Born in Gnaschwitz, Doberschau-Gaußig, a Sorbian town of Saxony, Stange started playing at an early age and was called into the East German youth team.

After a mediocre five-year spell with the national team without qualifying for a World Cup or European Championship final tournament,[4] Stange returned, now as head coach in the GDR league, to FC Carl Zeiss Jena, in the autumn of 1989.

Stange moved to coach Hertha BSC where his old ties as an informant for the East German police, the Stasi, surfaced.

His tasks included informing the Stasi about his players' views of the government and whether any of them were breaking the law by making contact with West Germans.

Glory under Stange in 2000 finished on top of the NSL league ladder however failed in the Grand Final, losing on penalties to the Wollongong Wolves after leading 3–0 at half-time.

Amid threats from the US President George W. Bush of a possible military conflict with Iraq, he arrived in Baghdad in October 2002 and put pen to paper to a four-year contract that included two clauses allowing him to leave in the event of war and to refuse any political comment.

On 30 July 2007, Stange was appointed by the Belarus Football Federation to coach the national team after previous manager Yuri Puntus resigned the month before due to a poor performance in the Euro 2008 qualifying.

[15] The salary was criticized many times by the press considering the situation in Syria, the poor results and performance of the team in 2019 Asian Cup and even in the friendly matches that preceded the tournament.

After heavy criticism and a poor showing during the first two matches of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which ended in a 0–0 draw against minnows Palestine and a sound 2–0 defeat from neighbours Jordan, the Syrian FA announced that Stange would be sacked immediately and replaced.