Vital Borkelmans (63) has taken on a new challenge. The former Red Devil and deputy of Marc Wilmots as manager of the Belgian national men’s football team is set to take up the role of head coach at Forca Kochi FC, a young club based in southern India.
Vital Borkelmans heads to India: former Red Devil is Forca Kochi FC's new manager
Colin Clapson
Published:
This marks another step forward in Vital Borkelmans’ international coaching career. Following stints as national team manager in Jordan and as technical director in Iraq, he has now opted for an adventure in India.
Forca Kochi FC announced the Belgian’s arrival via social media. The club was founded just two years ago and competes in the Kerala Super League, a regional league in the south of the country.
One of the club’s co-founders is Bollywood actor and director Prithviraj Sukumaran.
In its announcement, Forca Kochi highlights Borkelmans’ impressive CV. The club refers to his appearances at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups with Belgium, his status as a Club Brugge icon and his role in the rise of Belgium’s ‘golden generation’.
Experience in Europe and Asia
Following his playing career, Vital Borkelmans also gained a great deal of international experience as a coach.
For many years, he served as Marc Wilmots’ assistant with the Red Devils and subsequently took the helm of the Jordan national team. With that side, he reached the round of 16 at the 2019 Asian Cup.
He now has the task of passing on his experience and footballing philosophy to an ambitious club that is still very much building on its rise to prominence.
“A new chapter begins with a coach who has experienced football at the very highest level,” Forca Kochi proudly writes in the presentation of its new manager.