Germany's Foda named Austria coach

Vienna (AFP) – Austria named the German Franco Foda as their new coach Monday, succeeding the Swiss Marcel Koller who announced his resignation last month after failing to qualify for the World Cup.

Currently in charge of Austrian powerhouse Sturm Graz, Foda is the first German to be hired in the national team’s 113-year history.

“He is someone who holds good qualifications, he knows Austrian football as a player and a coach,” Leo Windtner, the president of the Austrian Football Association, told a press conference in Vienna on Monday evening.

Prior to moving into coaching in 2001, Foda, 51, shone as a defender for the likes of Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart and Sturm Graz. 

As a coach, he won the Austrian Cup with Sturm Graz in 2010 and the Austrian Bundesliga the following year. 

He was sacked in 2012 and had a short spell at Kaiserslautern, only to return to Sturm Graz in 2014.

Foda will leave Sturm to start his new role on January 1, 2018.

Austria decided to end Koller’s six-year stint after they failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup. He had already been under pressure following Austria’s disappointing showing at Euro 2016.