Karel Brueckner, former Czech soccer national coach and until recently the coach of the national team of Austria, definitively ended his career as soccer coach in view of his age and persisting health troubles, Czech daily Sport said on Wednesday. "My career as the main coach is over. I'm definitively ending in the front line," Brueckner, seven-time winner of the Coach of the Year award, said in the interview with Sport.

"This week I'm becoming a regular pensioner," he told Sport.

He said health troubles prevent him from working at one hundred percent.

Brueckner, 69, indicated that he would not like to abandon soccer completely and is considering sharing his experiences through lectures for coaches, the report said.

Brueckner has worked as a soccer coach for more than 35 years. Under his leadership, the Czech under-21 team won the silver at the 2000 European championship and he contributed to the team's gold medal win in 2002.

At the time, he was already the main coach of the Czech soccer national team with which he twice advanced to European championship and once to the world championship. In 2004, the Czech team under Brueckner won the bronze medals at the European championship in Portugal.

After the failure at the European championship last year, Brueckner parted with the Czech team but surprisingly accepted the offer to coach the national soccer team of Austria. He resigned from the post this February, after a series of unsuccessful matches.