Klinsmann, Deschamps and Pape are the best footballers among the World Cup coaches!

The coach of the BiH national team, Safet Sušić, is among the three best footballers among all coaches leading the 32 best national teams in the world, according to research by the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

Namely, Pape, as the officially best footballer of BiH of all time, is at the very top of the best footballers among coaches, along with former stars of the German and French national teams, Jurgen Klinsmann and Didier Deschamps!

More than half of the coaches had average football careers, some even completely negligible, however, the only real football stars among the coaches were Klinsmann (now coach of the USA) and Deschamps (coach of France), who were also world and European champions as players with their national teams.

Vicente del Bosque, who played for Real Madrid for years, and Capello, who was a star for Roma and Juventus, also had great careers. However, Pape was one of the best players of the great Yugoslavian national team and the best foreigner to ever play in France. He received this recognition ahead of Ronaldinho and other world stars.

Another BiH player and coach is also at the very top. Vahid Halilhodžić is the coach of Algeria, and he was a phenomenal scorer and once one of the best players of the former country.

Journalists from the BiH news agency Patria researched the playing careers of all coaches and see what they discovered:

Jurgen Klinsmann – coach of the USA, German

Klinsmann is one of those who has a rich playing career behind him, having won the World Cup (1990, editor's note) and the European Championship (1996). He began his professional career in 1981 with Stuttgarter Kickers and ended it in 1998 after the defeat by Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, although he had a brief playing stint in the USA in 2003.

In seventeen years of playing, Klinsmann earned a reputation as one of the best strikers in the world, and he was a regular starter in all the clubs he played for, as well as in the national team, scoring 47 goals in an impressive 108 appearances.

 

Didier Deschamps – coach of France, French

Like Klinsmann, Deschamps also has a European and World Cup title to his name. In 1998, on home soil, Deschamps led the team to the world championship title with a 3-0 victory in the final against Brazil, which is the most convincing victory in World Cup finals to date. Two years later, in the European Championship final, Italy fell in a dramatic final, again with Deschamps as captain. After that, Didier retired from the national team with a farewell ceremony in 2002. By then, those 103 matches played were a record number of appearances for the Tricolores; he is now in 4th place. In March 2004, Pele included him among the 125 greatest footballers of all time.

Safet Sušić – coach of BiH, Bosnian

He began his career at Krivaja from Zavidovići, where he started playing in the first team at the age of 16. He started the 1972/73 season as a player for FK Sarajevo, first as a junior, and then on August 3, 1973, he debuted in the starting lineup of the seniors. Unforgettable days followed for both Safet and the fans of the Sarajevo team. In the next ten years, and 350 matches played, Safet scored about 250 goals for the team from Košev, assisted for at least as many, and dribbled past hundreds of opponents. Sušić debuted for the former Yugoslavia national team on October 5, 1977, in Budapest against Hungary and scored two goals. In the next match, against Romania, he scored his first hat-trick. In total, Safet Sušić played 51 matches and scored 21 goals for the former Yugoslavia national team between 1977 and 1990.

In the early eighties, in 1982, Safet moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he stayed for nine years. Sušić also left a significant mark on the team from the French capital. He is one of the greatest footballers who played for the club. With the Parisians, he also won the league title and the Cup. He ended his football career in 1992 at the age of 37, playing for the French club Red Star.

Fabio Capello – coach of Russia, Italian

Capello is widely known as a great coach, one of the best ever, and a successful playing career is also associated with his name. As a footballer, he started at SPAL. After three seasons, he moved to Roma, where he won his first career trophy by winning the Italian Cup.

He was then sold to Juventus, where he stayed from 1969 to 1976 and played 239 matches, scoring 41 goals. He made 32 appearances for the Italian national team and scored 8 goals in the blue jersey. He ended his career at Milan.

Paolo Bento – coach of Portugal, Portuguese

In his senior career, this Portuguese player made 442 appearances for various clubs and scored 23 goals. Among others, he played for Benfica, Oviedo, and Sporting. He played 35 times for the Portuguese national team.

Roy Hodgson – coach of England, English

Hodgson was not a football powerhouse, and during his career, he played for, relatively speaking, smaller clubs: Crystal Palace, Tonbridge, Gravesend, and Maidstone United.

Cesare Prandelli – coach of Italy, Italian

During his playing career, which was solid from 1974 to 1990, Prandelli played a total of 323 matches and, according to data, scored 17 goals. He played for Cremonese, Atalanta, and Juventus. He ended his career at Atalanta.

Carlos Queiroz – coach of Iran, Portuguese

Queiroz had a poor professional career as a footballer, playing in Mozambique. He moved to Portugal in 1975, where he also did not have a notable football career.

Jorge Sampaoli – coach of Chile, Argentinian

Like some of his colleagues, Sampaoli suffered a major injury and started his coaching career at a very young age.

Niko Kovač – coach of Croatia, Croatian

Kovač began his professional football career at Hertha Berlin. He also played for Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger, and Bayern Munich, and ended his playing career at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg. He played for the Croatian national team from 1996 to 2008, making 83 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Niko was a midfielder, excellent in defensive tasks.

Jose Pekerman – coach of Colombia, Argentinian

In his short football career, Jose Pekerman played for the local Argentinos Juniors. As a player, Pekerman suffered a severe knee injury at the age of 28, which led him to end his professional football career. However, as he was forced to support himself and his family, Nestor worked various jobs, and for a time was a taxi driver.

Ange Postecoglou – coach of Australia, Greek

Postecoglou made 193 appearances from 1984 to 1993 for South Melbourne. He was the team captain and they won two championship titles.

Luiz Felipe Scolari – coach of Brazil, Brazilian

Luiz began his professional playing career at Caxias in 1973, and in 1980 he moved to Juventude, and soon to Novo Hamburgo, where he ended his career. He is much more successful in coaching than in playing.

Alejandro Sabella – coach of Argentina, Argentinian

Sabella began his career at River Plate, and also played for Sheffield United and Leeds. In total, he played 433 matches during his career, and made eight appearances for the Argentine national team.

Ottmar Hitzfeld – coach of Switzerland, German

Hitzfeld played football in the late 1960s for TuS Stetten and FV Lörrach, German lower league clubs, until he was noticed by the great Swiss club Basel, which he joined in 1971. With them, he won the Swiss championship in 1973 and 1975, and in the following season, he became the league's top scorer. He also won the Cup with Basel. He also played for Stuttgart and represented the West German national team.

Joachim Löw – coach of Germany, German

Löw played for German clubs during his career and made four appearances for the German youth team. He played for Freiburg, Stuttgart, Eintracht, Karlsruher, and Schaffhausen. He was actively involved in football from 1978 to 1995.

Vicente del Bosque – coach of Spain, Spanish

Vicente is known for his performances at Real Madrid, for whom he made 312 appearances from 1970 to 1984. He scored 14 goals for the Kings. Earlier, he played for Castilla, and for the Spanish national team, he made 18 appearances and scored one goal.

Louis van Gaal – coach of the Netherlands, Dutch

Louis was actively involved in football from 1972 to 1987 but did not win any trophies. He played for Ajax, Royal, Telstar, Sparta, and AZ Alkmaar.

Alberto Zaccheroni – coach of Japan – Italian

Zaccheroni's football career was cut short by injury, and he became a manager at the relatively young age of 30 when he coached amateurs Cesenatico.

Hong Myung-Bo, coach of South Korea, Korean

Myung-Bo made 281 appearances in his career from 1992 to 2004. He also played for the US club LA Galaxy. He was a regular for the South Korean national team, making a total of 136 appearances for various national teams of this country.

Luis Fernando Suarez, coach of Honduras, Colombian

Suarez was a defender and played for Atletico Nacional and Deportivo Pereira. He actively played football from 1980 to 1995.

Jorge Luis Pinto, coach of Costa Rica, Colombian

Pinto did not have significant appearances for football clubs. He played for some Colombian teams during his career.

Volker Finke, coach of Cameroon, German

Finke was actively involved in football from 1969 to 1975 and played for Halavese and Hannovercher.

James Kwesi Appiah, coach of Ghana, Ghanaian

Appiah was a left-back and played club football with Asante Kotoko from 1983 to 1993. Appiah played for the Ghana national team from 1987 to 1992 and was captain.

Oscar Tabarez – coach of Uruguay, Uruguayan

Known by the nickname The Teacher (El maestro). He played as a defender. He ended his career at the age of 32. He has had a coaching career for 30 years, in Colombia, Argentina, Italy, and Spain. He managed the Uruguay national team from 1988 to 1990 and again from 2006 to the present. Under his leadership, Uruguay won 4th place at the World Cup in 2010.

Sabri Lamouchi – coach of Ivory Coast, French

He has been managing the national team since 2012. He began his professional career in France at the club Ales, then moved to Parma in Italy, and then to Qatar. He debuted for the French national team in 1996 but was not included in the squad for the 1998 World Cup.

Vahid Halilhodžić – coach of Algeria, Bosnian

With 263 goals scored in his career, he is one of the best players. His playing career lasted from 1971 to 1987. He started his career at FK Velež. From 1981 to 1986, he played for French club Nantes, and from 1986 to 1987, for Paris Saint-Germain. He played for the Yugoslavia national team from 1975 to 1985.

He made fifteen appearances for the national team and scored eight goals. He won numerous awards: 1978 Yugoslavian Player of the Year, 1981 Yugoslav Cup winner with Velež, 1983 French champion with Nantes, 1983 and 1985 top scorer in the French league.

Marc Wilmots – coach of Belgium, Belgian

He was actively involved in football from 1980. In his playing career, he played for several clubs: Sint-Truiden, Mechelen, Standard Liège, Schalke 04, and Bordeaux. With Schalke 04, he won the UEFA Cup in 1996/1997. He played for the Belgian youth teams U19 and U21, and scored 28 goals in 70 appearances for the senior national team. He participated in four World Cups and played in three. He did not score any goals in his second tournament in 1994, but he scored two in 1998 and three in 2002, placing him among the leading Belgians in World Cup history. After ending his playing career in 2003, Wilmots entered politics but did not achieve significant success and left his seat in the Senate in 2005. He took over the Belgian national team last year.

Fernando Santos – coach of Greece, Portuguese

He started playing football in 1966 at the age of 12 and played for Benfica until 1971, then for Marítimo and Estoril, where he ended his professional career in 1975 at the age of 21. In 1987, he returned to football but as a coach, which he remains to this day. He has been coaching the Greek national team since 2010.

Reinaldo Rueda – coach of Ecuador, Colombian had an unremarkable playing career. Interestingly, he has managed the national teams of three countries: Colombia, Honduras, and Ecuador.

Stephen Keshi – coach of Nigeria, Nigerian

He had most of his playing career in Belgian clubs, but also in the United States. He played for the Nigerian national team from 1981 to 1995. His most significant achievement was in 1994 when he won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria. He took over the Nigerian national team in 2011.

Miguel Herrera - coach of Mexico, Mexican

He played for Mexican clubs as a defender. He began his career in 1983. He achieved his greatest success with the club Atlante, where he made 100 appearances. He played for the national team for only one year, from 1993 to 1994. He ended his playing career in 2002. He has been managing the Mexican national team since 2013. He is known by the nickname Piojo.