Austria boss Josef Hickersberger has announced he is to step down as coach of the national team.
Hickersberger revealed his decision on Monday, the day before the Austrian Football Association (OFB) are due to meet to decide his future.
‘There (at the meeting) everything ought to be rubber-stamped. The board is in agreement. I am stopping,’ he told Austrian newspaper Der Standard.
The co-hosts failed to qualify for the knock-out stages of Euro 2008 after picking up only a single point from their three group games.
Hickersberger added: ‘I am empty and tired, I need a break, have to recharge my batteries. The chapter is closed, the mission has been accomplished.
‘I have considered this really carefully. The story always had a clear expiry date.’
Asked whether he would change his mind, the coach said: ‘No, there are at the most only small arguments for doing that.’
Hickersberger has the worst record for an Austrian coach since 1945 since he began his second spell in charge of the national team in January 2006.
He has guided the team to a mere five wins in 27 matches.
Despite failing to make it out of the group at the European Championship, his side did perform better than expected, only going down by a single goal to Croatia and Germany and holding Poland to a 1-1 draw.
And the 60-year-old revealed he was not ready to give up coaching altogether.
‘I can imagine myself standing on the pitch every day again. Somewhere,’ he said.
