After retiring Piontek became the manager of his former club Werder Bremen. In 1975 he switched to
Fortuna Düsseldorf, where he was the coach for a single season. Piontek then became the manager for
Haiti in 1976. With the team he narrowly missed qualification for the
1978 FIFA World Cup. where he was for a single season in the second tier of German football. He guided the team to a 6th place, despite the club's financial trouble. He left St. Pauli after a single season, when the team lost its license and was relegated to the
Oberliga. His period as national team coach came just after the introduction of professional players in the national team, and under his reign the Denmark team became known as "Danish Dynamite". He is often heralded as being the person who introduced a professional attitude in Danish football, and has been called one of the most important people in Danish football. Among other initiatives he introduced mandatory sleeping and eating schedules on the Danish national team. Denmark qualified for their first international tournament since 1964, and the team was dubbed "Danish Dynamite" in a competition for the official Danish Euro 1984 song. Denmark's participation ended in the semi-final when the team lost on
penalties to
Spain, most remembered for
Preben Elkjær's penalty miss, his shorts torn apart. Following the strong performance at the finals, the name "Danish Dynamite" became a mainstay for the following decade of the Denmark national team. Two years later, he led Denmark to their first ever
World Cup participation in the
1986 tournament. With the attacking duo of
Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær, thrashed
Uruguay 6–1. In the second round, Denmark once again faced Spain and once more lost, 5–1, including four goals by
Emilio Butragueño. At the
1988 European Football Championship Denmark once again qualified, beating Wales and Finland and drawing both matches against Czechoslovakia. At the tournament Denmark would however go on to lose all three matches in the group stages. He quit as Denmark coach in April 1990 after the Danish national team failed to
qualify for 1990 FIFA World Cup. He did consider extenting his contract with the Danish FA, but accusations of tax dodging from the tabloid
Ekstra Bladet made him change his mind. Although he had left the team, he is often credited with sowing the seeds that led to Denmark's win at the
1992 European Football Championship.
Turkey Piontek later coached
Turkey from an advice by fellow German and Piontek's teacher
Jupp Derwall from May 1990 to 1993, in which though they failed to qualify for either
UEFA Euro 1992 or the
1994 FIFA World Cup, helped sparking a massive revival in Turkish football fortunes which would be witnessed by the time Piontek left.
Later career In 1995, Piontek returned to Denmark, where he coached Danish club
Aalborg BK. Here he coached the team at the
1995-96 UEFA Champions League as the first Danish club ever. Initially, Aalborg lost the playoff to Ukrainian
Dynamo Kiev, but due to a corruption scandal Aalborg qualified instead. In the Danish league he finished at a disappointing 5th place and was subsequently fired. He retired from full time coaching in 1999 due to health concerns. Towards the end of his life he earned his living as a lecturer as well as coaching the Danish Old Boys national team. == Personal life and death ==