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Riedl never boasted of his heroic deeds. Especially not as a coach, although he dared to work in no less than ten different countries in sometimes dangerous conditions.
He confessed not only once that he had assumed the position of team manager in the ÖFB at the request of then-president Beppo Mauhart in 1990 after the 0-1 victory over the Faroe Islands, because at that time he was still too big a size for he. He lacked experience.
That was also what made Riedl so special. He always showed the courage for self-criticism, necessary among his 17 employers, some of whom were unpredictable.
Riedl began his career as a foreign coach in Morocco, where he led the practice in French after a herniated disc in the medical ward.
Riedl coached Zamalek, Egypt’s top 90,000-member club, where he was as considerate of Muslim customs (for example, when players interrupted training due to afternoon prayer) as he was in the United Arab Emirates.
Riedl had to don a gas mask in Kuwait when Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi troops threatened to invade.
Always politically neutral, Riedl was the first (not unsuccessful) Palestinian team chief in the World Cup qualifying rounds on neutral ground in Qatar.
As a sports director in Tehran, Riedl built structures in the Iranian association, although he was afraid of being spied on.
Riedl achieved legendary status in Hanoi when he turned physically flagrantly inferior footballers into winners of the Southeast Asian Championship.
Riedl is a wonderful ambassador for Austria, said the real ambassador in Hanoi (Johannes Peterlik) to the editor-in-chief of Vietnam’s KURIER, while in this country the reports on Riedl were considered by skeptics for the Münchhausen stories.
