Ottmar Hitzfeld said an emotional goodbye to his Swiss team and football Tuesday as he quit the sport after a dramatic World Cup loss to Argentina and following the death of his brother. Despite the personal trauma of losing his brother Winfried, 81, to leukaemia, Hitzfeld very nearly masterminded a seismic upset of Argentina in his last hurrah as coach.
He said the extra-time defeat reminded him of the 1999 Champions League final, when his Bayern Munich team were minutes from victory before Manchester United scored twice. And Hitzfeld said his ‘heart was full of emotions’ after the Swiss came just two minutes from a penalty shoot-out before Angel Di Maria’s extra-time winner in Sao Paulo.
‘These are emotions you can only have with football, that’s why I love football. Switzerland has won a lot of hearts around the world on Wednesday, that is something that will make us proud,’ he said.
The 65-year-old German, who won the Champions League with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, had already announced he would retire after the World Cup. ‘I will go on working for TV. I’ll go to games but as a journalist basically, so I have a quiet life in front of me,’ he said.
He said the extra-time defeat reminded him of the 1999 Champions League final, when his Bayern Munich team were minutes from victory before Manchester United scored twice. And Hitzfeld said his ‘heart was full of emotions’ after the Swiss came just two minutes from a penalty shoot-out before Angel Di Maria’s extra-time winner in Sao Paulo.
‘These are emotions you can only have with football, that’s why I love football. Switzerland has won a lot of hearts around the world on Wednesday, that is something that will make us proud,’ he said.
The 65-year-old German, who won the Champions League with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, had already announced he would retire after the World Cup. ‘I will go on working for TV. I’ll go to games but as a journalist basically, so I have a quiet life in front of me,’ he said.