men's national soccer team (french: Équipe du Canada de soccer masculin) represents Canada in international soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canad ...

in September 1998. His first match didn't come until 1999 when Canada played to a 1–1 draw against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. His first two wins came against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

when Canada won 1–0 on 28 May 1999 and 2–0 on 1 June 1999. In 2000, Canada participated in qualifying for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Canada eliminated

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. However, Canada finished third behind

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and were eliminated from the tournament. Under Osieck, Canada won the

, earning the nickname "Holger's Heroes," a reference to the television show

Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast ...

. They defeated

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in the final. In 2001, Canada participated in the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

. In the Confederations Cup, Canada lost to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and drew

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

0–0. Canada finished in last place in Group B. In 2002, Canada participated in the Gold Cup where Canada defeated

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

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 The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one c ...

. He worked for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

between 2004 and 2006 as chief of their technical department. In 2007, he again became the manager of Urawa and led the club to win the 2007 AFC Champions League. Under Osieck, Urawa finished third in the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup. 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

Holger Osieck, Elizabeth Osieck (6210437585)

On 11 August 2010, Osieck was named as the head coach of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, replacing

Pim Verbeek Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Playing career As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a midfielder and spent his entire career at S ...

, who stepped down as Australia's coach after the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. This role also involves actively assisting youth development. His first game as Australia's coach was against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, with Australia drawing 0–0. His first win as Australia's coach was a 2–1 win against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Australia then proceeded to defeat

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

1–0, before suffering a 3–0 loss to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. In January 2011, he led the team to the final of the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

, 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 30 March 2011, Osieck lead Australia to a shock 2–1 victory over his home country

in an international friendly match at

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

. Australia were without their top goal scorer

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...

but managed to score two goals in quick succession midway through the second half with Germany playing a weakened side with coach

Joachim Löw Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...

playing a younger squad. Australia remained to be the only team to defeat Germany at home or away in 2011. Out of 17 games played in 2011, Australia achieved 12 wins, three draws and two losses. In 2013, in World Cup qualifying, Australia defeated

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. On 18 June 2013, Osieck precipitated a bout of conniptions from Australian talisman

and enraged Australian fans by substituting him in the 78th minute of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier against

. His decision was to be vindicated, however, with the tactical substitution of

Joshua Kennedy Joshua Blake Kennedy (born 20 August 1982) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a striker for the Australia national soccer team. Kennedy is known by Australian fans as "Jesus" due to his apparent resemblance to tradi ...

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

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Osieck's contract was terminated with the FFA.

Managerial statistics

Managerial record

Year-to-year results

Club

National teams

Honours

Fenerbahçe *

TSYD Cup The TSYD Cup ( tr, Türk Spor Yazarları Derneği Kupası, Turkish Sports Writers Association Cup) was a friendly football competition in Turkey. The tournament started in 1963. It was played throughout six regions in Turkey: Adana, Ankara, Istanbu ...

: 1994–95 Kocaelispor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 1996–97 Urawa Red Diamonds *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Canada *

Australia *

: runner-up

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links

Football Federation Australia profile

– Osieck is interviewed by

Monica Attard Monica Ann Attard OAM (born 12 December 1958) is an Australian journalist and academic. Early life Attard was born to Maltese parents in Sydney, where she was educated at Bethlehem College, Ashfield and Santa Sabina College.''Who's Who in Au ...

on ABC

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osieck, Holger 1948 births Living people Footballers from Duisburg German footballers Association football forwards 1. FC Bocholt players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Rot-Weiß Oberhausen players 2. Bundesliga players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players German expatriate footballers German expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada German football managers Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) coaches FC Schalke 04 non-playing staff Olympique de Marseille non-playing staff VfL Bochum managers Fenerbahçe football managers Urawa Red Diamonds managers Canada men's national soccer team managers Australia national soccer team managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches Bundesliga managers Süper Lig managers J1 League managers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning managers 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup managers 2011 AFC Asian Cup managers German expatriate football managers German expatriate sportspeople in France German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey German expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Japan Expatriate soccer managers in Canada Expatriate soccer managers in Australia