Germans want Klinsmann to stay on
German FA president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder hopes Jurgen Klinsmann will continue his work after the World Cup.
For most of his two-year-reign, Germany’s head coach has been criticised for his attacking philosophy and innovative coaching methods.
All of a sudden his work is paying dividends, and fans as well as experts have been full of praise for the 41-year-old former Tottenham star who always said he would not extend his contract until after the tournament.
Mayer-Vorfelder has now urged his long-time friend to stay on, however.
“He realises that his work is paying off,” the 73-year-old said in an interview with sport1.de.
“It won’t be easy to convince him, but the team could make his decision very easy if they beat Argentina.”
Mayer-Vorfelder admires Klinsmann for his “great deal of stubbornness”.
“His steadfastness has been impressive,” said the president.
“He always said the team needs to make the semi-finals at least. He is very ambitious and only satisfied if he can meet those goals.”
Mayer-Vorfelder, who will step down from his post later this year, fancies his country’s chances in their quarter-final against Argentina.
“My confidence has gone up after the (2-0 victory) over Sweden. Our defence looks stable, the midfield is creative – and our attacking department is always dangerous.
“The duel against Argentina will probably be one of the toughest and closest matches of the whole tournament. If we prevail everything will be possible.”
Germany’s tall defenders Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker will need to be aware of the manoeuvrability of the likes of Javier Saviola, Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi.
“We need to prevent one-on-one situations from happening,” Mertesacker warned.
“That won’t be easy, but I am not at all scared. We just need to continue where we left it against Sweden.”
Germany have not beaten any big-name nation in almost six years, with a memorable 1-0 victory over England at Wembley their last claim to fame – back in October 2000.
They have drawn with Argentina twice in the last 16 months, and Mertesacker vowed Friday is the time to break out of the slump.
“We played well against them on both occasions,” he said.
“We were leading and got late equalisers. That will not happen again, because we are much more stable than in the past years.
“But we must not become complacent after all the positive feedback, especially from abroad. We need to stay hungry.”
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