American soccer coach Jesse Marsch made history on Friday becoming the first manager born in the United States to win a top-flight trophy in Europe. The former U.S. men's national team player led Red Bull Salzburg to Austrian Cup glory on Friday in a 5-0 win over second-division side SC Austrian Lustenau.
Salzburg recorded a clean sheet in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final en route to the major domestic trophy. Red Bull Salzburg has won the trophy seven times in the last decade.
Marsch is in his first season as the head coach and earlier in the season became the first American manager to coach in the Champions League. RB Salzburg, who then had Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland and Liverpool's Takumi Minamino, nearly got out of a group that consisted of Liverpool, Napoli and Gent.
The 46-year-old Wisconsin native played for D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Chivas USA. He has coached the Montreal Impact and New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer before moving to RB Leipzig of Germany as an assistant coach.
Previously there have been some Americans to coach in Europe, but it hasn't gone particularly well for them. Marsch's mentor Bob Bradley struggled at Premier League club Swansea City while having a decent stint at second-division French side Le Havre. He also coached in Norway. United States men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter also coached in Europe going 18-11-17 at Swedish club Hammarby.
The top previous honor was German-American manager David Wagner helping Huddersfield United get promoted to the Premier League. He was fired the next season and now coaches American Weston McKennie at German club Schalke.
