The born East German Stange was, among others, national coach of the GDR in the eighties. After the fall of the wall he became trainer of Hertha BSC. A successful career in the Bundesliga was broken, when it emerged that Stange had been an informant for years for the Stasi, the East German secret service.

After an impressive journey around the world, in which he was the national coach of Oman, Iraq, Belarus and Singapore, the German landed in Syria in 2018.