Lothar Osiander

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Lothar Osiander
Osiander in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1939-11-08) November 8, 1939 (age 84)
Place of birth Munich, Germany
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Years Team
1964–1965 City College of San Francisco
1966–1967 University of San Francisco
Managerial career
California Surf (assistant)
–1985 San Francisco Greek-Americans
1986–1988 United States
1988–1992
United States U23
–1991 San Francisco Bay Blackhawks (assistant)
1992 Palo Alto Firebirds
1995
Atlanta Ruckus
1996–1997
Los Angeles Galaxy
1998–1999 Tampa Bay Mutiny (assistant)
1999 Project 40
1999–2000 San Jose Earthquakes
–2007 San Francisco Greek-Americans

Lothar Osiander (born November 8, 1939) is a German

San Jose Clash
.

Biography

Osiander moved to the United States with his family in 1958, settling in the San Francisco area. He attended

NCAA Men's Soccer Championship
. Osiander graduated with degrees in physical education and Spanish in 1968. By that time he had become a U.S. citizen, gaining his citizenship in 1965.

Osiander was an assistant coach with the

North American Soccer League
(NASL).

Osiander eventually returned to San Francisco, becoming a waiter at Graziano's, a local restaurant, while playing and coaching in the city's highly competitive soccer leagues. In 1985, he coached a semi-pro club, the

National Challenge Cup
title.

By that time, Osiander was well known on the national coaching scene. Back in 1974, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) had hired Osiander as part of its coaching staff. At the time Walter Chyzowych was the U.S. head coach and in that capacity would travel the country putting on coaching clinics. Osiander traveled as part of Chyzowich's team and became known as an excellent teacher and coach. In 1978, the U.S. Olympic committee inaugurated a National Sports Festival, hiring Osiander as the West team soccer coach. He continued in this position for the next ten years.

By 1986, Osiander's success with the Olympic Festivals and the Greek Americans led Chyzowich, now head of USSF, to hire Osiander to replace fired

Seoul, South Korea. The qualification campaign nearly ended as soon as it began when Canada defeated the U.S. 2–0 in the first leg of their home and away first round series. At the time, series winners were decided on goal differential with away goals counting for two points and home goals only one. In other words, the U.S. needed to win the follow-up game 3–0. If it let Canada gain even one goal in the game in the U.S., then the score would need to be 5–1 for the U.S. to make the next round. On May 30, 1987, Osiander's team rose to the challenge and shutout Canada, while scoring the three needed goals. The U.S. went on a tear in the second round, going undefeated against Trinidad and El Salvador, outscoring its opponents 13 to 4, and winning a spot in Seoul. In those games, the U.S. underachieved, running to a 1–1–1 record and failing to make the second round. On January 16, 1989, USSF released Osiander when it announced the hiring of Bob Gansler as the full-time national team coach.[1] By this time Osiander had set the U.S. national team back on track. In addition to the marvelous Olympic qualification campaign, Osiander led the team through a successful first round of World Cup qualification with a scoreless away tie with Jamaica
followed by a 5-1 crushing of the Reggae Boyz. Osiander compiled a 13–7 record with the team in full internationals during his tenure as coach.

While he left the senior national team in 1989, Osiander continued to coach the U.S. B Team and eventually the

Barcelona, Spain. The team easily ran through qualification and had high hopes for success in Spain. In one of the many inexplicable moments in U.S. soccer history, Osiander benched his leading scorer, Steve Snow, for the team's first Olympic match. Snow had led the U.S. team at the Pan American games with four goals, then bagged eleven more in nine games of Olympic qualifying. However, Osiander did not fail to mask his dislike for Snow, calling him a "cocky twerp".[2] But without Snow, the U.S. offense stalled and the team lost 2–1 to Italy. Osiander played Snow in the next two games. While Snow scored in both, a win and a tie, it was not enough and the U.S. failed to make the second round. USSF president Alan Rothenberg fired Osiander after the Olympics, based largely on Osiander's refusal to play Snow in the game with Italy.[3]

When not coaching, Osiander had continued to work at Graziano's, rising from waiter to

U.S. Open Cup
title. In all likelihood this team will remain the last amateur or semi-pro team to win the National Cup.

As he no longer had a job either with Graziano's or the national team and since semi-pro or assistant coaches rarely earn much, Osiander was forced into full-time professional coaching. In 1995, the expansion

Atlanta Ruckus of the A-League hired Osiander as its first coach. Despite finishing the regular season fourth out of six, the Ruckus made it to the A-League championship series, only to fall to the Seattle Sounders
. For his efforts Osiander was honored as A-League coach of the year.

Osiander's success with the Greek-Americans and Ruckus brought him to the attention of the newly created

Los Angeles Galaxy which hired him as its first coach. The Galaxy began the first MLS season with 12 straight victories, finishing with a 19–13 record. The Galaxy went to the championship game only to fall to the Bruce Arena-coached D.C. United, 3–2 in overtime. However, in 1997, the Galaxy began 3-9 and on June 10, 1997, the team fired Osiander.[4]

In January 1998, the

San Jose Clash hired Osiander to replace Brian Quinn near the end of the 1999 season. At the time, Osiander was leading the Project 40 team into the United Soccer League playoffs where it lost in the semifinals to the Minnesota Thunder.[6] Once the Project 40 team was eliminated from the playoffs, Osiander joined the Clash, taking the team to a 2–1 record in his three games to close out the 1999 season. Despite the good start at the end of the 1999, Osiander could do little better than his predecessors when it came to a full season. In 2000, he took the team to a 7-17-8 record and on January 12, 2001, the Earthquakes fired Osiander.[7]

Since leaving MLS, he returned to his position as coach of the San Francisco Greek-Americans. He also coaches local Bay area youth teams, including the U-17 Ballistic Boys which won the 2003 State Cup as an U-16 team. Finally, he is the head coach of San Ramon United, an U-17 team.

The

NSCAA awarded Osiander the Walt Chzyowich Award in 2007. He was selected to be the coach of the U-16 Tri-Valley Boys for the 2009 season.[citation needed] He is currently coaching them.[citation needed] He also temporarily took over for the U-19 Tri-Valley Arsenal, due to the absence of former coach Terry Weekes.[citation needed] This was Osiander's last known coaching position.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE – SOCCER – New National Coach – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. January 17, 1989. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  2. ^ "OLYMPICS – U.S. Soccer Player Gives Attitude a Big Assist for His Scoring Touch – NYTimes.com". July 21, 1992. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  3. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20040101162540/http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=1128. Archived from the original on January 1, 2004. Retrieved March 31, 2007. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ "Galaxy Replaces Coach". The New York Times. June 11, 1997. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Archive - southcoasttoday.com - New Bedford, MA". southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "United Soccer Leagues, Part 3 (1997-1999)". Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  7. ^ "PLUS - SOCCER - The Earthquakes Dismiss Osiander - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. January 13, 2001. Retrieved March 13, 2016.

External links

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