The Austrian federation will not renew the contract of national team coach Marcel Koller, it announced on Friday.
Austria, while mathematically still alive, will almost certainly fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. They have won just one of their last six World Cup qualification matches, a 2-0 win against Group D basement-dwellers Moldova. They harshly fell to Serbia, Wales, and Republic of Ireland all by a single goal. The backbreaking result for Koller was a 1-1 draw against lowly Georgia coming 10 days prior to the announcement.
The 56-year-old Swiss will coach the final two games of World Cup qualifying the upcoming international break before the expiry of his contract. He had been in charge since 2011, owning a six-year period of stability with the country not seen since Herbert Prohaska also led the country for six years in the 90’s.
“Koller has to be thanked for his great work but the sober reality is that we won four of our last 18 games. In the end only the results count,” federation president Leo Windtner said after the meeting to determine Koller’s future.
Despite the team’s struggles, the decision was not unanimous. “A majority of the board has decided that the contract will be fulfilled but not extended,” Windtner said, insinuating that it was not a unanimous decision.
Austria has already been eliminated from contention for an automatic qualification place, sitting nine points back of Group D leaders Serbia. In order to secure a second place finish in the group and earn a playoff spot, they would need to win both home vs. Serbia and on the road against Moldova, plus get outside help with Wales losing their final two matches - including one against Georgia - and the Republic of Ireland earn a maximum of one point from its final two games.
