Helmut Senekowitsch (; 22 October 1933 – 9 September 2007) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and later a football manager.

Playing career

Club career

He played for several clubs, including

SK Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

and

FC Wacker Innsbruck FC Wacker Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol. History The ''Fußball-Club Wacker'' ("Valiant") ''Innsbruck'' was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and o ...

International career

He played for the

Austria national football team The Austria national football team () represents Austria in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 Mar ...

and was a participant at the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

. He earned 18 caps, scoring 5 goals.

Coaching career

He later worked as a coach, one of his major achievements was helping

qualify for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

, the first time Austria had qualified for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in twenty years. The Austrian team advanced to the second round in whose first match they fell 1–5 against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

being coached by former international teammate

Ernst Happel Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager. Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Bel ...

. Later he led them during the game dubbed ''The miracle of Córdoba'', against arch-rivals

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, which the Austrians won 3–2. It was Austria's first victory against a German national side in 47 years, and its first victory over West Germany. He died in September 2007 after a long illness.Die österreichische Fußballfamilie trauert um Helmut Senekowitsch
– ÖFB

References

External links

* * 1933 births 2007 deaths Austrian men's footballers Austrian expatriate men's footballers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Austrian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Austria men's international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players SK Sturm Graz players First Vienna FC players Real Betis players FC Wacker Innsbruck players Austrian Football Bundesliga players La Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Austrian football managers Grazer AK managers 1978 FIFA World Cup managers Austria national football team managers Athletic Bilbao managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Eintracht Frankfurt managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Cádiz CF managers AC Omonia managers LASK managers FC Stahl Linz (2013) managers Admira Wacker managers First Vienna FC managers Tecos F.C. managers Panionios F.C. managers Floridsdorfer AC managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Bundesliga managers Super League Greece managers Expatriate football managers in West Germany Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Spain Austrian expatriate football managers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Graz People from Klosterneuburg 20th-century Austrian sportsmen {{Austria-footy-forward-stub