Olaf Marschall

Start and first successes in the GDR (1972–1990)

Marschall started playing soccer in the GDR at BSG Chemie Torgau and was soon transferred to 1. FC Lok Leipzig. There, he rose to stardom, becoming one of the most prolific scorers in the East German top-flight in the turbulent late 1980s and collecting caps for the East German football squad. There he made his debut in the DDR-Oberliga on 22 October 1983, at the age of 17, against Dynamo Dresden (2–2), when he was substituted on by his coach Harro Miller in the 62nd minute for Hans Richter. Under Miller's successor Hans-Ulrich Thomale, he became a regular player, although his goal quota varied greatly from season to season. In 1987 he reached the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with his club. In 1986 and 1987 he won the FDGB Cup with Leipzig, in 1986 and 1988 he was runner-up with his club in the GDR Oberliga. Marschall was regarded as a strong header which deft ballhandling skills, allowing him to play center-striker, hole and offensive midfield with equal effectiveness. He scored 43 goals in 135 Oberliga matches.

In Austria at FC Admira Wacker (1990–1993)

In the wake of the German reunification he joined Austrian outfit SCN Admira/Wacker in 1990 to stay on in Austria's Bundesliga, until he joined Dynamo Dresden to help the East German outfit escape relegation from the German Bundesliga in 1993–94. Under the coaches Thomas Parits and Sigfried Held, the team achieved sixth, fourth and third place during…

From 1985 to 1989 he played four times (no goal) for the East Germany national team. He made his debut on 6 February 1985 in East Germany's 3–2 victory over Ecuador. After reunification, he played for the Germany national team in 1994 and from 1997 to 1999. He scored three goals in 13 appearances. He played his first game for the DFB and his only one in 1994 on October 12 in a 0–0 friendly against Hungary. Marschall came on for Fredi Bobic in the 85th minute of the game. Looking back on a remarkable scoring record in 1997–98, Marschall was nominated for the German squad. He took part in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France with the national team. He was used here once; in the quarterfinals against Croatia he came on for Dietmar Hamann in the 79th minute when the score was 0–1 (result: 0–3).

Marschall returned to the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in January 2004 to act as executive assistant to the then chairman René C. Jäggi. From June 2004 to June 2006 he worked as a team manager at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He then completed an internship at the FCK youth center at the "Fröhnerhof" and became assistant coach of the Lauterer amateur team in August 2006. First, he worked under interim coach Kosta Runjaić, then under Alois Reinhardt, who resigned at the end of October. Marschall then became interim coach of the second team for two months and then left the club. In the meantime, after Kurt Jara was dismissed as FCK coach, he was assistant coach of the first team until the end of the 2004/05 season. After his activities at FCK, Marschall devoted himself to acquiring a coaching license at the Hennes-Weisweiler Academy of the German Sport University Cologne, during which he completed a two-week internship in Hanover with the 96 team around the then 96 coach Dieter Hecking.

Locomotive Leipzig

FDGB-Pokal: 1986, 1987 Finalist in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1987

1. FC Kaiserslautern

German football championship: 1998 DFB-Pokal: 1996

Personal

Goal scorer of Goal of the Year (Germany): 1998 Election to the "Admira Century Eleven" of FC Admira Wacker Mödling