Nothing stands in the way of the U21 success coach Stefan Kuntz’s signature as the new Turkish national coach. The Presidium of the German Football Association decided unanimously on Friday to dismiss the 58-year-old from his current contract if he agreed on a cooperation with the Turkish association.
“Due to the success of Stefan Kuntz with the German U21 national team and his special relationship with Turkey, the DFB does not want to obstruct this next step in his career,” said the association. Kuntz had previously confirmed talks at the invitation of the Turkish Association in Istanbul that he would succeed the last failed Senol Günes there. “The possibility of sharing is also an expression of the friendship between German and Turkish football,” wrote the DFB.
Kuntz is the most successful U21 coach in DFB history. After two European Championship titles and a total of three finals with Germany’s top juniors, he left his future open beyond the end of the year. After moving months and the early Olympic exit of the German U23s supervised by Kuntz, there has been speculation for weeks about the future of the 58-year-old, who had meanwhile also been traded as a candidate for the national coaching post, now held by Hansi Flick.
Kuntz had signed with the DFB until 2023. The European champion from 1996 was once active as a professional in Turkey. In the 1995/96 season he ran for Besiktas Istanbul. In the European Championship qualification, the German U21s will continue against Israel on October 7th in Paderborn – most likely without Kuntz.
Last week the Turkish Association and Günes ended their cooperation. With this, the association reacted to the most recent failures. Turkey lost 6-1 to the Netherlands in qualifying for the World Cup. Before that, the European Championships had been disappointing for the third place in the 2002 World Cup: After three defeats against eventual European champions Italy, Wales and Switzerland, the team under Günes had already failed in the preliminary round. The 69-year-old coach and the players were then exposed to a lot of criticism.
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