Who is former Klopp teammate and new Orlando Pirates coach Zinnbauer?

German tactician Josef Zinnbauer was announced as the new Orlando Pirates head coach on Tuesday morning.

The 49-year-old has become the first German coach to take charge of the Soweto giants in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era.

Goal did a brief background screening of Zinnbauer after he replaced Serbian mentor Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic at the Houghton-based side.

Playing Career

The retired midfielder began his football career at FV Wendelstein in his home country in 1988.

Zinnbauer went on to play for SVG Göttingen 07, TSV Vestenbergsgreuth, SC 08 Bamberg, SpVgg Bayreuth and SSV Ulm 1846 in the lower divisions of German football.

His big break came in 1994 when he joined Karlsruher SC and he got to play in Germany‘s top-flight league, Bundesliga during the 1994/95 season.

Before moving to Mainz 05, who were campaigning in the Bundesliga Two during the 1995/96 campaign, and he was teammates with current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Zinnbauer then had stints with SG Post/Süd Regensburg, SC Weismain, Wendelstein and Henger SV, before he retired in 2005 after suffering a cartilage injury.

Coaching Career

The Schwandorf-born tactician began his coaching career at lower division side SK Lauf in 1996 where he worked for two seasons.

Zinnbauer then moved to his former club, Wendelstein where he served as a player-coach, before moving to another club he had played for, Henger in 2004.

A year later, VfB Oldenburg appointed him as their new head coach and he spent five seasons with the club winning the Niedersachsenliga (German fifth division) in 2007.

Zinnbauer returned to Karlsruher where he served as the reserve team coach and first-team assistant coach in 2012.

One of the biggest teams in Germany, Hamburger SV then came calling for Zinnbauer and he joined the club as the reserve team coach ahead of the 2014/15 campaign.

Reunion With Klopp

The well-travelled mentor excelled while in charge of the team, competing in the fourth tier of German football, Regionalliga Nord.

Zinnbauer was soon promoted to first-team caretaker coach replacing Mirko Slomka in September 2014 after the team endured a poor start to the season.

The mentor masterminded a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund, who were coached by his friend and former teammate Klopp.

However, he was demoted back to reserve team coach in March 2015 and he led the Red Shorts youngsters for the next six months.

Zinnbauer left the six-time Bundesliga champions for Swiss Super League side, St Gallen at the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign.

He parted ways with the club at the end of the 2016/17 season and he has since joined the Buccaneers where he will be hoping to win his first major trophy as a coach.