contract for two years
Ralf Rangnick becomes Austria’s national coach
GERMANY ONLY Ralf Rangnick
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Ralf Rangnick has a new job: he will become Austria’s national coach and succeed Franco Foda. However, he will apparently also work as a consultant for Manchester United, which he currently coaches, from next season.
For a long time there was speculation about the vacant post, now it’s official: Ralf Rangnick succeeds Franco Foda and becomes the new team boss of the Austrian national team. The ÖFB reported this on Friday.
The contract will initially run for two years. If they qualify for the UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany, the cooperation will automatically be extended by two more years until the 2026 World Cup in the USA.
“We are very pleased that in Ralf Rangnick we have been able to win an outstanding expert in international football as team boss. We are all convinced that he is the ideal man and that his vision will advance the national team and the ÖFB,” said ÖFB- President Gerhard Milletich.
“It’s an honor for me to take on the role of team manager. I’m particularly excited about the prospect of playing at the European Championships in Germany with a young team hungry for success,” added Rangnick, who is bringing Lars Kornetka to the ÖFB as an assistant coach .
Ralf Rangnick will probably remain a Manchester United advisor
Ex-team boss Foda said goodbye with a 2-2 draw against Scotland. The search for a successor took about a month, and names like Vladimir Petkovic, Andreas Herzog, Niko Kovac and Peter Stöger came up.
The choice has now surprisingly fallen on Rangnick. At the beginning of April, the 63-year-old was associated with the ÖFB job, but the association quickly and vehemently denied it at the time – a bluff.
On Thursday, the German drew 1-1 with Manchester United against Chelsea – he will be in charge of the Red Devils as head coach until the end of the season and will then be replaced by Erik ten Hag. The last league game is on May 22 against Crystal Palace.
But he will probably not completely cut his connections to Manchester. “I will definitely remain in my advisory capacity. That would leave room for another job,” said the Swabian on Thursday.
Pressing football now also for the ÖFB?
Rangnick is no stranger to Austria. As sports director of Red Bull Salzburg between 2012 and 2015, he got the then inefficient project on track. He then moved to Germany to first become sports director and later head coach at RB Leipzig.
In his long career he has also coached Schalke 04, VfB Stuttgart and now Manchester United. With his playing philosophy, which is characterized by aggressive pressing, Rangnick should get the best out of numerous players from the Red Bull school.
