 In 1991, he started coaching in Germany with FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt (1991–92) and later accepted the job from league-competition FSV Mainz 05, and stayed there until 1994.From 1995–98, he coached Japanese side Gamba Osaka.Kuže came back to Croatia to coach NK Zagreb (1998–99) and had a short stint with FC Chemnitz in 2000 and proceeded to coach Gamba Osaka again from 2000–2002.