Less than a week before, Ilzer’s emotions had spilled over after Sturm’s 3-1 win in the Admiral Bundesliga at Rapid. There was talk of “paranoia” after Klauß reported spies from Graz at Rapid’s training sessions. Looking back, Ilzer said that he was only reacting to the allegations.
“From my side, I will strive for a normal relationship between Klauss and myself,” emphasized the Styrian before the reunion in Klagenfurt. Out of respect for the finale, he wanted to “declare this topic over from my point of view”. Shortly before, Klauss had also asserted that he no longer wanted to pay any attention to the matter. A handshake “is part of it,” said the German. “I don’t have a problem with him.”
GEPA/Christian Moser The matter is also ticked off for Robert Klauß
The next step on the career ladder
Despite all the disagreements in the last few days, there are similarities. Both Ilzer and Klauss entered the coaching business early on without any big names. And for the 46-year-old Ilzer and Klauß, who is seven years younger, the final can bring the next step on the career ladder.
The Styrian was able to celebrate the trophy with enthusiasm last year. An “absolute highlight” on a fantastic evening of football, as he remembered. “Now there is the repetition. To make it there again is quite an honor. It was a rocky, hard road back to the final. Winning this would mean everything to us again.”
ÖFB Cup
Schedule and results
Uniqa ÖFB Cup final
Wednesday, 5 p.m., live on ORF1
Sturm – Rapid
Klagenfurt, Wörthersee Stadium, SR Gishamer
Possible lineups:
Sturm: Jaros – Gazibegovic, Affengruber, Wüthrich, Lavalee – Gorenc Stankovic – Horvat, Kiteishvili, Prass – Biereth, Böving
Rapid: Hedl – Kasanwirjo, Kongolo, Querfeld, Auer – Sattlberger, Grgic – Lang, Seidl, Grüll – Burgstaller
Assistants became bosses
Klauss is still waiting to win a title as head coach. As Ralf Rangnick’s assistant, he was with RB Leipzig in the 2019 DFB Cup final, which was lost to Bayern Munich. “As a head coach, it’s the biggest game to date. I’m really looking forward to having the chance to win a title after six months. It makes me proud,” said the German, who has been working in Vienna since November. Like Ilzer, the father of two began his path to becoming a coach at a young age.
Ilzer also put an end to his dream of becoming a professional footballer as an attacker for SC Weiz after two cruciate ligament tears and, at the age of 17, started working as a youth coach. From the depths of Styrian football, the trained electrical engineer made his way to the top as an assistant, video analyst and fitness coach at TSV Hartberg. Ilzer completed his studies in sports science and, after being rejected twice due to his lack of a professional career, managed to get into the ÖFB’s UEFA Pro license course and sat in on industry greats such as Jupp Heynckes and Arsene Wenger. His path ultimately took him from Eastern Styria via Wolfsberg to the Bundesliga.
Things went uphill for Ilzer during Sturm
After a difficult one-year interlude at Wiener Austria, Ilzer returned to Styria in 2020. He left Vienna at his own request for Graz and formed his team together with Andreas Schicker, who had recently been appointed as the new sports director.
Sturm finished the season sixth in the championship group without competing in the European Cup – a year later they were third. The now regulars Jon Gorenc Stankovic, Jusuf Gazibegovic and Gregory Wüthrich brought Ilzer to the club in 2020, Alexander Prass, Manprit Sarkaria and David Affengruber followed a year later. The success so far has proven the right path.
From Markranstädt via detours to Vienna
Klauß was on the pitch for a year from October 2022 – for SSV Markranstädt in the sixth German league. Klauß, who was born in Eberswalde, northeast of Berlin, returned there after his stint as coach at 1. FC Nürnberg ended.
The trained center forward had already played for Markranstädt as a 22-year-old before the club handed over its men’s department to Red Bull, which meant that Klauß also stormed in Leipzig from then on. At that time, as a 25-year-old, he began his work as an assistant for Leipzig’s U14 team. In 2014 he took over the U14 full-time, a year later the U17 and another season after that the U23 of the club.
Klauß completed the coaching course in 2018 as the best in his class with an average grade of 1.0. In addition to Rangnick, the teacher was also Julian Nagelsmann, under whom he also worked as an assistant at RB Leipzig. In his first position as “boss” he worked in Nuremberg. And even during his time with the Franconians, he insisted on playing for Markranstädt in the state cup.
