体坛英语新闻：Dortmund extends contract of sporting director Michael Zorc

BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Dortmund extended the contract of sporting director Michael Zorc until June 2018, the club said in an official statement on its homepage on Thursday.

After the "BVB" already prolonged in October 2013 the contracts of Juergen Klopp and his assistants, the club also agreed on a further collaboration with Michael Zorc as a mark of confidence.

"Michael Zorc stands for Borussia Dortmund like no one else. He's been at the club since 1978 and has celebrated a great deal of success, first as a player, then as sporting director. That we wish to continue working together for the next five years demonstrates how much we value and trust the high quality of Michael's work," Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told the clubs homepage.

With Zorc as sporting director Dortmund reaped the German Bundesliga title twice, in 2011 and 2012. Moreover they wrapped the double with the German cup in 2012 and the UEFA Champions League final in 2013, which they lost to rivals Bayern.

"I feel that we haven't reached the end of our development yet. I see it as our joint responsibility to build on the success of recent years and establish Borussia Dortmund at the summit of German football and as a permanent fixture in the UEFA Champions League in the long-term," Zorc said.

The sporting director played from 1981 until 1998 for the "BVB" to score 131 in 463 appearances. Besides that he made seven caps for the German national soccer team.

Juergen Klopp's men sit currently on third position of the Bundesliga standings with 42 points, 17 points adrift of front-runners Bayern Munich.