Guido Burgstaller couldn’t stay still for long. The former Schalke player has a new job.
Former Bundesliga striker Guido Burgstaller has found a new role shortly after retiring from professional football. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) announced on Tuesday that the 36-year-old will support the staff of the U19 national team led by head coach Martin Scherb as an individual coach starting with the September training camp. “I would like to pass on the experience I have gained over the years to the boys on the pitch and at the same time hope to learn a lot from the coaching team myself,” said Burgstaller. “I am convinced that his personality and background make him the perfect fit for this role,” said Burgstaller’s former ÖFB colleague Sebastian Prödl, now head of the youth national teams: “Our players, especially the attacking players, will benefit from his input.”
Fan favorite Burgstaller ended his professional soccer career this summer after a turbulent season with Rapid Vienna. On December 14, 2024, the former striker for Schalke 04, 1. FC Nürnberg, and FC St. Pauli was seriously injured in an assault outside a Vienna nightclub. The 26-time international was in a life-threatening condition with a fractured skull, but fought his way back onto the pitch and celebrated his comeback in the Conference League in April. Burgstaller played in Germany for Nuremberg, Schalke, and St. Pauli. In Germany, Guido Burgstaller spent a total of two years at FC St. Pauli. In 57 games, he scored 31 goals and provided 13 assists. Prior to that, he played for FC Schalke 04 from winter 2017 to September 2020. He was also successful on several occasions for the Royal Blues. In 119 games, he scored 32 goals and provided 13 assists. His time in Germany was rounded off by two years at 1. FC Nürnberg. He scored 34 goals and provided twelve assists in 70 games for the “Club.”
He proved that he had lost none of his goal-scoring instinct when he returned to his homeland. In the summer of 2022, he signed for Rapid Vienna again and scored 25 goals in 43 games in his first season.
Burgstaller followed this up with nine goals in 27 appearances in the 2023–24 season. The 2024–25 season cannot be seriously evaluated.