Klinsmann to build up new German national squad
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-21 13:12

The newly-named German national coach Juergen Klinsmann just began his plan to build up German soccer empire as his personality suggests and took his effort to revamp the three-time World Cup champions structure.

"For those who justify rigorous and if it has to be power politics without scruples, it must be the purest delight to watch how ruthless and uncompromising Juergen Klinsmann has been in building his empire," Kicker magazine wrote in Thursday's edition.

Klinsmann has replaced every key official associated with the Mannschaft with his personal choices, shuffled the coaches of the youth national teams and banned German soccer federation officials from team lunches.

Klinsmann dropped goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who was long an icon in Germany, as captain and didn't call up Dietmar Hamann for Wednesday's friendly against Austria. He feels the Liverpool midfielder is too deliberate to run the fast-paced attack he now demands from stodgy Germany.

But some are already wondering if Klinsmann is moving too far too fast in his push to win a fourth title at the 2006 World Cup. Sepp Maier, the national team's goalkeeper coach, recently criticized him in a newspaper interview for suggesting Kahn, a member of the national team since 1995 and selected the best goalkeeper and player of the 2002 World Cup, isn't guaranteed to be Germany's starting goalkeeper anymore.

Klinsmann, undoubtedly, already has created enemies.

Fortunately for him, he didn't hand his critics any ammunition Wednesday night. The former forward enjoyed a near perfect debut Wednesday in a 3-1 win over Austria. His team attacked relentlessly from the start, raced down the pitch at a high pace, disrupted Austria with forward pressure and put on a spirited performance.

But Klinsmann continues to drill his optimistic message into the heads of the Germans.

Germany can win the 2006 World Cup at home, he says, even if the country's only major title in the past 14 years came at the 1996 European Championship.

Germany faces a harder test on November 8 in its tie against Brazil in Berlin. A bad performance could embolden his critics, led by Schalke manager Rudi Assauer, Lothar Matthaeus and Bochum coach Peter Neurerer.

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