COLOGNE, Germany, July 2 (Reuters) - Rudi Voeller, the blond striker who helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup, was appointed national coach on a caretaker basis on Sunday even though he has no coaching experience or trainer's licence.

'The development was a total surprise,' said Voeller. 'We had talked about different possibilities and then suddenly everyone looked at me.'

Voeller will temporarily give up his job as sporting director at Bayer Leverkusen to become Germany's interim coach until next July when Leverkusen's own coach, Christoph Daum, will replace him as the German team's trainer.

Since Voeller doesn't have the trainer's certificate that is mandatory to coach in Germany, he will pick a trainer with the necessary qualifications over the next few days to join him.

Voeller replaces Erich Ribbeck, who stepped down when Germany were eliminated from Euro 2000 at the group stage after the team's worst ever tournament performance.

Voeller will have little time to prepare a German team for the World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley in September.

JOY TO PLAY

'This solution (of becoming coach) is only for 10 months,' said Voeller. 'Christoph (Daum) and I work together almost every day. I know his concepts well. I have tremendous respect for him. We have to take this forward, to make it a joy to play for the national team again.'

Voeller said the German Football Federation (DFB) had to understand that Leverkusen could not afford to let Daum go at this point.

'We still need Daum in Leverkusen,' Voeller said. 'There will be some changes (in the national team). I will be talking with several Bundesliga coaches. Today's decision was born out of urgency.'

Voeller, 40, who scored 47 goals in 90 appearances for Germany, retired in 1996 as a Bayer Leverkusen player and took up his position as the team's sporting director.

Before joining Leverkusen, Voeller had played for Olympique Marseille, AS Roma, Werder Bremen, and 1860 Munich. He scored a total of 132 goals in 232 Bundesliga matches.

Voeller was a member of Germany's 1990 World Cup-winning team and the 1986 runners-up. He was Germany's player of the year in 1983 and the Bundesliga's top scorer.

Voeller was also in Germany's 1994 World Cup team and played in the European Championships of 1984, 1988 and 1992.

He may be most remembered for a 1990 World Cup match against the Netherlands when Frank Rijkaard, who has ironically just resigned as the Dutch coach, spat at the back of Voeller's head.

Photos of the infamous incident have since been reprinted repeatedly around the world.

SACRIFICE

Leverkusen manager Reiner Calmud, whose team just failed to win the Bundesliga this year when they lost out to Bayern Munich on goal difference after losing their final game, was loath to let Daum out of his contract early.

After weeks of speculation about who would coach Germany, Calmud's offer to sacrifice Voeller to the DFB seemed like an ideal way to thwart the massive pressure building on Leverkusen who are so desperate to win the Bundesliga for the first time.

'This is the best solution considering the circumstances,' said Calmud. 'It would have been impossible to let Daum out of his contract early.'

Leverkusen start training for the coming season on Monday.

Voeller has been an 'ambassador' for Germany's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup finals along with his former striking partner Juergen Klinsmann. Guenter Netzer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have also helped Franz Beckenbauer lobby for Germany.