Otto Barić is dead: he was a volcano on the sidelines

The cult coach “Otto Maximal” died at the age of 87 as a result of a Covid disease. He was champion seven times with three teams in Austria. The Croatian was also a team leader, a motivational artist or a piss of anger. He did everything for his teams.

Zagreb. Otto Barić, a former coach of the Austrian national team, as well as Rapid, Sturm and Austria Salzburg, among others, died of the corona virus at the age of 87. The highlight of his career was the 1985 European Cup final with Rapid (1: 3 against Everton) and the 1994 UEFA Cup final with Austria Salzburg (2: 1 against Inter de Milan, double shot by Marquinho in the second leg).

Barić, who grew up in Zagreb, was born in Carinthia on June 19, 1933, and the connection with Austria lasted a lifetime. After his low-key football career, he achieved a much more glamorous one as a coach. Barić was the coach of the Austrian national team from April 1999 to November 2001, and was in charge of his home country from 2002 to 2004.

In the Austrian Bundesliga, Barić won the championship title seven times with Wacker Innsbruck (1971, 1972), Rapid (1983, 1987, 1988) and Austria Salzburg (1994, 1995). His last appointment as head coach was as manager of the Albanian national team, which ended in 2007.

Motto “maximum” in life

Austrian fans will remember Baric above all for his interviews. In addition to being an expert in soccer, he also did his own marketing. His almost lovingly cared for “maximum” (“I need national players with the highest will and the highest ambition”) is slowly being forgotten, but became a household word among national fans in the 1980s and 1990s. His teacher dances with the then head of the Salzburg club, Rudolf Quehenberger, will also be unforgettable.

Barić held a strong opinion even after his retirement to private life, he remained true to football as a welcome guest and heard in the Croatian and Austrian media. His concise comments didn’t always hit the nerve of the moment. The discriminatory comment in a Croatian magazine that he did not want homosexuals on his team earned him a fine in 2007.

Barić enjoyed a pension in his Croatian homeland, lived in Zagreb or at home on the Croatian island of Krk. The wine tavern and theater lover and passionate driver of Mercedes SLK always came to Austria to visit.

The Eisenkappel Maximum

Barić has shaped the Austrian soccer scene for some 30 years. With success, charisma and legendary sagas ”. Born a child worker guest in the Carinthian Eisenkappel, he grew up in Zagreb and a “volcano” on the fringes.

Advancement to the 1994 UEFA Cup final against Inter Milan will not be forgotten. Along the way, people from Salzburg even migrated to Vienna, causing an unexpected euphoria at the Happel Stadium. This Austria suddenly became a cult, Pfeifenberger, Konrad, Hütter and Barić were venerated throughout the country. The games against KSC and Eintracht Frankfurt are unforgettable. Against Eintracht, Otto Konrad not only shot the final penalty at the net, but Barić also delivered his own “play”, a verbal exchange of blows with Georgian Kachaber Zchadadze. Baric even spat at him. The justification: “He insulted my mother!” The German boulevard had as little understanding of the “Lama” as Uefa: the Croatian was suspended for five games. He had to sit in the stands in the return leg in Frankfurt – and in the “Elfer-Thriller” he suffered twice in the quarterfinals.

And he was also the head of the Austrian team. “Look,” he said over and over, waving his arms wildly to give his words even more meaning. In 1999, the ÖFB team relied on his qualities, only success failed. After 22 games and the qualification for the World Cup lost (he also escaped from the very beaten pitch at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, “he lost only 0: 4 and not 0: 9 in 2001) he gave way to Hans Krankl and became position – last time in Austria, again in spring 2002. He was better with his home country, which he led to the 2004 European Championship, but was eliminated in the group stage.

(Red)