On July 1st, 1991, Ottmar Hitzfeld took over as coach of Borussia Dortmund. The “General” spent six years at Strobelallee, winning six titles with BVB during this span. Today, 23 years later to the day, one of the most successful coaching careers has come to an end.

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Following Switzerland’s dramatic 1-0 extra-time defeat to Argentina, Ottmar Hitzfeld’s tenure as a coach, which began at SC Zug 31 years ago in 1983, is history. The former maths and sports teacher took helm at BVB on 1 July 1991 after spells at FC Aarau and Grasshopper Zurich, and he put his mark on an era. In his first year, he lifted the team from near the bottom of the table to title contenders, with BVB being just a few minutes away from winning the 1992 Bundesliga title. A year later, his side stormed into the UEFA Cup final before they started to collect trophies.

In Hitzfeld’s six-year reign as coach and sporting director, BVB won the UEFA Champions League in 1997, back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996, the World Club trophy in 1997, the 1995 and 1996 Supercup as well as the 1992 Hallenpokal.

Ottmar Hitzfeld enjoyed a 31-year coaching career in which he collected trophies like other people collected stamps, yielding 25 titles with four different clubs. In 1998, he left Borussia Dortmund for Bayern Munich where he even had two tenures (from 1998 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2008). “Fortunately, every decision I’ve made has turned out be the right one. This is a godsend. I’ve always made the right decisions with the choice of clubs,” Hitzfeld told Munich-based newspaper TZ in January.

His heart stayed in the Ruhr area where he is still loved and adored by the fans. “I spent two great stages of my life in both Dortmund and Munich,” says Hitzfeld, with one event in particular seared into his memory forever: “1995 - the first German league title with Borussia Dortmund. The atmosphere in the stadium was goosebump material. A dream came true on that day, and I had to fight tears.”

Just like today, many thousand miles away in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When his player Dzemaili hit the post of Argentina’s goal in the 121st minute, Switzerland’s defeat in the last 16 of the World Cup was sealed, with the final whistle marking the end of one of the most successful coaching careers in world football.

Thank you, Ottmar, for the many wonderful black and yellow moments!