Franco Foda
Franco Foda (born 23 April 1966) is a German football manager and former player. Playing career. Foda appeared in over 400 top-flight matches in (West) Germany, Switzerland and Austria. During his second spell with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 1980s he won two caps with coach Franz Beckenbauer at the helm of the West Germany national team. Foda played against Argentina and Brazil in late 1987. During his first ever international appearance, on 12 December 1987 in Brasilia against Brazil, Foda was at the centre of controversy. Both at the reading of the team names and later  when he was substituted in, he was met with great applause by the Brazilian fans. Foda only found out the next day that this was due to his name translating to "free intercourse" in Portuguese. Coaching career. Early career. Foda moved into coaching with Sturm Graz as an assistant coach. He had been interim head coach between 20 September 2002 until November 2002. At this point, Foda became the permanent head coach until they hired Gilbert Gress to become the head coach on 4 June 2003. He then went on to coach the reserve team immediately after to when he  was promoted to head coach of the first team on 1 June 2006. Sturm Graz won the 2010–11 Bundesliga and the 2009–10 Austrian Cup under Foda. He was originally scheduled to leave after the 2011–12 season. However, he ended up being sacked on 12 April 2012 after the club was knocked–out of the Austrian Cup. 1. FC Kaiserslautern. On 22 May 2012, Foda was announced as new head coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, who had just been relegated to the second division after two seasons in the top flight. On 29 August 2013, he was sacked as head coach  with immediate effect. Return to Sturm Graz. Foda returned to Sturm Graz on 30 September 2014 and won his first match in–charge on 4 October 2014 against Grödig. Austria national team. In October 2017 it was announced that Foda would become manager of the Austria national team, with effect from January 2018. Foda resigned from the position in March 2022, following their failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after the defeat to Wales in Cardiff. Personal life. Foda is of Italian descent through his father. His son Sandro (born 1989) first appeared professionally with Sturm Graz  in 2007, when his father was head coach. Honours. Player. 1. FC Kaiserslautern Bayer Leverkusen Sturm Graz Manager. Sturm Graz