SC Freiburg manager Robin Dutt celebrates with fans
Robin Dutt entered the history books on Sunday while gaining promotion to the Bundesliga 1st Division with his club SC Freiburg.
The 44-year-old Dutt will be the first-ever coach of Indian origin to manage in one of the world's leading leagues.
Freiburg comprehensively beat TuS Koblenz 5-2 to secure the Bundesliga 2nd Division title with three games still to play.
Dutt said after the match: "The players gave their hearts to reach our goal - promotion to the 1st Division Bundesliga! We will return to Freiburg today and celebrate the promotion with our fans back home! I'm looking forward to the reception!"
Dutt, born and raised in the western German city of Cologne, started off his playing career at the SpVgg Hirschlanden youth team in 1983.
He never made it to the top level as a footballer, but had a first successful stint in coaching in 1999, as a player-coach at lower league side TSG Leonberg.
He led the team to promotion and went on to TSF Ditzingen as a full-time coach. Dutt’s coaching led him to former Bundesliga side Stuttgart Kickers in 2002.
He was in-charge of the second team and took over reigns of the first team in October 2003. Stuttgart were in the Regionaliga (3rd Division) at that time.
While only a small club, SC Freiburg became known for their team spirit. This led them to the 2nd Division Bundesliga in 1978-79 where they played for a decade and a half before making the breakthrough to the 1st Division Bundesliga in 1993-94 under the management of Volker Finke.
The club's greatest success was reaching the UEFA Cup in 1995 and 2001.
Dutt, who finished his coaching badges with the German Football Federation (DFB) in 2005 as the best of his crop was offered the opportunity to utilize his skills in professional football at SC Freiburg in 2007.
Next season will see Dutt's Freiburg come up against the likes of Bayern Munich, and the club will be hoping to replicate the success of this season's top flight new boys Hoffenheim, who stormed to the top of the table at the beginning of the season and now sit comfortably in seventh place in the table.
You can see footage of Dutt and Freiburg's celebrations below:
