Vogts to take Tartan challenge
Sunday, January 13, 2002
Article summary
Berti Vogts has a wealth of success and experience behind him, a fact not lost on the Scottish Football Association (SFA) as they prepare to unveil the 55-year-old as their new national coach.
Article body
Berti Vogts has a wealth of success and experience behind him, a fact not lost on the Scottish Football Association (SFA) as they prepare to unveil the 55-year-old as their new national coach.
Respected team
His distinguished playing career spanned 14 years and he subsequently excelled in the coaching arena, helping maintain Germany's reputation as one of the most respected teams in world football. As the SFA follow their English counterparts in appointing a foreign coach for the first time, the choice of Vogts as successor to Craig Brown should raise few eyebrows given the quality of the German’s CV.
One club man
Vogts typifies the 'one club man' mentality, having spent his entire senior career with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. After joining the club from VfR Büttgen's junior side, Vogts was instrumental in Mönchengladbach's continued success both domestically and in European competition. He made almost 500 appearances and proved a key figure as the club secured five 1. Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Cups.
International debut
After making his international debut for West Germany against Yugoslavia in 1967 Vogts went on to make 96 appearances, the sixth highest total in the country's history. He captained West Germany 20 times and the 1974 FIFA World Cup victory was the pinnacle of his international career, which also included appearances in the 1970 and 1978 World Cups.
Footballer of the Year
Twice named West Germany’s Footballer of the Year, Vogts retired as a player in 1979 following Mönchengladbach's UEFA Cup final victory over FC Crvena Zvezda. He took over as West Germany's youth coach the same year and went on to achieve success at all junior levels, winning the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in 1984 and also taking sides to the European U-21 Championship final in 1982 and the FIFA World Youth Cup final in 1987.
Vogts takes over
In 1986 Vogts was 'promoted' to the senior national team, becoming Franz Beckenbauer's assistant. West Germany finished as runners-up to Argentina in that year’s World Cup in Mexico but, under Beckenbauer and Vogts, they went one step further four years later, at Italia 90. Vogts subsequently succeeded Beckenbauer and took his charges to the final of EURO 92, where a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Denmark cost them the title.
Bounced back
His first World Cup campaign in charge came in the United States in 1994 when the much-fancied German team were knocked out at the quarter final stage by underdogs Bulgaria. Vogts bounced back from that disappointment as Germany won EURO 96™ with a 2-1 golden goal victory over the Czech Republic at Wembley.
Champions League
Vogts resigned as national coach in 1998 following his side's exit from the World Cup, again at the quarter final stage. A 3-0 defeat by Croatia, who went on to claim third place in the tournament, was the final straw for Vogts. After a two-year spell out of public view, he returned to domestic football with Bayer 04 Leverkusen who he guided to the UEFA Champions League the following year, only to then resign due to player disquiet.
Coach of Kuwait
Vogts’s next role was as coach of Kuwait, which was expected to come to an end after the Gulf Cup in January. The SFA are now negotiating with Vogts and expect to name him as their coach shortly.