Karel Brueckner decided to become the new Austria coach in order not to get old, the 68-year-old former Czech trainer said in his first press conference with the Austrian Football Association in Vienna on Monday.

Brueckner quit as coach of his home country after a first-round exit at Euro 2008. Brueckner had coached the Czech team since 2001.

Although Brueckner said he was only 55 years old, according to his own method for calculating his age, he felt like 92 after the Czechs lost against Turkey in the Euro.

"But in the end, what was important was that I want to stay in football. I don't want to get older, and that's why I stayed in football," Brueckner said.

As the Austrian football association had expressed their appreciation for his work with the Czech team, he had been able to quickly agree to the Austrian offer which came just one week ago, he said.

With only weeks to go until Austria play runner-up world champions Italy in a friendly and world champions France in its first World Cup qualifier, the new coach said he would try to quickly collect information about his new players.

"We don't have much time," he said, adding he would not enter into any experiments with the team until the upcoming matches.

Brueckner said it was too early for him to say whether Austria, currently 105th on the FIFA world ranking, would be able to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

But it was his "wish and intention" that Austria get beyond the qualification round, he said.

Andreas Herzog, the team manager of the previous coach Josef Hickersberger, will continue to play an important role in the team, Brueckner announced.