Bundesliga: Freiburg coach Christian Streich extends contract

German Bundesliga's longest-serving coach, Christian Streich, has extended his contract at SC Freiburg yet again, after nine seasons with the club.

Freiburg head coach Christian Streich.

Christian Streich, the longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga, will be staying in charge of SC Freiburg for at least one more season after extending his yet contract again.

"Christian lives this club and has SC Freiburg’s philosophy in his heart,” club chairman Jochen Saier said of Streich on Friday.

Streich, who celebrated his 55th birthday on Thursday, has been in charge of the modest club from southwest Germany since December 2011, coaching it through 316 competitive games. He will manage the side in his 250th Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg on Saturday.

"We didn’t have to negotiate for long,” Streich told the club's website. “We’re working together in a special constellation here. I’m not saying it’s better than elsewhere, but it’s special. I’m delighted to be able to continue developing our idea of soccer with the guys every day on the field.”

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The club, however, did not give details on the length of the new deal, which also includes Streich’s five assistant coaches. He previously extended his contract in 2019. Streich has become celebrated for his witty quotes, delivered in his distinctive local accent.

"We’re not totally unsexy,” he told, when asked about Freiburg’s playing style. “On the other hand, I am relatively unsexy.”

Streich celebrates without restraint when his team wins, and is philosophical when it loses. "We don’t have to win, we only have to die,” he said, during the time he was facing a lot of pressure as Freiburg was struggling at the bottom of the table.

Streich took charge of Freiburg’s under-19s in 1995 after his playing career ended due to injury, and was named the senior team coach after a spell as an assistant. "I should kneel ten times and give thanks that I am a coach,” Streich previously told the dpa news agency.

Freiburg was relegated in 2015, but was promoted back to the Bundesliga, the following season. Streich’s team is currently eighth in the 2019-20 Bundesliga standings, two points behind Hoffenheim, which occupies the last place for European qualification.