FRANKFURT, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Matthias Sammer will be German
soccer's new technical director, after the country's Football
Association (DFB) rejected Juergen Klinsmann's plan to appoint a
hockey coach.
The DFB decided at a meeting on Wednesday to appoint Sammer,
the 38-year-old former international, on a five-year contract
starting on April 1.
Klinsmann, who continues as head coach, had wanted the
German men's hockey coach Bernhard Peters as the new technical
director.
The DFB stopped short of making such a dramatic break with
tradition but did say it would make an offer to Peters to take
up an unspecified position on Oct. 1.
'We'll swallow this pill, even if we're convinced Peters
would have been a better choice,' Klinsmann told the German SID
agency.
'The matter is now closed. We're now going to concentrate on
the World Cup.'
The DFB praised Klinsmann for the more offensive and
attractive style of the team since he took over in 2004 and
reiterated its hope that a successful World Cup from June 9 to
July 9 would lead to him continuing in his post.
'The DFB aims to continue working with Juergen Klinsmann as
our national team coach after the World Cup, as long as the
results allow,' the statement said.
Sammer, European Footballer of the Year in 1996 and a former
coach of Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart, will effectively
take control of the country's youth teams up to the under-20 age
group.
Sammer played alongside Klinsmann in the German team that
won the European Championship in England in 1996.
The red-haired midfielder won a total of 84 caps, playing 23
times for the old DDR and 51 for the united Germany before a
knee injury ended his career.
As coach, he won a Bundesliga title with Dortmund before
moving on to Stuttgart, losing his job after a poor run towards
the end of last season.
'I'd delighted with this new job,' Sammer told reporters on
Wednesday. 'It's a great challenge for me.
