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Odonkor takes head coach job

February 9, 2015

David Odonkor, who once played for Borussia Dortmund and Germany before having his career cut short through injury, has taken his first job as a head coach. His new club currently plays in Germany's sixth division.

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David Odonkor
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Revierfoto

Former Borussia Dortmund and German international winger David Odonkor has taken his first head coach role, joining sixth division side TuS Dornberg.

The move is the third coaching position inside of two years for Odonkor, after working at Verl (pictured above) and SC Herford, but it is his first in charge of a club.

"I am very happy with my first role as a head coach, " wrote Odonkor on his Facebook page on Monday. "I hope I can bring my experience from my playing career into a coaching role with this team."

TuS Dornberg have said they wish Odonkor "the best of luck and to have fun." Expectations for the club, which currently sits 13th in the Westfalenliga, are to avoid relegation to the seventh tier of German football.

David Odonkor
Odonkor played 16 games for Germany between 2006 and 2008, scoring onceImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Odonkor's stop-start playing career, which included spells with Borussia Dortmund, Real Betis in Spain and Alemmania Aachen, ended in September 2013 with the winger aged just 29.

Having signed for Betis from Dortmund for 4.5 million euros ($5.08 million) in 2006, Odonkor played just 52 times for the club in a five-year spell, missing 120 games due to injury.

He ended his career in Ukraine, after a spell with Hoverla Uzhhorod. He soon afterwards returned to Germany, after telling German newspaper 'Bild' that neither he nor his family liked it there.

The now 30-year old Odonkor is best known for his assist to Oliver Neuville in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, to beat Poland in stoppage time, having come on as a substitute.

apc/al (SID)