The Hindu : Sport / Football : Jurgen Klinsmann steps down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 13, 2006

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Sport - Football

Jurgen Klinsmann steps down

Frankfurt: Jurgen Klinsmann, who coached Germany to a third-place finish at the World Cup, stepped down on Wednesday and was replaced by his assistant, Joachim Loew.

Klinsmann told reporters he was leaving to spend more time with his California-based family.

"I feel burned out," said a tearful Klinsmann, adding that he would take a six-month vacation.

"I have a great wish to be back with my family and my children."

Loew, 46, had worked with Klinsmann for his whole two years as coach.

"He was never an assistant; he was a partner, who had his own areas of responsibility," Klinsmann said.

German soccer federation co-president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder thanked Klinsmann for a "wonderful time" and said "your performance was incredible."

Loew's two-year deal runs to the end of the 2008 European Championship in Switzerland and Austria.

German hero

Klinsmann's rejuvenated team went beyond expectations. It lost to eventual champion Italy 2-0 in the semifinals.

The team's attacking, entertaining game triggered a wave of euphoria in the country and played a major role in the World Cup being a huge success.

Klinsmann became a German hero again and the team was celebrated when it paid farewell to its fans at a Berlin party on Sunday, hours before the final, in which Italy beat France on penalties to win its fourth title.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Franz Beckenbauer, Germany's most influential soccer personality who was the chief of the World Cup organising committee, had both urged Klinsmann to stay.

The team's players, led by captain Michael Ballack, also appealed to Klinsmann to stay.

Klinsmann, 41, had no previous coaching experience when he took over an ailing Germany two years ago.

He boldly promised that Germany would win the World Cup title. Although he fell short of that goal, Klinsmann's young team captured the nation's sympathies and swayed even its biggest critics.

Signature campaign

The popular German daily Bild, which once ridiculed Klinsmann's methods, started a signature campaign to keep him.

Klinsmann summoned a young generation of players, brought in American fitness trainers, surrounded himself with a trusted staff made up of former teammates and, most importantly, changed the team's dour, safety-first style into fast-paced, attacking soccer. — AP

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